Sunshine gardening in November

With great timing, the weather this Saturday is dull.  It's damp, it's grey, it's been raining all night and I'll probably find that it's a bit chilly when I go out. Hoorah. No, I mean it, I'm not being cynical. Today's dank weather provides the perfect antidote to the week as I can clear my day to write.

I spent as much time as I could in the veg patch on Friday. Dry crisp weather was promised. I expected chilliness and instead got warm sunshine. Mmmm, so good. The weather gods were smiling and I made the most of it.

8.00 a.m. veg patch

The veg patch had become very messy, errr, autumnal in recent weeks.  I dislike being over tidy in the garden but this was rather too gloriously rampant. Ropes of nasturtiums snaked around and across, nets of strawberry runners cascaded from raised beds, Verbena seedheads collapsed theatrically across the path, foxglove seedlings mulched every bit of soil and I can take a good guess at how Forget-me-Nots got their name - there will be no forgetting this crowd unless I thin them. Time for a clear up - but first, the photos. There was beauty in that beast.

A few of the flowers hanging on at the start of November

I love a bit of selective zooming and cropping! Makes it all look very pretty.  But see that little bit of Honeywort, bottom middle? It's just one flower in a vast tumultuous sea of self seeded plants. I won't need the space until next spring and the plants should withstand the winter to provide early nectar for waking bees, so they get to stay, messy or otherwise.  And, yes, that is a flowering scented pelargonium in the middle of the grid. It's grown huge with its feet in the soil so stays outdoors all year round, getting chopped back when I can no longer open the gate past it. I was told they need to be grown in a greenhouse so either the garden benefits from an exceptionally warm micro-climate or this plant's a hardy soul.

I wasn't expecting to find anything edible but, surprisingly for November, there were a couple of strawberries and raspberries, a curly kale hiding under a wave of sweet peas, achocha, six courgettes - seven if you count the swollen 'marrow' - and sorrel (returned to life after bolting in the heat of the summer). That lot should make for an interesting meal.  Perhaps a winter veg chilli, if I bring some carrots from the allotment, throw in some of my squashes and cook some of my dried beans from last year.

I've been thinking that I'll keep the veg patch for food growing only next year. The flowers are dominating the space and, as lovely as it is to see cowslips and primroses in early spring, I was frustrated at the lack of veg this year. Shortage of space demands a rethink so perennial flowers and herbs may be moved to my other garden in favour of future edibles. I need to plan this carefully as I don't want to destroy the ecology that I've built up in this tiny 30 by 10 foot space so I'll still need a few plants that attract beneficial bugs.

After the tidy up, there's still a few jobs to do. Broad beans and garlic will go in next and perhaps some over wintering peas and then that's it. No purple sprouting broccoli to look forward to in the spring but this will give me a chance to mulch and improve the soil ... and spend time with my feet up - once the pruning, leaf sweeping, weed pulling and mulching are sorted.

Have a good weekend, everyone! Forecast is for dry but chilly on Sunday, happy gardening!xx