Activity in the vegetable garden is starting to tail off at this time of year, but there are still things to do before winter sets in. Though harvests are dwindling, there are usually a few tomatoes still to pick, as well as chard, salad leaves and squash. You can keep the salad leaves going right into winter by sowing a mix of hardy leaves such as mizuna, mustard and rocket. I grow them in large trough containers outside if it is still mild, covering if necessary with fleece or cloches, as well as sowing a couple of large pots to keep in the greenhouse. In milder areas, you can also sow the hardy broad bean variety 'Aquadulce Claudia' for an early harvest next spring. If you have kale and Brussels sprouts for winter harvests, protect them from the pigeons with netting.
As a vegetable gardener, the soil is your most precious resource and you need to keep nurturing and feeding it each year to get the best yields. Once you have cleared the beds, do not just leave them exposed to the elements. Improve the soil by adding a thick layer of compost or manure, or by growing a winter-hardy green manure such as field beans or forage pea, if the soil is still warm enough. These can either be sown in drills or by broadcasting the seeds and raking them in. Once they have germinated, they will grow slowly over winter, and can then be dug back into the ground in early spring in order to improve fertility a few weeks before you plan to plant your new crops.
Under cover: cloches to protect your crops
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