End of year

The thumbnail photo is October-planted garlic, appearing between new compost. Behind is purple sprouting broccoli, Claret F1, sown two months later than normal because the first sowing was decimated by flea beetles.

Find more beautiful vegetables on our tea towel, of Emma van Zeller’s drawings printed on organic cotton. I have just discounted it for Christmas and until 31st December, from £15.00 to £9.90.

Winter is setting in and it’s time to mulch beds with organic matter, to ensure health and fertility through 2026. Compost or manure can be spread lumpy at this time, because frosts then breaks up those lumps.

Contrary to old-fashioned advice relating to ‘feeding plants’, I give compost to all beds, whatever they're going to grow. It’s about feeding soil life and for example, see the carrot + Brussels pictures below. More details in my No Dig book.

The garden is two thirds empty now, but there is no bare soil because of the mulching.

Plus I'm very happy to have made the extra effort in late summer to early autumn, to grow the sowings and plantings as you see here. For example, the coriander below. Timing is key to this success, see my Calendar 2026.

Likewise the cabbage below, which I was unsure about growing because they are a summer variety. However, they have adapted well to autumn conditions and they are firm enough to store well.

I find it best to harvest them before they start to decay with fungal damage, which is common in December. Find more harvest, planting and spacing advice in our Essential Knowledge digital pack, which just had this review:

Outside, salads coming good to harvest now are lambs lettuce, truly wonderful at this year, land-cress, claytonia, chervil and spinach.

Main salad harvests from now until early spring are undercover plants we popped in by mid-October, as you see in the polytunnel photo, also there is garlic growing in the middle of each central bed. Another Grow Together combination, book available 9th April.

Three Strip Trial

Two things have really impressed me this year.

1 The overall huge harvest despite a very dry summer. We gave sufficient but not excessive water by hand, and the extra sunshine has ensured amazing growth. The total harvest was 610 kg / 1330 lb from 60.5 m², compared to an average of 380 kg per year, and the two previous highest totals of 458 kg.

2 The success of compost from the garden toilet, matured for 18-24 months in aerobic conditions. The other two beds receive half mushroom and half green waste compost.

This squash ground already gave turnips + greens this year in April and May, the respective weights were 12.39 kg forked, 14.03 kg no dig and 19.09 kg no dig with the toilet compost.

The squash plants went in on 8th May, interplanted between the outer rows of turnips. This combination features in my new book.

Another of the book’s 50 combos is carrots, interplanted mid-June with Brussels sprouts.

I sowed carrots 28th March, into soil with a 3 cm dressing of compost, applied December. It used to be said that this would make them fork, but it absolutely does not. Check out my Myths book for a liberating Christmas present!

The compost applied in December 2024 has also served to maintain fertility for the Brussels sprouts plants. Look how fantastically well they have grown, without any extra additions or feeds. Much rain had washed through this compost before the Brussels arrived!

Over the past month, harvests have arrived in the top shed to store. It’s an uninsulated building and in this climate that works. Everything in the photo can survive slight freezing.

Please check out the No Dig Global map, which is live again, after we switched web hosts. It’s well populated, and you can feature there too.

I wish you the best of festive seasons!