The Veg Grower Podcast

November vegetable gardening isn’t about squeezing in every possible job before winter. For me, it’s about choosing what’s worth doing now and making next year a little easier. In episode 682 of the Veg Grower Podcast, released on 2 November 2026, I’m sharing a kitchen garden update, a long-awaited allotment clearance and a listener-inspired discussion about saving seeds. There’s also a new pumpkin recipe idea to take us from plot to plate.[Insert episode player here.]

What can we sow in November?

Shorter days and colder soil narrow our options, but they don’t bring sowing to a complete halt. Hardy broad beans are worth considering, provided you choose a variety suitable for autumn sowing and take account of your soil and exposure. On a wet or windy site, waiting until late winter or early spring and starting in pots may be a better option.Hardy, autumn-sowing peas are another possibility, particularly under cover. Check the packet rather than assuming every variety can overwinter, and protect the seed from mice. Meteor is one example of a pea used for autumn sowing.In my kitchen garden, I’ve planted onion sets around the edge of a bed. I’m hoping they’ll form an attractive, productive border. Sets are small bulbs, not seed, and autumn planting calls for sets sold for that purpose, planted within the supplier’s recommended window.The point of November vegetable gardening is to work with the conditions, not fight them. A small, well-chosen sowing is more useful than filling trays with crops that need warmth or light you can’t provide.

An allotment corner finally cleared

Down on the allotment, I’ve finished digging out brambles and gooseberries from an area that had become difficult to maintain. I started the job in late summer, but it’s taken time to get it cleared.The thorns made weeding and harvesting awkward, which meant I wasn’t making the most of the space. Now I can think about replacements and, just as importantly, how I’ll reach them to maintain and pick the fruit.I’d like to find gooseberries with fewer thorns, or a genuinely thornless option if available. That needs a careful look at variety descriptions before I buy. I’ll also be watching the cleared area for bramble regrowth.It’s a reminder that a productive plot needs to be usable. Leaving room to reach a plant can matter just as much as fitting it into a bed.

Seed saving: start with one manageable crop

A listener’s voicemail prompted this week’s podding shed conversation: can saving seeds help reduce costs and make us more self-sufficient?My answer is to start small. Peas and French beans are useful beginner crops because they largely self-pollinate. Save from healthy plants of an open-pollinated variety, let selected pods mature, dry the seed thoroughly and label it with the crop, variety and year. Broad beans and runner beans are more prone to insect-mediated crossing, so they need extra thought if you want predictable offspring.Open-pollinated varieties can reproduce recognisably when you manage crossing and save from enough suitable plants. An heirloom label describes a variety’s history; it doesn’t remove those practical requirements. Seed from F1 hybrids won’t reliably recreate the original plant’s characteristics.My attempt to save purple sprouting broccoli seed was a reminder that seed saving also has a cost in time and space. The plants occupied the ground for a long time, and separating the seed was fiddly. Brassicas can cross with compatible flowering crops, so maintaining a variety needs more planning.There’s no need to turn this into an all-or-nothing project. Learn one crop well, build confidence and keep buying seed where that makes sense.

On the menu: smoky pumpkin and chickpea traybake

This week’s recipe idea is a smoky pumpkin and chickpea traybake with lemon yoghurt. Pumpkin and red onions roast with smoked paprika, cumin and thyme, then chickpeas join the tray for the final part of cooking.

Stormy weather may interrupt the jobs we planned, but it does not have to stop us making progress. This week, Richard checks the allotment and kitchen garden after wind and rain, clears two overfilled sheds and turns a dark evening into a useful seed-organising session.

Productive Wet-Weather Gardening

With outdoor work limited, the allotment sheds became the main project. Tools, feeds and useful supplies were sorted, unwanted clutter was removed and the larger shed was restored as somewhere to work, shelter and enjoy a cuppa.

Preparing the Kitchen Garden

Loose pots and watering cans were secured, doors and windows were checked, and space was made in the water butts. After the storm, the clean-up included blown debris, a broken cold-frame lid, an overturned growhouse and a grape trellis pushed out of shape.

Sort Seeds Now, Plan Better Later

In the podding shed, every seed packet was checked. Open packets and older varieties were moved to the front, while the collection was recorded in a spreadsheet. The result is less waste, fewer duplicate purchases and a clearer plan for the next growing season.

Also in This Episode

Why indoor jobs still count as productive gardening

The value of small, regular weeding sessions

Roasted pumpkin and apple soup

Winter care for an outdoor AutoPot system

News from the Supporters Club

I can cope with working in the cold. Working in the rain is another matter. With plenty of showers this week, I’ve found myself moving more of my gardening under cover — and growing food indoors has become the thread running through this episode.There are young plants filling the shed, cold frames back in position in front of the greenhouse and clear benches at the allotment where the tomato plants used to be. Inside the house, the kitchen windowsill and growing shelves are part of the picture too.It might be the middle of October, but I’m not putting the garden away. I’m making room for what comes next.

Making room in the kitchen garden

My daily visits to the shed have included sowing peas, broad beans and more onions, as well as pricking out seedlings. I’ll admit that pricking out is a job I find tedious. Seeing those little plants getting bigger afterwards is the part I enjoy.Space is becoming the problem, which is where the cold frames come in. Having cleaned them a few weeks ago, this weekend I lifted them out of the way, removed some of the slabs beneath them and laid sand followed by gravel.The frames are now back in front of the greenhouse, with a few young plants inside. I prefer the look of the gravel, and I’m hoping it will help water drain through rather than collect on the surface. I’ll be keeping an eye on that, along with checking the plants’ watering needs now they’re under cover.Inside the home greenhouse, the tomatoes and cucumbers have come out, while the chillies and aubergines are still going strong. I’ve also moved a strawberry plant outside as part of my usual rotation: first year in the greenhouse, second year outside at home and third year at the allotment. A young runner takes the greenhouse place, ready for the earlier crop I’m aiming for.

Clearing Grandad’s greenhouse for winter

At the allotment, my attention has been on Grandad’s greenhouse. I have two greenhouse structures there, but only one is glazed; sorting out the other remains a job for another time.The tomato plants had gone brown and were looking past their best. I harvested the remaining tomatoes before chopping the plants down, with the unripe fruit coming home to ripen. The foliage is destined for composting, although my compost bins are already very full.With the plants out, I cleared the benches, tidied up and gave everything a wash. Looking into that space now, I can think about the winter crops that will come in rather than the summer plants that need to come out. The planting is still ahead of me; this week was about getting ready.I’ve also cleared weeds from the rhubarb and asparagus beds, added compost and topped it with straw. My aim is to look after those beds through winter and support their return to growth in spring. It’s another job done outside while more of my day-to-day growing shifts under cover.

Growing food indoors, from windowsill to kitchen shelves

Even with the growing space I have outdoors, I still find room for food plants in the house. Herbs on the kitchen windowsill are the simplest example. Microgreens and sprouting seeds are part of my indoor growing too — small additions rather than something I expect to feed the family.Then there’s my four-tier shelf, fitted with grow lights and heated propagators. It takes up space, but it gives me somewhere to start seeds and keep young plants going during the darker part of the year. That includes making an early start with crops such as chillies and aubergines.Alongside the shelves is my small hydroponic system, with its overhead lights. I find growing plants in water fascinating. I previously kept a tomato plant growing in that system for over a year, and it produced tomatoes.Now there’s an aubergine in it. It was slow to get going but is growing well, and I’m hoping for aubergines during winter. That is still a hope, not a harvest I can report yet. The nutrients are one part of the set-up I don’t want to skimp on.

Autumn is full of useful materials that gardeners can turn into next year’s fertility. In episode 679 of The Veg Grower Podcast, Richard makes the most of fallen leaves, prepares to store wood ash safely and shares practical ways to keep growing costs under control.

Turn Fallen Leaves into Leaf Mould

At the allotment, the leaf mould bins are beginning to fill. A simple frame made from four posts and chicken wire is enough to hold leaves while allowing the airflow that supports slow fungal decomposition.

Leaves gathered with permission from gardens and recreation grounds can become a dark, crumbly soil improver over one or two years. Woodland leaves are best left in place, where they shelter wildlife and feed the woodland ecosystem.

Although the heap shrinks considerably, the finished leaf mould is valuable. Used as a mulch, it adds organic matter, protects the soil surface and helps the ground retain moisture. It is also a welcome alternative when bought-in compost is expensive.

Store Wood Ash Safely

Clean ash from untreated wood can be useful in the garden when used sparingly. It contains potassium and may benefit suitable flowering and fruiting crops. Do not use ash from coal, painted or treated timber, or manufactured fire logs.

Because ash can hide hot embers, transfer it to a lidded metal container on a non-combustible surface and leave it until completely cold. Keep stored ash dry, and avoid applying it around acid-loving plants.

Save Compost with Plug Trays

Pricking out seedlings is a regular job in the kitchen garden. Starting seeds in plug trays can reduce the amount of compost used while giving each seedling its own root space. It also lets the grower provide reliable germination conditions before young plants move outside.

Plant Spring Flowers for Pollinators

Daffodils and tulips are not edible crops, but early flowers can help pollinators. New bulbs create a strong display in pots, while previous years’ bulbs can be moved into grass, where they may naturalise and multiply.

Six More Ways to Cut Growing Costs

Save fully mature seed from healthy, open-pollinated plants.

Reuse clean old net curtains as supported crop covers, taking care not to trap wildlife.

Compost garden and suitable kitchen waste.

Clean, sharpen and oil tools to extend their working life.

Collect rainwater where permitted and mulch to reduce water loss.

Check existing supplies and swap surplus seed or plants before buying more.

This Week’s Harvest and Sowings

At the allotment, the harvest included cabbage, courgettes and marrow. In the kitchen garden, tomatoes, salad leaves and herbs were still producing. Broad beans, peas and dwarf kale for baby leaves were among the week’s sowings.

The message from this week’s episode is simple: look closely at what is already available. Fallen leaves, fireplace ash, saved seed and reused materials can all play a part in a productive garden—and each small saving adds up.

October may bring shorter days and cooler temperatures, but there is still plenty to do in the productive garden. In this week’s episode, I’m sowing crops for winter and next spring, preparing allotment beds, making a warming marrow curry and checking in on Alysda and Lisa’s new vegetable garden.

Seeds to Sow in October

Rather than choosing a single seed of the month, I’m looking at everything I plan to sow. Broad beans and peas can be started for overwintering in a suitable, sheltered position. Onion sets offer a quick route to next year’s crop, while onions from seed provide more choice for growers who can give them an early start.

Winter salad leaves and corn salad will keep small harvests coming through the colder months. Chillies will be started under heat and grow lights because they benefit from a long season. I’m also thinking ahead to companion flowers and spring bulbs that will provide colour and food for pollinators.

The seeds mentioned in this episode are available from Premier Seeds Direct.

Preparing the Allotment

The garlic has sprouted well, a marrow has been harvested and the tomatoes are beginning to show blight. The main allotment task, however, has been uncovering and preparing the beds for overwintering broad beans and peas. After moving the rhubarb pots and lifting the weed-suppressing membrane, I hoed out the remaining weeds and added compost. I’ll keep hoeing until planting time.

Field beans have also gone into another bed as green manure. Their roots can help break up clay soil, and the plants can support soil fertility. I’ll cut them down before flowering, leave the roots in place and return the top growth to the soil.

This weeks recipe

This weeks recipe is a delicous marrow curry which took Richard by surprise as he normally finds marrow a little boring. But this recipe made the marrow exciting that now he wants to grow more marrows just to cook this recipe

A Productive Garden Takes Shape

Alysda and Lisa have made good progress clearing trees for their first vegetable garden. The ground is flinty and currently looks like a building site, but the winter plan is clear: level the soil, secure the underground IBC water tank, lay hardcore and choose fruit trees. Establishing the infrastructure now will make the productive parts of the garden much easier to manage later.

Listen to the full episode for the complete allotment update, the recorded conversation with Alysda and Lisa, and more thoughts on what to sow this month.