Taken on the school garden - help???

[Laney]

In a moment of complete madness I have taken on the quite large(to me anyway) school garden.  There are lots of things there that I have never grown before and have no idea what to do with them over winter.  I coud do with an idiots guide really.   ;D

What needs pulling up, pruning right back, mulching etc out of this lot;

A giant raspberry bush
Aubergine
Celeriac
Kale
Chillis
Courgettes
Rhubarb

Help!!! ???

[Laney]

[JoeCocker]

I'm no expert, but the aubergine, courgettes and chillis want pulling up (They're probably already dying off)
The rubbarb can be cut back, but don't put the leaves on the compost as i beleive these are poison?
not  sure on the others, but perhaps someone else will post amore helpful reply

[flowerlady]

You could repot the chillis ... if they are worth keeping ... then cut them down to approx 3" and over-winter for an early start!

You could also sow over-wintering broad beans Aquadulce Claudia, and a winter pea ... perhaps Feltham First?  Didn't check where you are but some fleece over the beans and peas would help  ;) just remember to weight it down!
(you can use water filled plastic milk bottles fo this!)

What about some garlic??  Sell it to the parents for seeds for next year !!!  ;)

Good Luck!  :)

[manicscousers]

we just leave our rhubarb to die back and mulch, raspberries , ours are already cut back but it depends if they are summer or autumn fruiting, aubergine , chillies and courgettes should be dying back now as already said, our celeriac is in storage, not sure about that, kale is great all winter, nothing ate ours  ;D
as flo says, you can pot the chillies up..btw, we always put the rhubarb leaves in the compost, when we don't feed them to the chickens  ;D

[asbean]

Rhubarb leaves are OK on the compost pile - just not good to eat  :o :o :o

[Robert_Brenchley]

You can compost rhubarb, but I leave them to rot where they are. Rhubarb needs feeding too! Celeriac needs lifting; by this time, eiher there is a crop or there isn't! It's a difficult one which needs loads of water, and probably isn't the best for a school garden.

When does the raspberry fruit? If it's a late (autumn) one, cut it down to the ground. If it's a summer variety, cut out the older canes and leave the younger ones to fruit next year.

[Laney]

It's an autumn fruiting raspberry, so I shall cut it back when I go tomorrow.  I'm spending two hours there tomorrow and have helpers from each class coming out to help too. ;D

I'll bring the celeriac home then, and the aubergine.  Not sure what to do with them though!

Thanks everyone.   :)

[cornykev]

Hi Laney, I'm cropping Celeriac at the moment, but I leave mine in the ground until I need them. Rhubard, like Robert says leave to rot, but if you need to tidy up put them in the compost, mine go in there no problem.  ;D ;D ;D