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Tips and jobs

Harvest a home-grown Christmas
There is no prouder moment than putting your Christmas dinner on the table within hours of picking it. You'll have maincrop carrots from store, but you can dig parsnips right through the month, and if you plant late- and early-cropping Brussels sprouts (try 'Nelson' and 'Wellington') you'll hedge your bets and guarantee a crop. With planning you can even have fresh-dug potatoes: plant 'Carlingford' tubers in September in tubs under frost-free cover and they'll be ready for Christmas Day.

Prune apple trees
As soon as the leaves are down you can take the loppers to your apple trees. Aim for a 'goblet' shape of about five main branches: start by removing any branches growing into the centre of the tree, then take out any that are dead, diseased or damaged. Finally cut over-long branches back by a third to just above a lower branch.

Plant bare-root fruit bushes
Bare-root gooseberries, blackcurrants and redcurrants are great value and you get a fantastic choice of varieties, but be ready to settle them in as soon as they arrive so they don't dry out. Prepare the ground well with loads of organic matter, and spread roots out evenly in the planting hole before backfilling and firming in.

Top tips

Sow onion seed on Boxing Day if you want to grow super-sized veg for the village show. Given a long growing season, 'Bedfordshire Champion' and 'Ailsa Craig' can produce bulbs to make jaws drop.

Sort out your tools before the spring rush: if you need to get lawnmowers serviced or shears sharpened get them down the repair shop while it's quiet, as everyone will be there come spring.

Harvest bean poles from hazel coppices: if you haven't got any hazel, plant a tree now for endless supplies of beanpoles, or contact your local coppice group (www.coppice.co.uk).

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