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A garden letter from Elspeth Trevail, on the first Sunday of every month
A letter to sow by.
One long letter a month from two acres of heavy clay at Brackenhurst: what to sow, what to cut back and what went wrong. Read one free, or become a patron for £6 a month.
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Every month, a packet. Tear it open.
Each letter comes as a seed packet: the plant on the front, when to sow and harvest on the back. Open it and the letter is inside, written to be read on the potting bench.
Brackenhurst LettersNo. 10
October
Lifting the dahlias
On the back · Dahlia
| J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sow | Sow in April | Sow in May | ||||||||||
| Harvest | Harvest in July | Harvest in August | Harvest in September | Harvest in October |
How to grow Plant tubers in May, 60 cm apart. Lift after the first frost.
No. 10 · October 2026
Lifting the dahlias, and the hedge I cut too early
Dear patrons, this is the month the garden turns. Somewhere in the next three weeks the first proper frost will come down the valley, and by the morning after it the dahlias will be black. Don't mourn them.
What I got wrong
I cut the beech hedge in the last week of August, the moment the birds had finished nesting. It was too early. Next year: the second week of September, and not a day before.
A patron asks
My rhubarb leaves have gone yellow. Is the plant dying?
Not at all. It is shutting down for winter. Pull the old leaves off and give the crown a barrow of muck.
VegetablesChosen
My autumn broad beans in the second row never came up. Is it too late to sow again, and should I use the same bed?
- Received
- Chosen
- Answered
Garlic GermidourRaised bedSown 24 Oct
Sweet peas MatucanaCold frameSown 11 Oct
| Plant | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GarlicGermidour | Sow in February | Harvest in June | Harvest in July | Sow in October | Sow in November | Sow in December | ||||||
| Broad beansAquadulce | Sow in February | Sow in March | Sow in April | Harvest in May | Harvest in June | Harvest in July | Sow in October | Sow in November |
SowHarvestThis month
Two packets
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Packet two
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Inside this packet
- A new letter on the first Sunday of every month
- Every letter before it
- What to sow and do each month, week by week
- A plant question with a photo: six answered in each letter, the rest get a private reply
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