31 Oct - Pumpkin Comes Good

It's All Hallows Eve and the pumpkin I've been growing since April finally gets to be centre stage.

The variety, Jack O'Lantern, is an ideal size for both carving and eating though this strain comes from collected seed and I'm going to have to buy fresh next season as I'm getting hybrids now. While the hybrids have proved delicious, they don't look much like pumpkins. I did manage to get one to 'come true' for Halloween though.

I'm somewhat traditional when it comes to pumpkin carving, a pair of spooky eyes and a set of spiky teeth will do nicely thank you very much but Mrs Allotment Blogger is more 'arty farty' and, as carving cucurbits is her domain I guess she can do what she wants (and she does).

This All Hallows Eve the pumpkin queen has decided on a 'scene'. Cave, moon, dragon and dead tree it is then. It must have worked as we had record numbers of kids knocking the door for treats.

That's it for another pumpkin year. Now it's just a matter of roasting the seeds and pumpkin flesh and making the most of this special squash. Bye for now.

18 Oct - A Handful Of Sprouts

We've had some heavy rain over the past few days but the temperatures are unseasonably warm, hitting 18C this weekend. While temperatures are forecast to hold up for a bit longer yet, the winds are set to increase over the next day or two due to Atlantic storms.

In-between the spells of rain I've been at the plot checking out the Brussels Sprouts which are developing well in the short period of Autumn where the plants are still able to put on some growth. The sprout variety is Trafalgar F1 which is supposed to be a mid-season sprout, ready from December. I was surprised then to see a handful of good sized sprouts, enough to pick for a small taste this weekend.

Last year I grew Bosworth F1, more by accident than design as I was given some plants after my initial sowing of Brigitte F1 were eaten by a snail (see 01 Dec 2013 post). The Bosworth F1 went on to be truly excellent and if Trafalgar don't do the business this year I'll be going back to Bosworth next season. Still, let's see how Trafalgar does though I have noticed that Trafalgar doesn't have the AGM while Bosworth does, that doesn't bode well.

After digging up my first Musselburgh leek this week and, seeing that there appears to be no more evidence of leek moth etc since I checked at the start of the month, I removed the frame and enviromesh. It's a bit of a risk but the leeks are already well developed and could probably survive a late attack if it were to come. The risk is outweighed by allowing extra light for the plants and the convenience for harvesting.

During a rainy afternoon this week I tackled the garden greenhouse. The tomatoes and sweet peppers have really gone over now so it was time to clear them out. I picked a last crop of the season and then up-rooted the plants for the compost bin.

The canes are stored again for next season but I didn't get around to sorting through all pots and seed trays, a job I hate. They're just piled up at the moment but I'll have to go through them all soon as it will be a matter of months before tomato seed sowing will take take place and the cycle begins again.

That's it, take it easy. Bye for now.

15 Oct - First Leeks Of The Season

The weather has been a bit wet for the past week with heavy rain showers, often prolonged. Temperatures have still been relatively decent, hovering around 14-16C during the day and there hasn't been any frost so far.

I've been checking my Musselburgh leeks weekly for leek moth and allium leaf miner. Both these pests have increased in recent years to the point where leeks only thrive on my site when protected by enviromesh or horticultural fleece. Thankfully, by early November, the threat is over and the mesh can come off allowing the plants to benefit from a little extra light during the shorter days.

I sowed my Musselburgh leeks in a tray at the start of February 2014 (picture from 3rd Feb post) and they were planted out in early July – quite a long process but, leeks are worth it. It’s still a thrill to dig up my first leeks at this time of year and the plants will continue to stand well through the wet and cold of Winter when there is little to take from the plot except brassicas.

The leeks are already of a good size, quite surprising as they caught allium rust from the garlic when they were in their tray and I nearly didn't plant them out. The old variety Musselburgh is such an excellent leek and is worth growing year after year, you can take it from October to April. (Below - first leek of the season).

The Winter cabbages, Ormskirk Savoy, are now developing hearts. They have benefited from the removal of the nets and a liquid feed. It's nice to see them as there isn't too much on the plot now - Winter cabbages, leeks, Brussels Sprouts, Swiss Chard, parsnips and swede - though I've all manner of veg sliced and diced in the freezer and loads of squash, onions and a few potatoes in storage (not to mention the wine).

That's it for this little update - things are slowing down on the plot now, though there is still weeding and tidying to do - as always. Bye for now.

09 Oct - Autumn Arrives

While the first few days of October were cool but fine, the weather has now become cold and wet. A lovely late September lulled us into a false sense of Summer just slipping away when in reality we were all on borrowed meteorological time.

Luckily I did do a few things on the plot before the weather changed. The first job was to check my leeks under their enviromesh. I found two leek moth caterpillars and four cocoons, which I removed. The leeks are looking OK so far; I'll give it to the end of October before removing the mesh; the pest threat will be over by then and the leeks will benefit from the extra light as the sun's strength has diminished. (Below - a fine morning at the start of October).

My last Winter squash has finally gone over so I've picked the pumpkin. The vine had virtually gone to nothing so I thought it best to store the pumpkin in the shed for the rest of the month until Halloween arrives. We're not big fans of the taste of pumpkin ourselves but the seeds are lovely roasted. The main reason for growing one is for carving on All Hallows Eve, a job my wife does admirably but hates. I'm just hoping it keeps well until required.

In the first few days of the month I managed to do a bit more weeding around the strawberry patch, I started at the end of last month but it's still not finished. I was amazed to see a few strawberries on the plants too. There's still a load of weeding to do around the rest of the strawberries, gooseberries and raspberry canes but that will have to wait until the next fine spell.

It's that time of year and a key signifier that the growing season has ended is the ritual demolishing of the runner bean poles. The foliage was beginning to turn yellow and there were only a few forlorn beans left so it was time for them to come down. Canes now stored and vines added to the compost bin - all done for another year.

Just after I took the bean poles down the weather came in again with low cloud, blustery wind and very heavy rain. I waited out the squall in the shed and then made a dash for home. Autumn has announced its arrival.

On a sad note, one of my hens passed away, ironically the one at the top of the pecking order who was both the largest and had grown her feathers back. Still not sure why, one day she was putting the others in their place, the next day she went to sleep in a quiet corner in some warm straw and never woke up. RIP Lillian.