31 Oct - All Hallows Eve

It's the end of October and Halloween. Before I get to pumpkin carving for this year, a quick catch up since the last post.

I grew sweet peas for the first time this year and they provided a lovely display at the allotment. I've decided to have them in the garden in 2017 and will try to over-Winter them in a cold greenhouse. I've germinated a few in a heated propagator and, according to the packet, they should survive until Spring when they will be set to grow away. If they don't, well, I've got plenty and will re-sow if required.

I've taken the enviromesh off the leeks and they look a little ropy. Nevertheless, some of the leeks are already well developed and have thick stems. I've weeded around them and have given them a feed of fertiliser, hopefully this will give them a boost over the next few weeks.

I've tidied up the Bosworth F1 Brussels sprouts by taking off the bottom yellow leaves and have weeded around them. Up until a few weeks ago they looked rather underwhelming but they have really developed well since. I was surprised to see how large a lot of them are and we've already had them for Sunday lunch the past fortnight.

It's pumpkin carving time! This year I grew 'Big Max' and what I thought was 'Jack O'Lantern' from saved seed but which turned out to be a marrow/courgette hybrid. So, Big Max it is ...

(Pic below - pumpkin end of August still on the vine)

(Pics below - my wife has decided to go for another 'Green Man' version)

 

Well, that's it for October. See you in November. Bye for now.

16 Oct - Autumn's Here

I can't believe it's already the middle of October and Autumn has truly arrived. All of a sudden there are golden leaves everywhere and the days have shortened so much that I'm locking the hens up at just gone 6 pm as darkness is falling so quickly.

I've dug all the Sarpo Mira main crop potatoes now. They've had a quick rinse, been dried and bagged up into three large hessian sacks. I'm really pleased with the potato crop this year, they are large and well formed. There's a bit of my usual scab on the outside but overall they're great.

Potatoes are a useful crop on the allotment as they really help to turn over the ground. Trenches are dug to plant them, they are ridged up and then they whole area is deeply dug when harvesting them. This last bed was simply cleaned of old plant stalks and any obvious weeds then I just ran the petrol tiller over it - job done for the Winter. I've dragged my usual covers over the top which I find helps protect the area from weeds and rain compaction.

The last job this week was the grassy path that used to divide the two half plots. This grassy path was really quite wide and was a bit of a pain to maintain in terms of strimming the grass. When I took over both plots either side of the path it seemed logical to remove the path and make the allotment whole again. In March this year, I took a load of turf off either side and covered the rest with black plastic which has been kept on for eight months. (Pic below - picture from March 2016 - the grass path was edged then covered in black plastic).

The plastic did its job and all the grass was dead. It was a pretty simple job to roughly fork over the area. In Spring I'll till it properly and level it up with the beds either side. 

The greenhouse has been looking sorry for itself for the past few weeks so it was time to clear the old tomato and sweet pepper plants. I quick tidy up and a sweep, the greenhouse was looking a bit neater. I'll be popping some wood in there over the next few days as I use it over the Winter for chopping kindling for the wood burner; it's an ideal place to keep out of the Winter weather.

I've actually sown seeds too this week. I'm trying to over Winter some sweet peas this year so I've put the seeds into pots and placed them in the propagator to germinate. I'll transfer them to the cold greenhouse when (if) they come up.

That's it, bye for now.

08 Oct - Main Crop Spuds & Plum Wine

The first week of October has seen mild days and cooler nights along with a bit if wet weather too. I've been digging up a bucket of main crop potatoes most evenings in an attempt to get them all in before the weather gets bad. 

My Sarpo Mira main crop have been terrific this year, probably the best sized potatoes I've had in years. The weather has been good for spuds this season; we had just enough rain to keep them watered without the humid, damp air that causes blight. In fact, most of the potato plants are still green, a bit ragged yes but still growing. (Pic - Sarpo Mira potatoes still growing in October).

I've already got two hessian sacks full of large potatoes and I've still got a third of the crop to dig up, not counting the potatoes we've already eaten. I dig up a large bucket full, give them a quick wash then leave them on a rack to dry before sacking them up. (Pic - main crop spuds an excellent size this year).

I've cleaned up the Sturon onions too, pulling off the straggly roots and removing the dried off leaves. As usual, a decent crop which should last me a full season; we've not bought onions for years. They are still stored in the shed but I'll move them to a frost free place before Winter.

It's been a busy few weeks on the wine making front too. I've been clearing and bottling a lovely red blackberry wine plus the golden plum wine from the fruit I picked a month a go (see Sept 06 post). I've racked off a dozen bottles of plum for maturing and I'll keep a gallon in a demi-john for drinking over the next month or two.

That;s it for now. Bye.