11 Nov - First Sign Of Cold Weather

It's coming up to the end of the second week of November and we've had the first mild frost of the Winter season. There's been a succession of cold mornings with a very light dusting of frost across the grass though the ground has not frozen.

It's been really Autumnal with leaves everywhere. For the first time I've actually been collecting them and sticking them in the compost bins because there seems to be so many. I had to rake them up from the chicken pen so the grass could get some light.

As you would expect, there's not a massive amount going on at this time of year. There's still plenty of crops being used though. I've been having eggs from the hens, we've been making a very small dent in the Wiinter squash store, there's still two and a half large sacks of potatoes, racks of onions, kale, sprouts, leeks, garlic, and I've not dug up a parsnip yet nor picked any Winter cabbage which are beginning to heart up a little now. There's still broad and runner beans along with a large bag of sweet corn in the freezer. Best of all I have shelves of wine in storage including plum, blackberry and rhubarb. 

There's still a few jobs on my list, the biggest is the sorting out of the fruit beds as they need a good weed. The strawberries are in a terrible condition and they really need thinning out as they have spread everywhere. I've pruned out the old raspberry canes but I need to start tying in this years new ones.

One job I have started is my plan for a new method of large carrot growing. I've had some success in barring in my Sweet Candle carrots but, the carrot fly does seem to be able to cause issues even when they are protected. Covering them up is getting to be an annual chore. So, I've decided to plant a few carrots in a barrel next season as the height is supposed to help protect against carrot fly as they fly close to the ground. 

I started to prepare the barrel by drilling some holes in the tbottom and by putting in a layer of small stones and gravel for drainage; next I added a mixture of compost and sand without too many stones. I'm not going for exhibition carrots, just trying to get a handful of decent specimens.

Lastly today, I've been sorting out my compost bins. Two of the three are well on they way to rotting down, they were full in September but have settled so I've combined them into one. Turning them and getting some air into the mix helps the compost decompose. I did notice that most of the worms were in the bottom and centre of the bin, probably because of the recent cold temperatures. The last bin has a lot of leaves in it so I'm adding the usual organic waste as I go along to help it all rot down.

I'm lucky, I visit the allotment at last twice a day because of my hens so I see the seasons pass on the site and get to enjoy the sunrises and sunsets. I'll leave you with a picture of this morning's sunrise. That's it for this quick update.