27 Aug - Bank Holiday Weekend

We are rapidly heading towards the end of August already; before we know it Autumn will be in full swing. I finally took up the beetroot, a bit late for some of them as they were overly large. Nevertheless, there were plenty of decent sized roots to be boiled up and pickled.

I buy in pre-spiced pickling vinegar in a litre jar, just right for a nice batch of beetroot. I'll leave this pickle away well into the Autumn, making sure I have some left over for Christmas. Pickled beetroot is my favourite and has the added bonus of keeping for months and months.

As we've had a few days of warm, dry weather I've taken up the last of the early potatoes. They aren't really 'earlies', i.e small salad potatoes now, they are decent sized spuds that need to be peeled. I've the best part of a sack full which should last the next six weeks.

By the time these are finished the main crop Sarpo Miro potatoes should be ready. I've noticed blight on my neighbour's main crop spuds and the leaves are rapidly collapsing. The Sarpo Mira are proving, yet again, they are worth the extra cost as they are still green and growing. Yes, they are looking a little ragged this time of year having been in the ground since April but, the leaves are still green so hopefully the tubers continue to grow. I'm hoping that they'll have at least another four weeks in the ground as I didn't dig them up until the start of October last year.

My two halves of the plot are a complete contrast at the moment. On plot 10 all the beds are still full with spuds, brassicas, leeks, parsnips and Winter squash; plot 11 is basically cleared now with the only remaining crops being runner beans and sweet corn. I've picked all the broad beans, salad crops, onions, early potatoes and the bits and pieces I had there. Of course, next season I will only be growing on one half so things won't look so bare! (Pic - above plot 10 - below plot 11).

That's it for this end of August update. Bye for now.

20 Aug - Onions and Winter Squash

Unfortunately the weather hasn't been that kind over the last few weeks; we've had sunny days but not all in a row. It was dry yesterday with rain forecast for this afternoon so I decided to take the onions up yesterday morning. This gave them a day in the sunshine to dry a little then I moved them into an area of my shed with a perspex roof to continue to dry out.

The Sturon onion sets always do well; they provide enough to last us the whole year, not bad for £1.50. I planted them out around the 25th March (see here), they are usually the first crop to go into the plot and they kick off the growing season. Five months later there's a whole year's worth in storage, they keep well and are definitely worth their space on the allotment. After pulling up the onions I weeded over the area and gave the soil a quick dig. I'll do it again before the plot is covered for the Winter.

I just noticed this weekend that my 'All Gold' Autumn fruiting raspberries are producing nicely. I had a couple of canes a few years ago and they've taken a little while to establish but they are a welcome addition to the harvest this time of year. I find that they don't produce a glut like the Summer fruiting raspberries, there's a steady crop from mid-August to early October if the weather is kind. These are currently located in plot 10, the plot I'm giving up at the end of the season but, I'm definitely transplanting these along with some of the red Summer fruiting raspberries to plot 11. 

Talking of plot 10, it's still pretty full at the moment as it contains the main crop potatoes which will come up at the end of September/start of October depending on weather and blight conditions; there is a bed of brassicas with Brussels Sprouts, Kale and Winter Cabbage, also leeks which won't be cleared until February and finally, a bed of Winter squash which should be finished next month. I'll be giving plot 10 a good tidy up before handing it over to someone else ready for the next season.

A quick Winter squash update as I'm on the subject; the Crown Prince plants have had a bit of a tidy up. It's the right time to pay some attention to them. I've removed any long runners and have ensured that the plants have one established fruit; hopefully each squash should grow to a decent size over the next month. There's no point in having lots of small unripe squashes, much better to have one or two large ripe fruits per plant. I give them a liquid feed at least once a week. They are growing well at the moment but a few weeks of sunshine going into September would be useful. (Pic - Crown Prince squash slowly getting larger).

The butternut Hunter F1 are good too, I'm growing less of these this season as I find that they don't store as well as the Crown Prince. I try and leave two to three butternut per plant, but again, I trim any runners off that aren't now bearing fruit; there's no point in any new ones developing now because they won't be ready by the end of the season. Let all the nutrients go into what is already there. The Big Max pumpkin is a good size, it's probably the largest I've grown. This is just for Halloween and for carving.

Well, that's it for this update. As I write the rain is hammering down outside so I'm glad I got the onions into storage and the squash bed has been sorted out. The forecast is for a dryer, warmer spell next week. We could do with it. Bye for now.

05 Aug - Broad Bean Harvest

August is here already and the weather has cooled a little with heavy rain showers - this is becoming typical August weather in the UK over the past few years. Anyway, the broad beans are well past their prime and if I don't pick them now they'll go to waste. 

It was a sunny this morning so I finally got around to the beans. I don't take them bit by bit, I like to sort them all in one go, freezing them for future use in pasta sauces etc. I pulled each of the plants up and stripped the pods off - stalks into the compost bin and pods into a bucket then a bag to be taken home. The beans are then extracted, blanched for a few minutes in boiling water to kill any bacteria, they are plunged into cold water then put into a large freezer bag and frozen.

As I have explained in previous blogs, I've been reducing my crops this year as I've planted way too much over the past few years and am going back to half a plot from next season. This goes for the broad beans too, I planted a lot less this year but still started with a large bucket of pods and ended up with a large bag of beans in the freezer. Note to self, 12 plants are plenty!

The Sturon onions will have to come up soon, they have really 'gone over' now but I prefer having a few days of warm sunshine forecast so I can pull them up and leave them outside to dry off a little. I'll hang on a little while longer to see if the weather will oblige. 

The carrots in the barrel, Sweet Candle, seem to be doing OK but the ones I planted out in a 'V' trench with compost (Nantes) didn't germinate too well. In all fairness, the seed was a couple of years old so it was my own fault. I have managed to pick a few that did germinate and the trench technique in my clay soil does work.

I'm cropping Primo II Summer cabbages, courgettes, French beans, Runner beans, Kale and loads of early potatoes. In the freezer I have carrot and various types of beans, I'll be adding more over the next few weeks too. The beetroot, which I thought had been decimated by pests, has done well, in fact they are too big. I need to pick them this month and pickle them - I always have a jar or two ready by the Autumn. The sweet corn, Incredible F1, are putting on quite a few cobs, this F1 variety usually has at least two large cobs per plant which makes it an excellent choice. I did around 16 plants last year and ended up with over 32 cobs, too many again - there's still frozen corn in the freezer! I've reduced the number of plants this year.

There are gaps appearing on the north side of the plot now where the spinach, broad beans and new potatoes have been cleared. I've weeded those areas as the crops are cleared and have dug them over. I'll probably add a bit of fertiliser in the Autumn, weed and dig it over again before covering for the Winter.

That's it for the start of August. I'll post again in about a fortnight. Bye for now.