24 Sep - Pumpkin & Main Crop Spuds

Today was largely dry until the rain arrived this evening. There was enough time for a few hours at the allotment to continue a general tidy up which I started last week when I moved some planks from the soon to be vacant plot #10 to edge the plot of #11. 

Things are basically wound up now on plot #11 and today was the final stage in putting it to bed for the Winter. This leaves me with the task of clearing the Autumn crops and fruit from plot #10, leaving just the Winter crops before handing it over to someone else in Spring.

Having picked the Crown Prince and Butternut earlier in the month, I finally had to pick the Big Max pumpkin as the leaves had finally gone. I've been leaving it as long as possible as I only grow a pumpkin for Halloween and it's another 5 weeks away yet. I've cleaned all the squash with water containing a sterilising tablet in an attempt to remove as much bacteria as possible to help with preservation. I weighed the pumpkin and it's just over a stone, 16 lb, I'm happy with that.

There was just a few sweetcorn plants remaining on plot #11 so I removed them today and gave the area a quick weed and dig over. That's it for plot #11, all the crops have been harvested; of course it won't be like it next year as this will be my only plot so it will have something in it all year around. This season's Winter veg is currently on plot #10. As there is a sycamore tree behind my shed which drops thousands of seeds each Autumn, I like to cover the bare earth at this time of year so I've put the covers over.

I've had a fair bit of slug damage to my leeks, first I thought it was leek moth but I couldn't see any signs of the moth larvae and there were lots of tell-tale silvery trails so I've put some pellets down. I've recovered with enviromesh as the leek moth is due in the next few weeks and the mesh helps though isn't perfect.

The results of my potato experiment are in; this season I didn't dig long trenches for my main crop, I just dug a hole with a spade, popped each seed potato in along with a bit of fertiliser then mounded the earth over the top, again with a bit of fertiliser incorporated. Well, I've dug a few plants up and there doesn't seem to be any difference in the crops at all. The tubers are large and plentiful.

I can't recommend the blight resistant Sarpo Mira highly enough. We seem to have a warm, wet August quite regularly, perfect for potato blight but, while everyone else's main crop potatoes on site are gone, the Sarpo Mira is still standing. Yes, they look a bit scruffy and worn now but the plants are still there, putting extra weight into the tubers. 

The only downside for me is potato scab. I don't think that is particularly a Sarpo Mira fault as I get scab to some extent on all my main crop spuds, my clay soil clearly has too much lime in it a the moment. Fortunately scab is just on the surface of the tuber skins and doesn't effect the potatoes in any way. Yes, they are a bit ugly but once peeled they are fine. I'll take large scabby spuds over rotting ones any day!

  

I'm going to continue digging up the main crop spuds over the few weeks and clear plot #10 as I go along ready for someone else to take over. That's it for now, see you next time.

14 Sep - High Winds & Winter Squash

It's the middle of September already, hard to believe except that there is a chill in the mornings now. I've started picking my sweetcorn; Incredible F1 always seems to provide an excellent crop with at least two good sized cobs on each plant. I've been eating a fair bit and there's still a few plants in the ground though they are virtually horizontal now rather then vertical due to high winds.

The first 'named' storm of the season, 'Aileen', hit overnight on the 12th/13th and not only flattened the sweetcorn but demolished the runner beans. So, a bit prematurely, I picked what was left from the vines and cleared the beans away for another season. Once the remaining few sweetcorn plants are taken up there will be nothing left in plot 11 at all. I've added two shelves to the outside of the shed, the top one to store the bamboo canes and the bottom shelf accommodating the strawberry plants in pots.

I've started work on plot 10 too, clearing bits of junk and moving border planks over to plot 11. I've taken up the Winter squash, except the pumpkin, as the leaves are basically gone. There has been a decent harvest of Crown Prince which is my main squash this year. I planted them for the first time last season and we found them to be tasty and easy to prepare. I think they will be may main Winter squash for a few years yet. 

I also planted a couple of butternut, Hunter F1, they haven't been that good this season, remaining relatively small compared to previous harvests. Still, they are edible and we will enjoy them. Over the past few years I have found that the butternut don't tend to store as well as other Winter squash so I'm reducing the number I plant. In an effort to preserve all the squash for longer I washed them in a Milton solution to remove as much bacteria as possible from the skins in an attempt to slow down the natural degeneration. 

The squash are stored somewhere relatively bright and warm for a couple of weeks, apparently this helps them ripen and helps the skins to harden and heal. The squashes will then be stored in a cooler place for use throughout the Winter months.

That's it for the mid-September round up. More clearing to do over the next few weeks. Bye for now.