October was mild but November has seen the first proper frosts of the season. As I have hens on the plot I get to see the allotment site all year around as I'm there at least twice a day. It's nice to see and record the seasons as they pass.
I've had to re-net the Brussels sprouts due to pigeon damage. This is the first year I've had to do this as usually the birds leave the brassicas alone and I can remove the nets after the threat of Cabbage White's has passed. Perhaps there's a new pigeon family in the area that likes sprout tops!? Anyway, the sprouts (Bosworth F1) are developing nicely and I've started taking them. I've found that this variety is relatively early and as they are F1, they stand throughout the Winter without 'blowing'.
The leeks (Musselburgh) seem to be doing well. I usually get leek moth these days but the enviromesh protection helps the problem and can be removed at the end of October. I've taken a few leeks already and they are developing into a good size.
Likewise, the experiment of planting carrots in a barrel has worked well with very little sign of carrot fly damage due to the height of the barrel; I believe the fly travels just a foot or so off the ground so a tall barrel keeps them away. I have a smaller barrel around somewhere so I think I'll plant that one up next year too. The carrots are Sweet Candle F1, a blunt ended variety that are one of the best carrot varieties around.
As we've had a frost now I decided to try a parsnip. Oh dear, it was massive! I barred the parsnips in, i.e, I made a conical hole with a metal bar about two foot deep and filled it with multipurpose compost. A few seeds were sown on top and were thinned to one plant per station. I tend to use the variety Gladiator F1. Anyway, I dug the parsnip and it's girth was very large. After trimming and cleaning I weighed it and it was an ounce off four pound! Ridiculous! (It took ten minutes to wrestle the beggar out of the ground!).
The plot has basically gone to sleep for the Winter but there's still a little going on, especially with the brassicas. The only thing left to do as part of moving everything to plot #11 from #10 is to dig up a rhubarb crown and move it, otherwise everything is done. I'll be just working on plot #11 from now on. (See here for the reasons I'm giving up part of my plot).
Well, that's it for this post, probably for November too. Bye for now.
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