31 Oct - Pumpkin Carving & First Sprouts

On Sunday (28th) I picked my first handful of my Bosworth F1 Brussels Sprouts. Despite the hot, dry Summer the sprouts are looking pretty good though they have a touch of white fly. I'm usually able to start picking toward te end of October and this year is no exception. Bosworth F1 always so really well for me, they start relatively early and will stand all the way until March with minimal 'blowing'. Highly recommended.

Well, the pumpkin that I didn't think would form this year, finally achieved its purpose on Halloween. It was carved, as usual, by my wife.

Loads of children knocked the door this year 'Trick or Treating' and there were quite a few positive comments about Mr Pumpkin. That's it for October, I'll end this post with a final shot of my Halloween pumpkin. Bye.

24 Oct - Clearing The Plot For Winter & First Frost

I've had a bit of time to put my back into the allotment this week so on Monday (22nd) I took the bean poles down and began to weed the area. I think I let things go a bit far in terms of weeds this year; I usually hoe when required and then stick the petrol tiller over but this year I had to dig over the plot with a fork to get all the nasties out before using the tiller.

Virtually everything on the plot is done now except a few small leeks, carrots in a barrel and the Winter brassicas. The Resistafly carrots have done well and I've stored a load of them to eat over the next few weeks; what remains of the sweet corn cobs are in the shed for the chickens as a treat.

I was surprised to see that I actually had some main crop Sarpo Mira potatoes despite the plants looking small this year due to the conditions. Still, there were some lovely big spuds and I've a few in store for the next month or two. With the ground cleared it was more weeding and rough digging on the Tuesday (23rd). I managed to get things sorted to my satisfaction by the end of the day.

Yesterday (24th), with a few aches and pains I trundled to the allotment for the last part of the clearing process. Everything had been weeded and forked over so I decided to break out the little petrol tiller and give it one blast over. By the time I had finished it looked in good enough condition to go through the Winter even if my back wasn't!

After lunch I started covering the plot with my plastic covers. Some people say you have to leave the soil break down in the Winter frosts; I disagree, my tiller does the breaking down and the covers stops the compaction of my clay soils in the Winter rains. They also ensure that any weeds don't get light for five months. Come Spring, I can take the covers off, give it a once over and I'm good to go. It works for me.

Finally for this post; I went to feed the hens this morning and the thermometer was reading 2 degrees at dawn and there was frost on the roofs of sheds and houses alike and patches in the grass and undergrowth. Brrrr ...

That's it for now, I expect I'll post my usual picture of the pumpkin carved by my wife on Halloween, until then, bye.