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.
