Autumn is definitely here

I don't think I'd been to the plot for 2 weeks until today. I was away last weekend. It hasn't rained for a while so everything looked bone dry.

I didn't know what to expect as things can change quite a lot in 2 weeks. Things looked ok. The cabbages are nearly ready to harvest so I'll probably take one next weekend. The green manure has grown to about 8 inches high already. The Jerusalem artichokes have grown to almost twice my height (I am about 5 foot 8 btw). Many of the leeks look like they are finally taking off. The squash has started to develop an interesting orange/green stripey look. The forecast suggests that there might be a frost later in the week so I wanted to harvest the squash if possible.



The first job was to plant a redcurrant bush into Bed 3. I dug it out of the garden yesterday as part of a tidy up and I figure that the soil in Bed 3 is too rough right now for veg. Might as well have something more solid occupying it.

Then I picked some blackberries and veg and added the courgette plants to the compost heap. I gave everything a good watering before coming home.



I am very pleased with my Autumn bounty.

Bean a while

A bit of a gap between blog posts here.

Last weekend, I dug over most of Bed 3 and added some grass clippings in a token effort to improve that bit of soil. It is very hard and dry so needs lots of TLC. Though clearly it is fertile because I am still picking lots of runner beans. Sssshhhh, don't tell anyone but I am quite glad that I was given some runner bean plants. Maybe I am converted and will grow them next year. I picked a couple of small yellow courgettes and the last of the peas before ripping out the pea plants. In their place, I planted out cauliflowers and purple sprouting. Before coming home, I did a spot more bramble and nettle chopping. At home, in an effort to use up some more plums, I made some plum sauce which I shared with some friends.

During the week, I harvested some cherry tomatoes from the pot on the patio. Not bad. I am very pleased to have some tomatoes this year. I ate them raw as I figured that cooking them would be a shame.

Just popped over for an hour today as I was away for the weekend. I harvested some chard, more runner beans, a couple of cobs of sweetcorn and a marrow. I also did a brief bit of weeding. I am currently cooking up some duck to have with the plum sauce made last weekend. To be served with some sweetcorn, peas and chard.

The buckwheat sown in Bed 5 is up which is great because last time I sowed green manure, it either didn't appear or it got munched by something.



And a few of the globe artichoke plants have been very busy producing suckers which can be removed to make new plants.





One of my more trusted books states that suckers should be removed in early Spring so I am a bit puzzled about what to do. Perhaps I'll take the suckers of one of the plants next week and see how they work out.

I need to spend some decent amounts of time over at the plot in the next few months to clear the bottom of the plot to make room for fruit bushes and strawberry plants that are taking up too much room at home.