mangocheeks was so right...

...with her prediction that the weather would not be suitable for gardening this weekend. It is still windy and wet here. I was hoping to get over to the plot this afternoon just to drop some peelings off but the rain has started again. I'll keep a look out but in the meantime I'll stick with GQT on Radio 4.

I did go through all my seeds yesterday so work out what I might need to buy for next year and to separate out some seeds to give away to colleagues. In particular, I am going to give away most of my packets of tomato seed because of the blight problem on our site. Nearly all of these tomato seeds came free with magazines - I don't have a particular tomato seed-buying habit (honestly). I have bought Ferline and Legend to try out next year. I have loads of seed in terms of types of veg rather than quantity but many of them could really do with using up next year. I am also going to give away any duplicates (again due to freebies - gratefully received) and some others that I don't fancy growing again (e.g. the Lady Godiva squash). It turns out that the only seeds I really need to buy are celery, celeriac, potato and pumpkin/squash. And I found a £5 garden centre voucher left over from my birthday some months ago so that was nice.

I think I will dig up the paths on Plot 35 over the remainder of Autumn and the start of Winter so if I can't get out this afternoon, I'll focus on drawing up a new planting plan. If I do manage to get over to the plot, I'll pick up some Jerusalam artichokes and a cabbage to go with a patridge I bought from the Farmers Market earlier.

Plum gin gets the thumbs up

It was very windy and quite wet yesterday so not a good day for gardening. So, I spent the day doing stuff around the house including making mincemeat for the festive season and bottling up my plum gin which had been in the making for the required 3 months. My word, the plum gin is good! Nipped round to my neighbour's to try it with her. It was a hit. It tastes deceptively non-alcoholic which can only mean trouble.

It was drier and less windy today so I nipped over to the plot for an hour in the afternoon. I had lots of kitchen scraps and lawn mowings to take over. While there, I quickly dug over Bed 5 where the green manure was growing. The soil felt easy-going and I was impressed by the lack of weeds there. The green manure is a hit too then.

Fingers crossed for a clear weather window for next weekend...

Tubers revealed

I hadn't been over to the plot for a couple of weeks as I was laid up with a nasty cold. It was lovely to get some fresh air at the 'lotment today though. The ground was wet this morning with some drizzle but it cleared up a bit in the afternoon.

I was planning on cutting down the Jerusalem artichoke stems and was considering harvesting a few tubers. As it was, when I arrived, one of the bigger stems had been blown over revealing some its tubers. Bingo! I cut down the stems and lay them over the ground to keep off hard frost.

I checked Bed 7 to see how the sprouts were doing. I picked a handful (literally) as some were already looking blown. I also pulled up a cabbage and cut off a few small florets from the remaining calabrese plant going to seed. After washing the artichokes and a spot of raking over what was Bed 1, I left with my harvest.

The artichokes are now in a large batch of Jerusalem artichoke and carrot soup (some for me and some for my lovely neighbour who brought me soup when I needed it last week) and the calabrese florets are in my tummy.