Bean there, done that

It has been a few weeks since my last post but I have spent some time over at the plot.  I've cleared out the courgette plants and the sweetcorn (leaving the butternut squash ones behind as they have some small green fruit and I can't bear to rip them out yet).  There were still some patty pans coming but they were becoming moldy.  I've harvested half of the leeks as they look rusty and not very happy.  They taste ok though.

Last Sunday/Monday, we were warned of strong hurricane-strength winds so I nipped over to see what I could fasten down.  Winds were already picking up by lunchtime but I decided to leave the mesh where it was, over the Brussels, spring cabbages and sprouting, and just bring the tools I couldn't fit in the storage box home.  When I checked on things on Tuesday, nothing had budged except a couple of homemade wood and mesh frames from a neighbouring plot.  They had made there way onto mine.

I nipped over very briefly today with husband and toddler to quickly sow the broad beans where the courgettes and sweetcorn had been.  My toddler "helped" in her own way by throwing beans randomly into the shallow trench I had made.  It will be a minor miracle if any of the beans germinate.  Not just because of the hasty sowing but also because a large proportion of the seeds are from last year and had been kept badly in an outside storage box.  They even got rained on in their packet at some point.  For this reason, I sowed 2 per station in many places to hedge my bets.

My husband is quite impressed with the state of the plot.  It does look like I've dug over most of it though it is more like three-quarters.  Hopefully, I can get the rest of it dug over Christmas.

A quick check on the garlic bed showed that the Early Purple is living up to its name by being the first to send up shoots.

Vampires beware...

...the garlic is coming for you!  I spent some time on the allotment this morning and it was a tad nippy.  Well, not that cold but I wasn't dressed for it.  I need to dig out my fleece from the loft.

I put in 8 cloves of Elephant Garlic (2 of these were 'rounds' from this year's attempt at growing them), 30 cloves of Solent Wight, 30 cloves of Early Purple and 15 cloves of Lautrec Wight.  Some of the Lautrec Wight cloves were a tad small and a couple were discarded because they were a bit soft.  The rest looked good.

So the Lautrec is a hardneck so will apparently develop a flowering stalk that should be harvested as soon as it appears and used in a stir fry.  I must remember that as it could result in the bulb doubling in size.

I measured the length of the plot with a bamboo cane which I think is a 180cm one.  Not including the end bit for storage and composting, it is 7 canes long (12.6m).  I measured 3 canes for the length of the top two quadrants and 3 for the bottom ones, leaving a 1 cane strip in the middle for fruit.  So I'll plant some fruit bushes and raspberry canes down that strip, leaving a gap down the centre for strolling, watering and inspecting.  

I cut down the sweetcorn and will dug over that small patch later in the week.  There appear to be a couple of baby squash growing but I can't see that they have time to mature before the frost sets in.

Almost being organised

After a bit of chickenpox this week with the little one, I did get 2 hours on the plot this weekend but took it slow.  I focused on brassicas.  I checked the sprouting broccoli for caterpillars (again) and found 3 of the critters.  Then I planted out the holey spring cabbage seedlings.  There were 16 in all so I set them out in a 4x4 block next to the compost bin which is situated in an awkward place in the top right quadrant (more about the quadrants I am planning in another post).  I looked over the Brussels sprouts and picked off a few snails, slugs and caterpillars.

I dug over a 1m square to finish off the patch for the garlic.  That's for tomorrow when I have a day off work.  I'll also transplant the rhubarb crown that is currently languishing in the shady bed in our front garden onto the plot.  And I'll try sowing some Meteor peas.  I wouldn't bother with early peas but these were free on a magazine so I'll give them a go.

My plan is to divide the plot into 4 quadrants with a strip halfway down (width ways) for fruit bushes and the rhubarb and a strip at the bottom for composting and storage.  I've not decided whether to have the raspberry canes with the fruit bushes or at one of the ends.  I'll rotate crops between years as is traditional.

The top left quadrant will be for legumes and cucurbits but these currently house the leeks, sweetcorn (now finished), squashes (which are flowering but too late to fruit) and courgettes.  There are all the bush beans and a Brussels sprout plant (which ironically is the healthiest looking of the lot despite not being covered).

The top right quadrant will be for brassicas.  That is where the potatoes were.

The bottom left will be for roots veg.  That is where the brassicas are currently settled.

The bottom right will be for the onion family.  Nothing is in here just yet.

Sounds terribly organised for me.  It won't last.

More Where's Wally

No digging at Friday lunchtime but I did get 2 hours at the plot yesterday.  Bliss.  

I dug over about 8 sq m at a guess.  The ground was quite dry in places but so much easier than how it was with the heavy clay on the original Plot 35.  

Then I went to check on the purple and white sprouting plants I'd planted recently.  They were holey.  Flipping caterpillars!  So, on my hands and knees, I inspected all 12 plants v carefully "disposing" of the little critters.  One plant looked very badly diminished but the heart is intact so fingers crossed it might recover.  I sprinkled a few chicken pellets around them, raked the bed and watered them before covering them back over.  

Lesson for next year - do check brassica plants before planting out.

Where's Wally?

I just had a bit of time before starting work to do some housework and finally got round to checking the spring cabbage seedings on the patio.  Something was making them holey.  Sure enough each one (on average) had 2-3 little green cabbage white caterpillars.  Very good camouflage especially on the stems so I may not have picked them all off but most of them are now on the patio for the birds.  Fingers crossed the little plants will recover nicely to be planted out in the next couple of weeks.  The caterpillars seemed to have stuck to the outer leaves although a couple of the bigger ones were clearly en route to the heart for a nibble.  

Hopefully, more digging at lunchtime today...

Minor heartbreak

It had been a week I think since popping over to the plot so when I had a couple of hours to spare (yeah, right) on Saturday I was keen to see if the tomatoes had ripened yet.  On arrival, I found the 6 plants had been ravaged by blight.  Lots of the fruit looked savagable so I ripped the plants out and separated off the good-looking fruit.  Not too bad, I thought, I'll make lots of green tomato chutney on my day off on Tuesday.  I also harvested some sweetcorn, patty pans and bush beans and dug up all the spuds.

So I look the crate of tomato fruit home (discarded the blighted plant material) and washed them.  I had a work trip away Sunday-Monday so left them at home waiting to be cooked up.  On my way home yesterday, my husband sent me a text to tell me that all my fruit had gone mouldy (bless him - he didn't want me to have a shock by walking in and seeing them like that so forewarned me).  No green tomato chutney for me today.  We did manage to eat some of the redder ones roasted for brunch on Sunday morning and they were very tasty.  Shirley might be worth trying next year but much earlier to try to avoid the horrible blight.

I consoled myself with a 2 hour session down the plot this morning.  I planted out some purple and white spouting plants and tended to the cabbages and Brussels sprouts (weeded and fed).  I also cleared a square metre of grass and nettles.

I also came back with a big handful of broccoli sprouts from the stumps left after harvesting the main head. And 3 more patty pans.  And a potato that I'd left in the ground at the weekend.

Lots more ground to clear...

Patty pans a-go-go

After a long weekend away and a very busy work week last week, I couldn't wait to make a quick trip to the plot this morning before work.  The cupboards were getting bare so I needed to fetch some grub.

The patty pan squash (green tint) have been busy in my absence.  I was worried about the lack of fruit to date but needn't have been.  There were 4 fruit looking ready to pick in that they were measuring about 4 inches in diameter.  There were another couple at about 2-3 inches across which I left thinking they need a bit longer.  An Internet search suggests that they are ripe for the picking at 2-3 inches across.  Perhaps I'll pick the others tomorrow if I get a chance.

Anyway, I come home with those 4 squash, a couple of handfuls of mange tout, 1 cucumber, 2 handfuls of broccoli sprouts and 2 cobs of sweetcorn.  We had the sweetcorn, broccoli sprouts and a squash for tea.  Very nice.  I just steamed half the squash and added the rest to our pasta sauce.  The sweetcorn was steamed for about 30-35 mins and it was delicious - getting full marks from my husband.

Last week, I did manage a short trip to the plot and saw that the tomatoes were still green-as-you-like.  I hadn't caned them up at all so they were lulling all over the place.  I removed some more of the courgette leaves and put up some canes for the tomato plants to lean on.  The hope was that more sunshine would get to the fruit for ripening.  Today, I could see that a couple of the fruit had started to blush.

The weather has turned cooler now so autumn feels like it is approaching.  That makes me happy.  We've had a great warm summer and I've had a great first season on the new plot.  Time to get digging this weekend if the rain holds off.