After a particularly poor summer, it's nice to be treated to a bit of sunshine and warmth like we've had for the past few days. Warm and settled weather is quite common at this time of year but after the endless cloudy, damp days of August an Indian summer seemed an impossibility.
It's a really nice time to be out pottering and harvesting at the allotment, particularly as the mellow sunlight of September is less harsh and bright than that of June or July but possesses enough warmth to make you feel like it's still summer. The dewy mornings, the subtle change in colour of the leaves, and the squirrels busily burying nuts everywhere, are an indication that summer is indeed on the wane, but whilst it stays dry and fine I'll gladly take every opportunity to get down to the plot and make hay whilst the sun shines.
This late spell of warmth has seen the courgettes continue flowering and fruiting and there are still a number of embryo fruits to form and swell if the evenings remain on the warm side. The pumpkins are now more orange than green, the sun helping to ripen and harden their skins for winter storage. The warmth has also helped the sweetcorn to ripen perfectly and we are now enjoying large, well filled cobs as and when we feel like a treat - boiled, smeared with butter and a twist of black pepper they are divine!
In readiness for winter, most of the beetroot has been harvested and will be boiled and pickled as soon as I can find the time, ditto some of the red cabbage that will go perfectly with winter stews. There is also a fine crop of borlotti beans, the speckled red pods dangling from the plants in readiness for picking and creating some hearty, warming soups. We will use most of them fresh from the pod, although some will be dried and stored for use in the coming months.
Last week I put in a few blocks of spring cabbage to plug a few gaps and deposited several long scaffold planks down at the plot in anticipation of some winter graft. I didn't get round to completing every raised bed this year so some free planks will finish the job nicely. They are 4m long and 20cm deep so will create perfect raised beds to be filled with the mushroom compost I'll soon be ordering. There'll be plenty of jobs to keep me occupied over the coming months.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Friday, September 5, 2008
We Are the Champions!!!
I suppose when the weather's as bad as it is at the moment there's not much a gardener can do other than catch up on paperwork, plan forthcoming jobs, start some design work... or just mess around on the internet, watch old programmes of River Cottage, drink tea and post on my blog!
Fisrt up, we are now officially the best allotment site in Nottingham, regaining our trophy after last year's disappointment and winning the cup for the third year in four. We won the best site under 8 acres and the best overall site in Nottingham and so eagerly anticipate an invitation to the celebration event usually held at the Council House in September. The site has looked great this year thanks to the hard work and effort of all the plot holders, none more so than Cynthia who undertakes all the management of the site and chivvies us along when it looks like the weeds might be getting the better of us. She also puts up with no small amount of grief from the rest us plot holders and so a large amount of the success can be credited to her and the rest of the management team - well done all!
On the plot front the disappointment of the tomato blight is behind me. Having removed all vestiges of tomato foliage and roots, the soil was in perfect condition after the addition of mushroom compost earlier in the year. A liberal dusting of garden lime and the bed was transformed into my winter brassica patch with early and late purple sprouting broccoli and some brussels sprouts that will hopefuly produce in time for Christmas dinner. Protection from the dreaded pigeons comes in the form of two huge metal crates that held the two tonnes of blue slate walling for a recent landscaping project. So far they are working a treat and the plants are forging ahead with the copious amounts of August and early September rain. I have some spring cabbage and kale for the adjacent bed, which will be limed and planted as before when the weather lets me.
The courgettes have flourished in the wet weather and I picked a crateful of each type yesterday in between the showers. Note to self - I do not need eight courgette plants next year. The Jack O' Lantern pumpkin has four or five decent sized fruits which are just taking on their orange hue, although the single fruit on the 'Mammoth' pumpkin is anything but!
If the sun ever decides to show its face again it will certainly help to ripen the sweetcorn. It is a little later than usual but I anticipate a worthwhile crop in a week or two and there's nothing nicer than freshly picked sweetcorn liberally smeared with butter and with a dusting of cracked black pepper.
One of the most eagerly awaited duets at this time of year is the classic combination of Bramley apple and blackberry, be it as a pie, crumble or simply stewed and served with cream and/ or good vanilla icecream. We've already had several servings to keep on top of the glut and the remaining bramleys are swelling nicely now. Thinning the crop along the way will hopefully mean bigger apples come October, but will also help with the 'what are we going to do with all these apples, sigh?' situation of previous years. Answers on a postcard please to ...
There is not much else in the way of fruit to harvest as the remaining trees and bushes have either done their stuff for the year or are too young to produce. The greengage and Marjorie's Seedling plum have put on good growth so I expect the first fruits to form next year, same goes for the Doyenne du Comice pear. My apricot tree bargain from Aldi has flourished and it will be moved into the greenhouse for the winter once the leaves have fallen to help nurture it through the colder weather and also to protect what is beautiful but frighteningly early blossom. Unfortunately the peach tree bargain never really grew and is no more, but for £3.99 it was worth a try. Maybe I'll buy another next year.
Until the next time, happy gardening and keep the wellies/ waterproofs handy - it looks like we're going to need them!
Fisrt up, we are now officially the best allotment site in Nottingham, regaining our trophy after last year's disappointment and winning the cup for the third year in four. We won the best site under 8 acres and the best overall site in Nottingham and so eagerly anticipate an invitation to the celebration event usually held at the Council House in September. The site has looked great this year thanks to the hard work and effort of all the plot holders, none more so than Cynthia who undertakes all the management of the site and chivvies us along when it looks like the weeds might be getting the better of us. She also puts up with no small amount of grief from the rest us plot holders and so a large amount of the success can be credited to her and the rest of the management team - well done all!
On the plot front the disappointment of the tomato blight is behind me. Having removed all vestiges of tomato foliage and roots, the soil was in perfect condition after the addition of mushroom compost earlier in the year. A liberal dusting of garden lime and the bed was transformed into my winter brassica patch with early and late purple sprouting broccoli and some brussels sprouts that will hopefuly produce in time for Christmas dinner. Protection from the dreaded pigeons comes in the form of two huge metal crates that held the two tonnes of blue slate walling for a recent landscaping project. So far they are working a treat and the plants are forging ahead with the copious amounts of August and early September rain. I have some spring cabbage and kale for the adjacent bed, which will be limed and planted as before when the weather lets me.
The courgettes have flourished in the wet weather and I picked a crateful of each type yesterday in between the showers. Note to self - I do not need eight courgette plants next year. The Jack O' Lantern pumpkin has four or five decent sized fruits which are just taking on their orange hue, although the single fruit on the 'Mammoth' pumpkin is anything but!
If the sun ever decides to show its face again it will certainly help to ripen the sweetcorn. It is a little later than usual but I anticipate a worthwhile crop in a week or two and there's nothing nicer than freshly picked sweetcorn liberally smeared with butter and with a dusting of cracked black pepper.
One of the most eagerly awaited duets at this time of year is the classic combination of Bramley apple and blackberry, be it as a pie, crumble or simply stewed and served with cream and/ or good vanilla icecream. We've already had several servings to keep on top of the glut and the remaining bramleys are swelling nicely now. Thinning the crop along the way will hopefully mean bigger apples come October, but will also help with the 'what are we going to do with all these apples, sigh?' situation of previous years. Answers on a postcard please to ...
There is not much else in the way of fruit to harvest as the remaining trees and bushes have either done their stuff for the year or are too young to produce. The greengage and Marjorie's Seedling plum have put on good growth so I expect the first fruits to form next year, same goes for the Doyenne du Comice pear. My apricot tree bargain from Aldi has flourished and it will be moved into the greenhouse for the winter once the leaves have fallen to help nurture it through the colder weather and also to protect what is beautiful but frighteningly early blossom. Unfortunately the peach tree bargain never really grew and is no more, but for £3.99 it was worth a try. Maybe I'll buy another next year.
Until the next time, happy gardening and keep the wellies/ waterproofs handy - it looks like we're going to need them!
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