Down at the plot its clear to see that preparations are in order for the forthcoming winter slumber. Many plotholders had their summer crops cleared weeks ago and have dug their ground ready for it to be broken down by winter frost. I'm never that keen to start clearing too early, namely because if the weather stays mild it's possible to continue cropping far longer than might seem likely. For example, I picked my last Burpless Tasty Green cucumber during the first full week of October, the chilli plants are still in flower and going strong, a few tomatoes are still ripening at home and I've helped myself to a few portions of late runner beans. A visit yesterday, however, signalled that it was time to start clearing and the pictures below show how the plot looked as of Friday 23rd October.
It's not all doom and gloom though. I've been really pleased with how my planning has provided a plentiful supply of crops for late autumn and winter use. I've started picking the first of my parsnips, swede, celeriac and scorzonera more out of curiosity than need, and the results are exciting. The parsnips in particular are long, thin and tapering (with the odd stumpy one thrown in for good measure!) and there'll be plenty of them after most of the double row I sowed germinated first time. Here's a picture of some parsnips and scorzonera from yesterday - for scale the 'perfect' parsnip root is about 40cms long.
I also have some crops growing that will stand the cold and provide a crop early next year. The brassicas I've previously shown have really grown on well in the mild weather and I may yet get to pick some sprouts for Christmas dinner. The caulis and spring cabbage are also progressing nicely and should provide some goodness through the lean times of late winter and early spring. My white sprouting broccoli is also strong and healthy and I'm looking forward to these helping to fill the 'hungry gap' next year. This is how the plants looked yesterday, the ruby chard in the foreground and the white sprouting broccoli protected from pigeons by their cage.
Allotmenteers are always thinking ahead and as one season progresses we're always mindful about those to come. Taking advantage of the still warm soil I've planted my overwintering Japanese onion sets (Senshyu Yellow) and shallots (Jermor) and also some dwarf 'The Sutton' broad beans. I've never before tried to overwinter broad beans on the plot so it will be interesting to see how they fare. I've tried to time the sowing right so that they'll germinate and become sturdy little plants to cope with winter weather without becoming too big and floppy so that they aren't able to stand the cold and wet. Only time will tell...
I've also ordered a few extra fruit trees and bushes that will be delivered bare root at the end of November/ early December. I have a maiden Denniston's Superb plum to replace the Marjorie's Seedling that died, a red and white currant, and two M9 apple rootstocks that will become my first foray into grafting next year. There are some highly productive trees on the site so I'm hoping to be able to blag a couple of cuttings and see whether I can propagate my own trees - how exciting!
Keep watching for future updates, when I'll review how things went this year and what I'll be growing next year. I have the seed catalogues in front of me so I'll sit down one evening with a nice bottle or two of beer and plan my attack for 2010. Until then, enjoy the rest of the autumn and the Halloween and Bonfire Night festivities if you're doing anything to celebrate them.
