Winding Down

Facebook is quite a good gardening tool if you regularly post your plot shots, it likes to remind you of what you were doing a year ago. The other day Facebook showed us a pic from last year and at that time we were still harvesting quite a range of crops, this year it seems things are nearly done.

The courgette harvest is finally coming to an end, friends will soon answer the door to us again and cucumbers are now producing just the sickly looking late season specimens. The runner and French beans are done but the dwarf purple still have a few to give. The remaining sweetcorn are bit tough now but its been the best year for these so far.

One thing I am pleased with is are my pumpkins which I cut at the weekend. The seeds for these came from the pumpkins I bought in Asda last year and these are similar size. I look forward to carving them for Halloween. There is one left which might grow a bit more.

I cut the first cabbage last week, Spring Duchy, so as the name suggests I am harvesting them late. Some have been attacked by caterpillars or slugs but cutting out the damage left plenty for me and they are lovely sweated off in a bit of olive oil and butter for 5 minutes max.  

At home some of the cape gooseberries seem to have ripened, here's the first one. Its not quite as ripe as I hoped, definitely more of a green house crop. I'll pop it on the windowsill and see if it makes it.

So now comes the clearing down. The bean canes will be coming down very and the main spuds will be dug up. There's a compost bin to empty and the beds still need edging. I've finished the new asparagus bed frame and filled it up with soil. As its wider than the older frame I have room for another 6 crowns which I'll try and grow from seed.

There are still some new bits and bobs going in, lettuces, radish, garlic and maybe some more turnips. I can always cloche them if it gets too cold. We will probably try overwintered broads again, but remember to support them properly this time.

Now comes the challenge of finishing everything before the weather turns!!

Happy gardening folks!!!