We used to host a Potato Day in the village, but Covid put paid to that and it has not been possible to get it going again. However the excellent nursery I have used for years is still supplying (thank you Pennard Plants).
The varieties I have ordered to grow next year are:
First Earlies
Red Duke of York E Multy
Rocket 1E Waxy
Winston 1E Waxy
Second Earlies
Acoustic 2E Multy
Charlotte 2E Waxy
Harmony 2EW/Multy
Sagitta 2E Multy
Mains
Ambo EM Multy
Markies M Floury
Orla EM Multy
A crisp clear start this morning
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| No more fruit on these bushes till next year |
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| Brussels sprouts should now be sweeter |
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| Red kale happily coping with frost |
Whilst spring always seems to be bursting with new life and summer is full of growth and generosity, autumn can look rather scruffy and past it on the veggie beds - but that's a false impression isn't it? Yes, some parts are just waiting for attention, but others are laden with food to see us through the winter, they just don't look so pristine as they did in summer. The photos, below show the beds as they are this week.
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| Sheltered cut and come again salads replaced spring cabbage. There are still some red cabbage and swede to use. |
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| Scruffiest of the lot? Stalks and stems of French marigolds which were interplanted with the tender stem broccoli (all gone). |
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| Mustard green manure, sown after the peas had finished |
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| A few rows of parsnip, the rest is carrots |
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| Beetroot in the foreground, the spinach in the middle has all gone, leaf beat at the rear for winter use. |
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| Still a few tomatoes coming and a cucumber too! |
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| This year's experiment, some overwintering greens in with the leeks. The greens are taking up too much area, but the leeks have ben swelling. |
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| Summer's salads, all past it now, the bed will get manure then compost on top, followed by a sowing of field beans for green manure. In the backgrounds are pots with emerging Babington perennial leeks. |
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| Brussels sprouts (with caterpillar damage) and behind broccoli, green and red kale and kalettes. |
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| Raspberries, blackcurrants, gooseberries and strawberries. |
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| The other greenhouse with now fruitless aubergine, cucumber and pepper plants. |
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| Green and red kale, kalettes behind. |
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| Hoping for some good broccoli in the spring. |
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| Cabage heading up |
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| Cabbage headed up more. |
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| Brussels sprouts - getting there slowly. |
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| Large head of read cabbage |
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| Kalette plants |
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| Kalettes close up. The are delicious - like a mix of kale, cabbage and Brussels sprouts. |
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| Swede |
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| This bed was climbing beans, growing under and between the beans and now getting unobstructed light, nice plump celeriacs. |
No matter how well I think I have planned, sown in succession and planted, Mother Nature always has her own ideas, which usually means more of something than we can manage.
This year it was courgettes and various types of climbing bean (not runners, we don't much like them), so I went in search of recipes and came across a brilliant site, with not just recipes, but many resources and advice for gardeners, it's well worth sharing, so here it is: Allotment and gardens
Well, that was in May this year, I have been growing potatoes successfully in containers for a few years now, but I picked this one just as a sign of growth and hope - and don't we need quite a bit more of that these days? I do have next year's seed potatoes on order already from Pennard Plants
Life here is very different, I now have a new little helper in the garden as we are now happy grandparents. Many of the things we used to think important, or found time to do fell by the wayside - this blog included.
Now that I have found it again, I shall make no promises, but looking back at old posts, I can see what a useful record it has been for me, so who knows.
