Early September update

At the start of the month I dug up all of the Miro Spira maincrop potatoes, filling 2 hessian sacks. They are spectacular in terms of appearance and yield, and apart from falling a little when boiled they are excellent. The flavour is good and in particular they make great baked and roast potatoes and also mash.

Elsewhere on the allotment the beans, beetroot, carrots, sweet corn, chard (spinach), squash continue to grow well and we have to make sure we pick them as often as we can whilst everything stays fresh.

I've already had a look in the Organic Gardening catalogue for next year and spotted one or two likely varieties of potato to try, but undoubtedly we'll be having plenty of Charlotte again.

As far as the greenhouse is concerned I'll try an earlier maturing greenhouse tomato next year as well as the all-time favourite Gardeners Delight, and grow some red hot chili peppers again. The supposedly hot cayenne red peppers this year are (so far) not that hot.

The cucumbers are excellent though and I'll grow the same variety again both in the greenhouse and at the allotment.

I have ordered two types of green mature (Hungarian Grazing Rye and Winter Tares - Vetch) for the allotment, two varieties which will grow through the winter and can be chopped down dug in early spring. They will help supply and fix nitrogen as well as add to the overall quality of the soil.

I have also provisionally put my name down for a consignment of manure to be delivered direct to the allotment so we'll see how that works out. Apparently 'The Professor' will be testing it first to make sure it is good and doesn't contain any weeds or chemicals!