Courtesy of DT Brown's both Mick and I bought 20 winter brassica plug plants each to try to keep the produce growing into Autumn and even Winter:.
The arrangement on our plot is as follows, starting with the smaller plant cage towards the back of the plot:
5 broccoli Rudolph purple sprouting plants + 2 cauliflower Amsterdam
In the larger plant cage adjacent to the path:
5 kale Reflex + 3 cauliflower Amsterdam + 5 cabbage Tundra
Planted with growmore raked into re-dug and firmed soil, with many slug pellets, here's hoping to some winter brassicas!
Thursday, 27 August 2015
Monday, 24 August 2015
August already!
This entry will be an attempt at a big catch-up over the past couple of months.
All the potatoes are now dug up and were a big success.
The tomatoes, both in the ground and in the greenhouse, have been very slow this year due to a lack of real heat and sunshine in August and late July. However, they look like they'll soon be producing red fruits, as will the chilli plants in the greenhouse as well as at the allotment.
The cucumbers are steadily producing fruits but we're not really eating so many.
Both the green and yellow courgette plants are producing plenty of fruit, especially the yellow variety, so as ever it's a question of how many we can eat and how we cook them.
The chard established itself well and hopefully will grow right until the end of the year if not longer, but the Cavalo Nero isn't looking as healthy as last year - perhaps due to less successful netting against insects and butterflies. That problem might be solved from now on thanks to Marilyn's suggestion that EnviroMesh was the thing to use. We've bought some and currently have some in use over new brassica cages (thanks to Kay's mother!) where we have planted 20 brassica plug plants from DT Brown's and which ought to mature in Autumn - we have 5 of each of Kale, cabbage, cauliflower and purple sprouting broccoli and have our fingers crossed that all the plants will survive and thrive.
The broad beans were very successful but finished first. It's hard to plant enough to really produce huge crops but what we did grow were delicious.
The climbing French beans are in full flow now and have been for two or three weeks - once again there are more than we can eat so some of them have gone to the Foodbank and others have been frozen. It'll be interesting to see how they are when we come to eat them. They will be the next bean to exhaust themselves but they are truly delicious.
The runner beans are also in full flow now and will be the latest producing beans of the three. It's the first time we've grown runner beans, perhaps never having appreciated how nice they can be, and they're not disappointing. Linda bought a bean slicer last year (to cut off any stringiness and prepare nice thin bean slices. It definitely helps make them a really nice bean.
The leaks in one of the deep beds really look like they'll be good this year. They already look sturdy and are growing well so we'll look forward to those in not too long.
The onions also are far better than in previous years. I didn't plant many as I was doubtful if they'd grow, but ought to have risked some more.
Similarly the garlic is looking good. Amazingly, it is all over-wintered bulbs which I missed last year when I was harvesting it then. We don't eat much of it but it's encouraging to know that we can grow it successfully.
Our Lord Lambourne apple tree is still a small tree but its small branches are bent over with apples and we're looking forward to them ripening and tasting nice. There are around 30 fruits at the moment.
The Victoria plum tree also seems to be thriving and has a lot of fruit again this year. It still amazes me how tall the tree is. I think there must have been a mistake over its description when we bought it as I'm sure we'd have insisted on a more dwarfing rootstock but we'll need to be careful when we prune it that we don't harm its prospects of fruiting again next year.
The Worcester Berry hedge is as prolific as ever it was last year and we've picked a lot of fruit already - stewing and eating it and also freezing some too. The blackcurrant bush has also provided a lot of fruit so far, and the raspberry canes, logan berries andmore recently the blackberries have also grown well.
All the potatoes are now dug up and were a big success.
The tomatoes, both in the ground and in the greenhouse, have been very slow this year due to a lack of real heat and sunshine in August and late July. However, they look like they'll soon be producing red fruits, as will the chilli plants in the greenhouse as well as at the allotment.
The cucumbers are steadily producing fruits but we're not really eating so many.
Both the green and yellow courgette plants are producing plenty of fruit, especially the yellow variety, so as ever it's a question of how many we can eat and how we cook them.
The chard established itself well and hopefully will grow right until the end of the year if not longer, but the Cavalo Nero isn't looking as healthy as last year - perhaps due to less successful netting against insects and butterflies. That problem might be solved from now on thanks to Marilyn's suggestion that EnviroMesh was the thing to use. We've bought some and currently have some in use over new brassica cages (thanks to Kay's mother!) where we have planted 20 brassica plug plants from DT Brown's and which ought to mature in Autumn - we have 5 of each of Kale, cabbage, cauliflower and purple sprouting broccoli and have our fingers crossed that all the plants will survive and thrive.
The broad beans were very successful but finished first. It's hard to plant enough to really produce huge crops but what we did grow were delicious.
The climbing French beans are in full flow now and have been for two or three weeks - once again there are more than we can eat so some of them have gone to the Foodbank and others have been frozen. It'll be interesting to see how they are when we come to eat them. They will be the next bean to exhaust themselves but they are truly delicious.
The runner beans are also in full flow now and will be the latest producing beans of the three. It's the first time we've grown runner beans, perhaps never having appreciated how nice they can be, and they're not disappointing. Linda bought a bean slicer last year (to cut off any stringiness and prepare nice thin bean slices. It definitely helps make them a really nice bean.
The leaks in one of the deep beds really look like they'll be good this year. They already look sturdy and are growing well so we'll look forward to those in not too long.
The onions also are far better than in previous years. I didn't plant many as I was doubtful if they'd grow, but ought to have risked some more.
Similarly the garlic is looking good. Amazingly, it is all over-wintered bulbs which I missed last year when I was harvesting it then. We don't eat much of it but it's encouraging to know that we can grow it successfully.
Our Lord Lambourne apple tree is still a small tree but its small branches are bent over with apples and we're looking forward to them ripening and tasting nice. There are around 30 fruits at the moment.
The Victoria plum tree also seems to be thriving and has a lot of fruit again this year. It still amazes me how tall the tree is. I think there must have been a mistake over its description when we bought it as I'm sure we'd have insisted on a more dwarfing rootstock but we'll need to be careful when we prune it that we don't harm its prospects of fruiting again next year.
The Worcester Berry hedge is as prolific as ever it was last year and we've picked a lot of fruit already - stewing and eating it and also freezing some too. The blackcurrant bush has also provided a lot of fruit so far, and the raspberry canes, logan berries andmore recently the blackberries have also grown well.
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