Last week we had just two visits to the allotment. It's that time of year when things don't really need tackling with the same degree of urgency. The weather also dictates what we can and can't do. Although we need to be getting on with some digging the weather hasn't been helpful with rain threatening on most days. Soon the beds will transform, after being dry and parched, to wet and muddy and maybe from there become hard like concrete - such is our soil. The window of opportunity for perfectly workable soil is often short, but last week's weather wasn't really conducive to gardening and we had other things which we either had to, or wanted to do.
Umbrella to hand, we risked an afternoon visit to The Yorkshire Wildlife Park, we decided if nothing else we could have lunch there and come home. Fortunately the rain held off, although the weather had maybe deterred many visitors so it was fairly quiet except for the roar of the lions.
Autumn has well and truly taken a grip on things, as the area under our greengage trees will testify. I have the feeling that before long the trees will be totally bare.
One night last week the temperature dropped to 1.6C (34.9F), low enough for a touch of ground frost. It's rather early for temperatures to drop so low and the courgettes had suffered. I managed to harvest a few baby fruits bit I'm guessing that will be our lot.
On the other hand I had expected to find blackened dahlia plants, but they had survived, and I gathered enough unspoiled blooms to take home along with a few cosmos.
The climbing beans had come to the end of their productive life, and we also needed to get the canes undercover for some protection, so the bean beds were cleared and the frames taken down.
We also cleared the beds containing sweet corn. The sweet corn harvest has been very disappointing. Some cobs formed but when we cooked a couple we found that the kernels were tasteless. We are guessing that the lack of sunshine meant the cobs didn't ripen correctly.
One thing often has a knock on effect. We use the allotment greenhouse as a storage area during winter and so in order to store the bean canes we needed to clear the tomatoes from the greenhouse.
By the way, we had an email from Levington's which, as expected, informed us that no toxicity was found by the bioassay testing of our compost sample. They take this to mean no herbicide contamination is present but our experiences don't correlate with this. Whatever the reasons for our tomato failure I guess that we've reached an impasse. Not a very satisfactory outcome however, we won't be using compost that incorporates green waste in the future. Something affected our tomatoes and if not a herbicide what was it?
Tomatoes have been removed from plants outside as well as in both greenhouses and these are ripening steadily outside under cover of a porch roof. I'm using them as needed in cooking.
There is still some life on the plot. Bees and hoverflies are browsing the self sown sunflowers.
As we finish the last of the onions planted in September 2018, the ones planted a couple of weeks ago are starting to shoot.
Obviously a priority is to harvest anything that is available.
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| 30 September 2019 |
You may notice, in our harvest box is another Crown Prince squash that I missed when supposedly harvesting the lot the previous week. We also found a few pears that we had missed and some small onions that, Martyn found when digging over one of last year's onion beds. They are only small but will be OK for using in coleslaw.
The damp conditions are not suiting the raspberries ,which are turning brown or soft and mushy, but we managed to salvage a handful, along with some blackberries.
The late sown Safari dwarf French beans have proved their worth and quite a few have been frozen.
We picked more apples, this time the varieties were Fiesta and, what we think are, Golden Delicious.
A bonus was finding a few quince. We thought we'd had a total quince crop failure but Martyn found a few. There weren't many but they have been stewed with some of our plentiful supply of apples.
We've started digging carrots which would win prizes in a wonkiest carrot competition. They may not be pretty but they put shop bought carrots to shame when it comes to flavour.
The last cauliflower of the week had been found by slugs, who are no doubt thriving in the damp conditions. Although part of the curd had been spoiled, we will be having the rest.
I just hope my hardy annuals seedling avoid their rasping mouths. I love wildlife but I can't find a place in my heart for slugs ... sorry!
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| 5 October |
A video of our end od September plot tour is posted here
If you want to view more of my owl photos I've posted another slideshow on Youtube
Martyn has also posted videos of the leopard and polar bears at Yorkshire Wildlife Park on our YouTube channel which is here. If you're interested there are also some of last week's train videos too.
Martyn has also posted videos of the leopard and polar bears at Yorkshire Wildlife Park on our YouTube channel which is here. If you're interested there are also some of last week's train videos too.
Posts
Delightful post. I love reading about the change of seasons in your area, so different from mine. Very fine photos, too; especially the bee-and-sunflower, lovely quince. What makes their fragrance so comforting?
ReplyDeleteOur gardening is very much dictated by the seasons, Jane and not just the weather but also daylight hours. Winter is a time for semi hibernation for us. In many ways the rest from gardening is a good thing as it is a time to recharge batteries and reenthuse.
DeleteI had pretty much the same response from Levingtons - basically a stonewall attitude. Not prepared to admit they caused a problem. Very difficult to deal with too, because they never answer a specific question when you ask it. Typical Big Business response to Joe Public (i.e. "Get stuffed!"). Buying commercial compost these days is a very risky business - Westland is off my list, and now Levingtons too...
ReplyDeleteThey invited us to go to Levington to observe their processing and discuss our concerns but it’s too far away from us to make the journey and go to the expense of a hotel, just to probably get nowhere. the problem is bioassay testing is inconclusive which is why the bean test isn’t really a fail safe test.
DeleteOur dahlias escaped that same frost - just like yours.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how bad your tomatoes are this year Sue - mine have been ok, but not up to scratch, poor light and such things - yet another funny weather season
As you know I make my own compost and do not use this so called compost nor bring possibly contaminated manure into my garden
Perhaps you should hold your nose and use a peat compost? I do not share your reservations about peat but nor have I used any for several years now.
My friend Peter buys professional compost from East Riding horticulture - their customers cannot afford compost failures. It a little more expensive than garden centre rubbish - oh on second thought it might be peat based- but not all of it.
Who told you that I had reservations about peat, Roger. From what I’ve read gardeners use of peat has a minimal effect.
DeleteVery nice harvests for so late in the season. With your description of the frequent rains, it is no wonder England is so green. I'm longing for our first rain which hopefully will come this month.
ReplyDeleteI’m longing for it to stop raining at the moment, Sue
DeleteIt's a sad time of year in some respects, clearing everything away and getting ready for winter, but then there's those little onion shoots and you realise that everything's starting over again. Lovely dahlias, I've never grown the pompom varieties (as far as I can remember).
ReplyDeleteI love the shape of pom-poms dahlias, Jo
DeleteWe are certainly up against the weather now.
ReplyDeleteWe are indeed, Deborah.
DeleteEven though your harvest is beginning to dwindle you still have some very nice looking produce. It is finally getting cooler here. Fall is upon us weather wise.
ReplyDeleteWe’ll soon be harvesting winter vegetables, Lisa time for casseroles then
DeleteOh, that is too bad about the frost. Our first one is likely not too far away, and I still have lots of tender plants in the garden. I can imagine your carrots were tasier than the ones you buy, since that's usually the case here too.
ReplyDeleteThe carrots were tasty, Dave. The frost was earlier than usual but fortunately a one off.
DeleteYou've still managed quite a lot of harvests - more than enough to fill the fridge! We were supposed to get a frost here too, but it didn't materialize, or at least I think it didn't as there was no damage in the garden. You know climate change is at work when you get a frost before we do - it's rather flabbergasting!
ReplyDeleteI don’t think we would have noticed if Martyn hadn’t his weather station, Margaret. This year October has been cooler and wetter than normal but the’ frost’ was only just a frost and not enough to knock back the dahlias.
DeleteThanks for the update on the compost correspondence. The invitation to visit is just a PR exercise to bring you onside. With a tricky year like this one the last thing we need is dodgy compost.
ReplyDeleteHow do you cope with the apples. Store, freeze or preserve? (Currently I am making a batch of windfall marmalade from apples and grapefruit. It's great but doesn't use enough apple for my liking). I do share your sentiments about welcoming the rest from frantic harvesting.
You’re right about it being a PR exercise, Mal. We had a similar invitation to visit our motorway control centre when I complained that removing the hard shoulder made the motorway less safe. No idea what that would have proved. We store some apples for eating fresh and lots are stewed and frozen as are the pears and lots of other fruit. We use lots with morning porridge or as a dessert with yoghurt.
DeleteStill a good harvest! Love the animals!xxx
ReplyDeleteSo do I, Dina.
DeleteI'm enjoying looking at your haul Sue. Those unexpected plump golden quinces must have made you smile. Sadly my autumn clearing is on hold possibly until spring :(
ReplyDeleteThe quinces were a bonus, Anna. Unless the weather improves we are not going to get a lot done over autumn
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