As if all the rain and drizzle wasn't enough to contend with, last week we had a frost. We already dress in full winter gear when we visit the allotment which last week was just twice.
As expected, Jack Frost's icy breath had put paid to our dahlias, so the plot will no more be providing us with cut flowers this year
As there was no rain forecast for Sunday afternoon, we decided that we would dig up the dahlia tubers whilst we had the chance. After lifting the tubers we removed as much soil as we could, completing the job with a power washer. The tubers were then labeled and placed, stems down, in the greenhouse to hopefully dry off before storing them in potato sacks in the garage.
The frost also meant that, if there had previously been any doubt about whether the French bean harvest had come to an end, then that doubt had been removed.
Another victim of the frost was the row of oca. The tubers of these plants develop very late in the year so we were hoping that the plants would survive into November, but that was not to be.
As the plants were not going to do any more growing, on Monday, we decided to dig one up to see if any tubers had been produced. There was an initial surge of excitement as a decent sized tuber was revealed. The excitement was short lived when we realised that it was in fact a potato that must have strayed from the adjacent row. Disappointment then set in as all that was finally revealed were some tiny oca tubers.
The photo above may be misleading as the oca tubers look a reasonable size when there is nothing to compare them to. Maybe the photo below will give you a better idea. The tubers are sitting alongside the two medium sized potatoes which caused the initial surge of excitement.
We didn't dig up the other roots but I don't expect they will fair any better. Does anyone know whether the tubers continue to develop when the tops are dead? I'm guessing the answer is no!
You may remember that a few weeks ago I potted up some runners from one of the old strawberry beds. Last week, I decided to detach these from the parent plants and bring them home to spend winter in the greenhouse where they will at least have a bit of protection.
At least the autumn planted onions don't seem to mind the frost.
Our complete harvest for last week comprised of a Savoy cabbage - Sabrosa which went along with some of the Musselburgh leeks into a Lazy Cheesy Vegetable Hotpot. We also cut two Kilaton cabbages, one was used to make a curried coleslaw and the other went to my sister.
 |
| 25 October |
We dug some Autumn King carrots but again quite a lot were spoiled by slugs and also due to sitting in muddy soil.
Finally we dug the first of our Gladiator parsnips. One looked a bit like a sputnik but the others were fine. It's always a 'hold your breath' moment when lifting the first parsnips of the season.
On Sunday, we replenished our stocks of leeks and also pulled up a few of their small cousins - spring onions.
It was apparent that we were not the only ones harvesting on our allotment. Something had been sampling the seeds from one of the sunflower heads and ants were feasting on some windfall apples, No doubt these ungrateful little creatures will try to bite me at the first opportunity.
It was a week of all creatures great and small as we spent an afternoon at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park. As we have annual passes, we are regular visitors and find that there is always something different to see and photograph.
Last week we were treated to the spectacle of two of the polar bears sparring whereas Simba and his mum, Maria were enjoying some quality time in their den. Other residents just concentrated on filling their tummies. If you enjoy animal photos I post lots more on my Facebook page and also our Youtube channel has both videos and photo slideshows.
This week I am linking to harvest Monday hosted on
Dave's blog Our Happy Acres
Thanks to those who responded to my invitation to make a comment. I appreciate you taking the trouble to say hello. I know I get lots of visitors who never comment and I'd love to know who you are - unlike the annoying spammers who can't seem to grasp that their comments go straight into my spam folder and never see the light of day. I am getting lots of Anonymous spam comments which go straight into the spam folder and then deleted as there are far too many to check through so I'm afraid that if you comment anonymously this may happen to your comment.
You don't have to have your own blog in order to join in conversations. It may seem that everyone who comments knows one another but bloggers always welcome new commenters, after all that is how we all started.
Posts
I hate to think this way, but I really am beginning to think that we gardeners are going to have to have a major rethink as our autumn and winter weather seems to be getting worse. In some respects not being able to garden properly for a couple of years has given me the space to rethink how to move forward with drier hotter summers and windier wetter winters.
ReplyDeleteI think our weather is too unpredictable to plan for, Deborah. This year summer certainly wasn’t hot. Last year was totally different to this. l remember everyone telling us we would need to grow drought resistant plants and garden shows were full of gardens sporting cacti. Then we were told that we would be growing pineapples in our gardens. Neither came about
DeleteGreat bear pictures!
ReplyDeleteMartyn took some video of these two sparring, Mal. If you are interested see here
DeleteWill miss your flower photos. Still some nice harvests with the frost.
ReplyDeleteI'll miss the flowers< Sue
DeleteOca is one of those plants that develops it's tubers a lot in the last few weeks of the plants life. if you can keep it alive into winter it keeps developing the tubers as the tops die, but not once they are actually dead. My harvest last year looked like yours, so I just used the tubers as seed for this year. To try and get a decent harvest I've grown in 25 litre pots and moved them into my polytunnel to try and keep them going as long as possible. They are an unusal crispy addition to salads, but you can cook them too : All the best - Steve
ReplyDeleteThat's what I read, Steve which was why I was hoping that the tops would last into November. I may emulate your idea next year although, Martyn is ready yo give up on them. I'll be interested to see how your fare this year.
DeleteYes the tubers do carry on swelling after the tops have been frosted back,. If you look at the underground stems they have a strange sort of swollen organ on them which is not a tuber, and this stores nutrients to supply the developing tubers, right through for a couple of months. Don't give up on them yet!
DeleteThanks for that Kathy, we still have three plants so I’ll leave them a while
DeleteIt's amazing you have had first frost, Sue. Here two nights were frosty, so I'm glad I've covered tender plants and picked last veggies in October. It's a pity when flowers die due frost, I see you have many dahlias tubers to store. How do you do this? In basement or in garage?
ReplyDeleteOnce they have hopefully dried off a bit they will be stored in potato bags in the garage, Nadezda. Unfortunately we don’t have a basement which would be really useful.
DeleteI have no experience growing oca here, and I believe I first heard about it from you. Jack Frost has visited here several times with more visits forecast this week. I have a few more winterizing cores to do but most are behind me. I'm actually ready for a slowdown though I will miss some of the tender veggies.
ReplyDeleteOur autumn/winter chores look as though they will be moved to early spring, Dave
DeleteWhat is oca? I have never seen this or heard of this before. I will have to google it to find out. It has been very frosty here. Nothing is growing. No flowers here either until next year.
ReplyDeleteIt’s also called New Zealand yam, Lisa and is a member of the oxalis family. Apparently it’s a staple food in the Andes. It can be cooked but is also eaten raw in salads.
DeleteYour little strawberry plants looks so healthy.
ReplyDeleteI hope that they survive winter, Endah
DeleteShame about the oca, it may still grow. Good harvest especially this time of the year, fantastic parsnips! Love the bears!!!xxx
ReplyDeleteDina, See the link in my reply to, Mal if you’d like to see, Martyn’s video of the bears play fight. I’ll just have to see what happens with the oca
ReplyDelete