The sweet William plants are growing well and just needed some weeding which, now that we have had some rain to soften the ground, was fairly easy. All being well, we are looking forward to a lovely display from them next year.
We removed the cover from our over wintering onions and garlic. It was just intended to protect the newly planted sets from being dug up by any allotment wild life. The onions and garlic are now producing shoots so its job is done.
Last week saw the last of our bulk harvests. At the beginning of the week we picked most of the tree fruit. We posted a video here.  |
| 5 October - Apples -Fiesta & Egremont Russet, Pears - Invincible, Quince - Meeches Prolific and Strawberries - Albion. |
Every year, our Invincible pear tree is affected by rust. it looks quite scary when viewed from the underside of the leaf, but doesn’t generally affect fruiting. Strangely it doesn’t appear on the other two pear trees growing in the same bed, neither of which fruit as well as Invincible.
We picked another bucketful of apples at the weekend. This time the varieties were Golden Delicious, Tickled Pink and one lonely Queen Cox.
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| 9 October - Mixed flowers, Cabbage - Cabbice, Apples - Golden Delicious, Tickled Pink & Queen Cox, Potatoes - Apache and Strawberries - Albion. |
Our determined strawberry plants produced more fruits that we picked to finish off ripening at home. The fruits are huge and despite the lateness in the season have a good flavour. They have been a real bonus.
I added a few sprigs of statice to my cut flowers last week.
The dahlias are coming to an end. It's just a matter of time before the first frosts will blacken them and they will need lifting to store over winter.
We'd planted some Apache seed potatoes in our old strawberry bed with the aim of breaking down the compacted soil. We didn't expect to get a crop from them but, out of curiosity, Martyn decided to dig some up and was surprised to find some decent potatoes.
We’re still picking a few ripe tomatoes from the greenhouse and raised bed in the garden.
Last week we stripped all the tomatoes from the plants in the allotment greenhouse as we wanted to clear them out to make way for, amongst other things, our over-wintering dahlias. There were still lots of green tomatoes that will be ripened at home.
Last week instead of our usual visit to Nostell Priory we decided to go a little further afield and had an afternoon out at Clumber Park.
There are some rather impressive trees that must have seen some changes over the course of their lifetimes. I wonder just how old they are?
The remains of one specimen has been left for the wildlife to enjoy. Can you spot the squirrel? You may have a better chance if you click on the photo for a larger copy. One of the two squirrel pictures will give you a clue.
Seeds are left to encourage birds to visit.
Just like at Nostell there was a family of swans on the lake. This family had five cygnets but one had struck out on it's own and is missing from the photograph.
Ruby enjoyed her visit and, thankfully, is now fully recovered from her tummy upset.
Finally our roundup of last week's meals that incorporated our vegetables.
I made a chicken, potato and green bean curry based on this recipe. I used our onion, potato and green beans in this.
Our carrot, onion, frozen sweet corn and frozen peas went into a stir fry based on this recipe. I served it with noodles instead of rice and added spinach. I also used far more sweet chilli sauce than the amount specified in the recipe. I don't know about you, but it seems to me that every day brings news of more problems. Shortages of HGV drivers, farm workers, meat processors, energy companies going out of business, to name just some issues that our country seems to be facing. Whatever will next week bring? I dread to think!
As always, wherever you are, I hope you all stay safe and well.
This week I am once again joining in with Dave’s Harvest Monday collection of posts over at Our Happy Acres 
Posts
You have stolen a march with your garlic and onions. (My garlic are in but not up)
ReplyDeleteWe like to get them in earl, Mal
DeleteThat squirrel was well camouflaged! I've been getting the greenhouse ready for winter but it's not quite time for the main garden area yet. Your curry dish sounds good to me, since I've been wanting to make some sort of curry myself.
ReplyDeleteOur greenhouse doubles as an overwintering storage area so has to be cleared in good time, Dave. We have curries most weeks and I used all sorts of vegetables in them.
DeleteNever thought of potatoes as a crop to break up the soil. Makes sense though. It is interesting to see the steps you take for the spring planting. Enjoy the last of your dahlias. Always so spectacular and adaptable. They even grow reliably in Southern California.
ReplyDeleteThe more we can tidy up before the weather turns bad the better, Sue
DeleteYour tomatoes have done so well and how lovely to harvest strawberries at this time of the year. I did enjoy the phots from Clumber park, such wonderful trees. When we were in the Lakes we came across a yew tree that was four and a half thousand years old. Tasty looking meals as always. Yes, every day seems to suggest that this winter may be grim for many.xxx
ReplyDeleteThe strawberries were a huge bonus, Dina after chopping the flowers off all season. If only ancient trees could talk.
DeleteYour allotment has been very productive, rewarding you for all your efforts. Your pantry will be full for the winter even if the supermarket shelves are empty.
ReplyDeleteSorry I just found this awaiting moderation L. The pantry is definitely full.
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