The Piece De Resistance

The Long Awaited First Sweetcorn

 Today my evening meal is special. This years trials and tribulations down the plot will be forgotten as I savour my first delicious mouthful of SWEETCORN, which I picked an hour ago. Picking the first 2 ripe cobs this afternoon made the long sunshine less rest of the year fade into insignificance. I had checked several cobs last week to see if they had ripened, no luck on that occasion. Maybe the fact that the cobs had old tights fastened round them, to deter earwigs, which seem to like my Sweetcorn every year, had something to do with them not developing 100%? Sweetcorn should have a full post just dedicated solely to it, but I'm far too busy at the moment, so I'll crack on with an update on what's happening down the plot lately.

Simple Sweet & Savoury

 A couple of weeks ago I was replacing my Strawberry plants on my main plot. That job took a little longer than expected, but is now completed, with 78 new 1st year runners planted out and the 3 year old plants removed. All the new plants have their own markers alongside them to indicate how old they are.

Strawberry Bed With New Runners Planted

Brassica Bed Main Plot Brussels + 3 Cabbages

 After the Strawberries had been replanted, it was time to lift the remainder of my main crop Potatoes on my 2nd plot. This took me a couple of afternoons but the effort was well worth it with a very good crop of large Desiree Potatoes only a handful of which had been affected by slugs or blight. I now have more than enough Potatoes to see me through this coming Winter. Potatoes are already selling at inflating prices in some areas of Somerset. Harvesting of Runner and French beans as well as Peas, Mixed Lettuce and Cabbage has continued when required. My Autumn Raspberries on both plots have been excellent in their taste and abundance recently, far better than the Summer ones were.

Legumes Bed Main Plot

 I took a break from the plot yesterday to concentrate on overdue work on my back garden which has been more or less neglected this year. The weather was warm and pleasant with a cooling breeze. After a full days work hoeing the borders pruning shrubs and trees and mowing the lawn it was 7-30 pm. A good days effort left me with 8 rubble bags and one of those collapsible canvas containers full of weeds, leaves foliage and grass cuttings, to be disposed of. Fence painting and patio cleaning can wait for a while.

This Beauty Settled on My Bird Feeder in the Garden Yesterday

 Today I was back down the plot by 10 a.m. After checking my Brussels sprouts and ridding them of Caterpillars, (an average of 2 Caterpillars per plant), using the traditional method of picking them off by hand, it was time to rotavate the top area of my 2nd plot where my early Potatoes had been growing. Hopefully I will be sowing Mustard seeds in this area tomorrow. That done I sowed 2 rows of over wintering Onions (Senshu and Keepers). I don't hold out much hope that they will germinate as both seed packets were out of date, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Remaining Carrots & Leeks Main Plot

 More areas of the plots are looking bare and empty at the moment a far cry from a couple of months ago. I still have a few more over wintering vegetables to sow within the next few weeks and any unused ground will be sown with green manures, rather than leaving compost or manure on their surfaces to rot down. 

Grapes Finally Starting to Ripen Main Plot

Pumpkins Still Developing on the Roof of My Manure Heap

There Are Quite a Few Cucumbers Under There Somewhere

Raspberries & Rhubarb Still Going Strong

Blighted Tomatoes Removed from Plot

 

There's always tomorrow.