Wintery Autumn

Cold wet and drab weather today is keeping me indoors with the morning spent preparing more veg for the freezer, (Runner beans, French and Borlotties), which were harvested yesterday as I enjoyed a few hours of warm sunshine down the plot.

Mixed Lettuce Borlotties and French Beans Harvested Yesterday

  Over the past couple of weeks "bus mans holiday" I have been occupied doing some decorating indoors and more garden maintenance. Despite these distractions and the colder weather I have still manged to get a few more Autumn jobs done down the plot. The area used for growing Potatoes on my second plot this year has been sown with Mustard seed with 1 other bed being forked over. This bed will be covered with black plastic sheeting, (hopefully this week) and left fallow until the Spring. Most of my greenhouse Tomatoes have been harvested now, with the outdoor ones still ripening slowly.

Runner beans Raspberries Swede and Rhubarb Harvested Yesterday

 On my main plot the over wintering Onions have germinated well, as have the Spring Cabbages. These were the out of date seeds which I mentioned in my last post. More Lettuce seeds have been sown along with over wintering Carrots (Berlicum). The Lettuce, Carrots and Cabbage are all underneath cloches due to the recent drop in temperatures.

Who Knobbled My Potato??

Runner, French and Borlotti beans are still producing well, along with an abundant supply of Sweetcorn, Cucumbers, Rhubarb and Raspberries. In fact due to the vast amount of Autumn Raspberries developing, I had to use some of them up with some more jam making last week. The last of my Cabbages have been harvested and for the first time in 3 seasons my Swedes are excellent in size and flavour, mainly due to the damper Summer weather.

I Think These Are Capsid Bugs Just Hatched On a Dead Nettle

 Last Monday was a sad day for our allotmenteers with the funeral of one of our fellow allotment holders, George B. George was a stalwart of our allotments for well over 50 years. His vegetable growing knowledge and expertise was second to none. He was well known around Somerset, Dorset and many other areas for his vegetable growing prowess and the excellence of his produce. George was always willing to share his knowledge and experience with others. He will be sadly missed. R.I.P. George.