More harvesting & clearing up

We are back from our holiday, a week in Cornwall, a bit damp but we had a lovely time, visited Lost Gardens of Heligan & Eden Project, both well worth a visit if you can.

But on our return to the Allotment today I spotted a new visitor a baby Froglet.
(Thumb in shot to show scale)



Sweetcorn still producing, despite our Daughter looking after the plot while we were away, harvesting & watering, there was still lots to pick today, 6 more cobs.

Other crops harvested:
Beans (Runner & Purple climbing)
Lettuce
Carrots
Potatoes (Cara & Charlottes)
Raspberries (Autumn croppers)
Cauliflowers






But I was most concerned about our main crop 'Cara' spuds, which are resistant to most diseases, but as the weather had been warm & damp I was expecting Blight.

All of the Halums (stem & leaves) had wilted.






So I cut off all the Halums to ground level, these must be burnt not composted.
Then earthed up again so the tubers don't get too much light, which will make them go green and not edible.







But a test digging showed me that they were OK.
But I will leave the rest under soil, for a few weeks, to firm up the skins, then will dig them all up & store in hessian sacks in a cool/dark place to feed us over winter.

Thanks for reading/returning. Look out for next weeks up-date. Ian.

Clearing, Harvesting & still Planting

First, here is one of the many (5 counted so far) Toads we have on our Allotment, this one made its home in the Compost bin :)

I'm planning to make a pond over winter so hopefully we will have Frogs too. Both Frogs & Toads are partial to Slugs & Snails so we make a home for them and they repay by eating the pests, win, win.



One of the jobs to do today was to clear away the Broad Beans as they had finished, all foliage went into the Compost bin.
Then we limed the area and planted more Brassicas, Broccoli this time for a winter crop.







Dug up another half row of 1st earlies 'Charlotte' today (12.5 lb), this makes way for more winter crops.

We sowed some Pak Choi and planted out some Lettuce already started at home.





Todays Harvest:
Cauliflower
Red Cabbage
Sweetcorn
Courgettes
Beans (Purple, Green & Runner)
Potatoes (Charlotte)
Tomatoes
Raspberries
& Rhubarb (not in photo)
The Sunflower had fallen of the host plant which is currently at 10' 6" tall

So today was a busy one, lots of weeding done too, I need a Holiday.

So this is the last Blog for 2 weeks as we are off to Cornwall for a week, visiting the Eden Project & Lost Gardens of Heligan also many NT properties & gardens too.

Thanks for reading/returning, check out next up-date on (or after) Aug 29th. Ian.

New Planting & still Harvesting

After a dull and damp week, today was a lovely sunny day, so we decided to plant some crops for autumn/winter.

This raised bed used to have Onions & Garlic in it, but now have been harvested & dried. So today planted Spinach, for a late crop.












This raised bed used to have Mange Tout Peas growing, but as they had finished, although we did get a fantastic crop this year, cleared it all away, all foliage in compost bin of course.
Have planted more Onions (seed) for winter growing.
But some Sunflowers have self-seeded so leaving them for the Birds & Bees.












This bed contains our late Rhubarb 'Victoria' the crowns were moved from another location earlier in the year, so haven't done so well but we expect to get a good crop next year.









Today's harvest included:
Carrots
Cucumber

Not in picture:
Courgette
Green & Purple Beans
Tomatoes
Potatoes
Rhubarb
Raspberries

and Flowers too.



So as I said today was a lovely sunny day, and things are still growing well, I was expecting to harvest some Sweetcorn today but it's still not ripe, you can tell by squeezing one of the kernels if clear liquid comes out its not ready, look for milky liquid which means its ready.

Thanks for reading/returning, look out for next update.
Ian.

Best time of the year 'Harvesting'

First must apologise for not up-dating last w/e, but think I have a good excuse, I was at the RHS Tatton Park Flower Show and it was good again, we were lucky with the weather too :)

But now the Harvesting, I love this time of year when all the hard work pays off.
These Round Courgettes have been producing well this year, again.


The Purple Climbing Bean tower has just started producing fine long beans, strangely they turn green when cooked, but taste lovely when steamed.
















These Peas are ready for picking and today we picked 2lb (900g) not bad from a 4ft x 6ft frame.

















The Sweet Corn is doing well and will be ready to harvest soon, maybe next week. So look out for next up-date.










So today was a good harvest day, also pulled up the Onions today which are now drying at home, but rain did curtail the harvesting somewhat.
Don't know whether you can see in this picture but it is raining.

Thanks for reading returning, look out for next up-date, hopefully next weekend.

Ian.