Chilly day on the allotment

A chilly start to the day but the sun came out and dried off the plot.

Bonfire

We warmed up courtesy of our new brazier, compared to trying to get a bonfire going from scratch it is money well spent. There are always hard stalks, canes and rotten wood to be cleared and a bonfire produces ash which is rich in potash to use around the beds. 

Still clearing off the vegetables which are done, so today the sweetcorn stalks were dug up as were the dwarf French beans and the last of the broad beans. Green manure was sown to give some ground cover over the winter months and help protect the soil. We have given up on the pumpkin, variety Jack o’ Lantern, and pulled it up. The one fruit is still green and pretty small but there is always next year to have another go.

 

The autumn onion sets were planted out, variety Senshyu Yellow. These will root and grow a little over winter giving onions ready for use around May. The garlic will go in next month.

Carrots variety Purple Haze

Still picking runner beans, carrots and raspberries, and beginning also on the winter crops like chard and swedes. The redcurrants are still on the bushes and glowing in the sun as they deepen in colour and intensify in flavour so worth holding off picking them all earlier in the season.

Jobs for next week

Buy the wood for repairing the raised beds
Weeding round the hazels etc
Soil sieving from the heap by the gate

See you on Thursday