Wrapping up the summer!

The children and I managed a good few hours on the plot today. Possibly their last visit before school starts up again. Despite the muggy weather, there is definitely  an air of 'wrapping up the summer' on the plot. Some plants are beginning to yellow, bean pods are really fat and the pile of spent plants, is too big to fit into the compost bins!

After far to much chit chat with our lovely neighbours, an exchange of plants and a nice bowl of raspberries to keep the children happy, we got down to some work.The main focus today was all about planting (albeit a little late) the remainder of the winter/spring brassica plants. They are all tucked up safetly in their new beds and thankfully we had enough netting for them all, now other crops are finished. 

I made a small dent in the weeding but as the plot is still not up to our usual standards I will declare the war on weeds lost for now!!

I need to start thinking about mulching, a few beds are empty now and will remain thag way until spring. At least with the no-dig I am not faced with the grueling task of digging them over.

The list of jobs for autumn are now looming, I just hope we have enough time and funds to get them sorted. But, as it is a marathon, and not a sprint and all that..........

A plot visit!

I finally felt well enough to have some time at the plot!
I knew the sweetcorn must be ready to harvest, so after clearing a feezer draw and getting the children excited about hotdogs and sweetcorn for dinner, we all headed off together, knowing we had a big battle with the weeds ahead of us.

Unfortunately this is what we arrived to..........

It seems thst badgers paid a visit and wiped out almost everybodys corn this year. After a brilliant harvest last season it was quite a shock and I have to be honest I felt completely gutted at the sight if this!

Not really sure if this will now be a problem every year, the thought of not growing corn is rubbish, it is one if my favourites.  Maybe I can squeeze some into the fruit cage.....

The plot is also in a bit of a sorry state. But it could be worse. It really made me evaluate how I am using the plot though. I really need to plan the amount of plants to sow as I am not filling it up as much as I can. I also need to be doing more to combat the slimmies, beer traps at least. There are lots of jobs that really need getting on with, it is going to be a busy autumn/winter that is for sure!

Sorry for the lack of bloggin!

So, I seem to be a bit rubbish at keeping this updated-sorry! I will try harder! I will try and give you a sweeping update for July and August!
Firstly, I have not been on the plot for most of August. A dose of Glandular Fever has kept me in bed for weeks and a visit to the allotment is not achievable at the moment. Basic harvesting and grass maintenance is being done by the husband and children but they are unsure about what is weeds etc, so unfortunately that will have to wait until I am up on my feet again! 

So to update:

The Wizard beans gave a great crop over all. Enough for fresh eating,  some for the feezer and seed for next season. I am really pleased with them, although I will not be doing as many plants next season as I would rather use the space for more peas, so I will just do half the amount as this year.

The early carrots and beetroot did fantasticly. Covering the beetroot seems to do the trick, last season I couldn't grow any at all!

The spring cauliflowers we okish. Nothing to shout about but will do them again next season. The calabrese just bolted after one very small head. It may have been weather related, I am tempted to try a different variety next season.

Runners/climbing beans. Dwarf french beans &Young leeks

The runners and climbing beans seem to be doing well.  The french beans are doing ok but really suffering slug and snail damage. I will plant lots more next season as so far we have only had enough to eat fresh rather than freeze!

Cucumber arch, squshes and pumpkins.

The pumkins and squashes are doing great.  Especially the cucumbers, although nobody seems to like the green ones (Wautoma) so next season I will look into something different. The Bothby Blonde's are perfect though, they will definitely be on next seasons seed list!

We had a month of really great mixed salad leaves and grew some fantastic Windermere lettuce. (like iceberg) I just need to define the art of sowing at the right time for a constant supply.

The peas are done, I have saved lots of seed and have written out a detailed sowing and growing plan for next season in the hope of bumper crops.

Potatoes were really dissappointing. Next season I need to be earthing them up, or in no-dig fashion, putting lots of mulch on top of them as they grow!  I will also just do two rows of earlies rather than squeezing in three, I just won't bother with maincrop.

Parsnips are looking fab, can't wait to see what we get.

Strawberry patch

Maincrop carrots and beetroot are doing great, although the carrots only germinated at about 70% so there are a few gaps, despite re-sowing several times! If I were feeling better I would be looking at pickling the beetroot and making chutney, but I can look forward to that when I am back on my feet.

Sweetcorn

The garlic did ok, despite suffering from rust, I am going to try and buy a variety called Wight Cristo, which is supposed to do well in clay soils, and plant double the amount.

Both the onion sets and the onions I grew from seed are really rubbish. I possibly didn't water them enough. The foliage just dissappeared, I did find slugs on them a few times, maybe that was the problem. I will give them another go next season but if they still don't do well, with some extra tlc I will put the space to better use!

The tomatoes got blight before they ripened, just like last season, even though I had bought an earlier ripening variety (Aurara from real seeds). I won't bother with them again on the plot. Only one of my children like raw tomatoes out of all of us, so I will just do a couple of plants in the garden instead and use the space for other crops. Maybe peppers and fennel.

What a mess!

I gave the strawberry patch a real good tidy up and the apple tree is full fruit. I bought a red gooseberry bush and an autumn raspberry plant from Aldi, they are sat in the garden for now.  The fruit cage and tree area will really be the jobs I will be focused on from autumn, so I have been spending the time in my sick bed planning away ready. My birthday is in October, so the wooden posts I need are the top of my birthday list.

Apples

I can't wait to get back to the plot, I have missed it so much,  let's hope I can update the blog a little more regularly too!