Fruit Plot Planning

September has been a month of harvesting and planning for next season.  The Blue Lake beans have been good again this year but going to try Cobra next year as this is supposed to be even heavier cropping.  Not going to bother with too many runner beans next year as not everyones favourite at home, might just do one row of Equator as they were stringless and the most successful out of all the varieties we have tried.  Learnt lots of lessons this year.  Cabbages = nightmare.  Everything wants to eat them.  Need more protection.   Florence fennel = not to bother, didnt produce bulbs.  Courgettes = grow in the ground rather than grow bags as they dry out too quick.  Aubergines = dont bother.  2nd year of failure.  Sorted out most of our seeds for next year and sat down with paper and pen to plan the plot.... rotation is proving to be a little difficult but hopefully we will work it out eventually.

 

Main job for September was taking up all the potatoes - had an excellent crop of Pink Fir Apples and Nicolas, Roosters were good as well but the skins were quite tough.  Got enough stored in the garage to last us quite a while.  Used the last of the garlic last night though so our decision to grow a lot more next year was the right one.  Ordered 2 Provence Wight bulbs and  12 Elephant garlic from Marshalls, and a few hundred Senshyu Yellow onions so will put them in as soon as they arrive.

Other big job was planting the new fruit bushes.  Picked up some cheap and cheerful ones from the Range, 4 for £10 so a bargain and look healthy enough.  Got some blackcurrants, a fig tree to go in a big planter, a blueberry, some yellow raspberries and some redcurrants.  Together with the rhubarb, currants, jostaberry, gooseberries and raspberries we already had it has turned the right hand side of plot 119 into a proper fruit patch.  Just got to sort out some sort of fruit cage for next year.