Winters Coming

Not been able to get down to the allotment for a couple of weeks due to chaos at home, first grandchild has been born and him and his adoring parents have moved in with us for the duration so one long regime of nappy changing and being nanny!  Managed to get down to plot 119 for a while yesterday though for a breath of fresh air and some work.  Took down the runner beans and had a general tidy around, Simon sorted out his peppers, not quite ready to overwinter yet as still very leafy and producing chillis even now.  Brussel sprouts are doing well and the leeks are doing a grand job.  January King cabbages are recovering after their inital noshing by bugs unknown.  And the onions are all up now.  Pulled up the last of the fennel and have given up on the celery, didnt really do very much - nothing really worth harvesting.  All the plots are looking pretty bare and certainly it seems like things are winding up for the winter.  At least the weeds arent growing for a change!  Didn't go up to the top plot, not a lot to do up there now we have decided to give that one up in the Spring, just things for harvesting through the winter.

Tidying Up

Autumn has arrived and time to tidy our plots ready for the winter.  Having decided to give up our plot 69 next time the rent is due, the tidying there is being kept to a minimum.  Went there first today and harvested some cabbages and pretty much the last of the decent runner beans and a few parsnips for our tea.  Took down the french bean poles as  those have all finished now and had a general sort out.  Pulled out some duff cabbages and cauliflowers and then had a sort out in the shed, taking all our tools and useful items down to our other plot.  Feel a little sad to be giving it up however it is a lot harder to maintain than our other site and it will be nice to give 100% of our time to one plot instead of doing 2 halfheartedly.

Down on plot 69 as is well.  Pulled some decent cauliflowers and the last of the rhubarb, also more runner beans.  Lots of tidying to be done, Simon got busy with the hoe and I worked with the shears to get the paths looking better.   Actually got some aubergine flowers coming now, never expected that so late in the season, dont think they will come to anything though.  Some of the onions we planted just a couple of weeks ago are showing growth, the January King cabbages are being nibbled though by something so put up netting.  Couldnt find any caterpillars so not sure if its pigeons.



All in all a pleasant day, had lunch on the plot too which was nice when the sun came out!  Already looking forward to the Spring!

First big chilli harvest!!

With the weather starting to turn a bit cooler, I have had to harvest some of the chillies from the cold green house. I've been growing Jalapeño, Prairie Fire, Cayenne hot peppers, and Patio Red sweet mini bell peppers.

As well as those I have grown 2 unknown peppers, which I have yet to identify. I think one is a Cayenne as it's around the same heat and shape as the others.

The other one, well I have no idea what it is.

I picked all the Patio Red (Sweet Peppers). Some have started to ripen but I wasn't expecting any of the peppers to ripen very well, what with the weather this year.



The Cayenne's have all been picked as well, even tho' they are still green.



The Jalapeño's looked about ready so again the plant is now naked of all fruit.



This is some of my unknown chilli plant fruits, no idea what it is, but it's a hot one. Just picked a few that where about ready, I have already pickled some that where green a month or so ago and still have plenty more left on the plant.



Picked a few of my Prairie Fire chillies as well, just the ones that where changing colour, these little chilli plants are very productive, with about 60 fruits on the plant still to be picked. They are VERY hot small fruits, so you only need a single pepper to heat up a dish.



Another of my unknown chillies, no idea what this could be, it's a small chilli plant about 2 foot high with lots of small 2inch fruits, that are currently green but are changing to orange, then most likely turning red. They have blunt ends to the chilli fruit and a very hot.





I'm hoping to over winter some of these plants this year in the cold greenhouse, I've not done this before, in fact this is only the second time I have ever grown chillies or sweet peppers. If I can over winter the plants, they should get better crops next year.

More New Raised Beds

Had a day off on Thursday (very rare!) and went to local garden centre for full english breakfast then got 2 more raised beds, also got 2 elephant garlic and some saffron crocuses for the front garden.  Spent a few hours down on plot 119, Simon put the raised beds together to complete the left hand side, just 4 more to get for the right hand side and that will be them completed.  Some critter has been digging up my spring green seeds but the animal has left my January King cabbages alone.  For now!



Went to our local sawmill after to get some free bark which they advertise, was going to do the path to match the other side, but unfortunately the bark was far too coarse for what we needed it for.  Never mind, we bought some wood and stone chippings anyway to do our barbeque area at home so not a wasted journey.

Other things doing well on plot 119 are..... one cauliflower which actually looks like a cauliflower!  The brussel sprouts are starting to form, and the last of the kohl rabi are ready for pulling.  The celery seems to be taking forever to get big though, at this rate the first frosts will get them before we eat any!  Also cleared the area between the greenhouse and the polytunnel and the old compost area, the plan next year is to get rid of the old polytunnel as it is falling apart and put a new smaller one up where the old compost area used to be, will open up a lot more space for digging over, with that extra space we should be in a position to possibly let the other plot go......



 

Chicken Update

The 4 chickens are settling in very well.  Had them about 6 weeks now and they are getting friendlier, had a few chicken cuddles.  After one flew over the fence into next doors garden we looked into putting up a higher fence and went for the cheap option, bought some bamboo screens as we just wanted a barrier to deter them.  Works really well, they have stayed in the garden ever since.  Didn't want to clip their wings as they like to have a little fly about from time to time!  Not wrecking the garden despite my fears, even sit in the raised beds and pick at the bugs, haven't touched the salad!  Just ate the single chard plant that was left over from allotment planting, and that was for them anyway.  Cats are still a little wary of them, one chicken went to sit next to Rosie the cat in the sunshine and started pecking her tail because she was swishing it.  Rosie wasnt impressed.  Still no eggs yet but their combs are reddening up so hopefully they will be mature enough soon.



 

Seed Bargains

After a tip off from a fellow blogger, we went along to the Wyevale Garden Centre today to see if they were also doing their end of season seed sale.  They were, all seeds packets for 50p.  We bought 40 packets and when we got home we totted up all the packet prices and were amazed to see that if we had paid full price for them it would have cost us £111!  Only paid £20.  Got a lot of different chillis for Simon and hopefully just about all the seeds we need for next year on Plot 119.  Just need a few others which they didnt have available, and hopefully get those via vegetableseeds.net.  Really nice to get a bargain!   My middle daughter came as well and bought some chilli seeds too.... might have just got the growing bug after spending the summer with us I think!

More Raised Beds

Now that all the potatoes have been dug up it was time to decide what to do with that space.  The potatoes were ok, no signs of blight, just a few bug holes here and there, definitely doing the Sarpo Mira variety next year, blight resistant and good sized spuds.  Did two this evening as jacket potatoes and they were huge and very tasty!  The King Edwards were a bit small but tasted good and the Caras didnt produce very many, considering the amount we planted.  So just Sarpo Miras next year.

So, a nice bit of allotment all ready to be worked again and we decided to put in some more raised beds to match the other side.  Simon put 4 in to start with, another two to do.  Nothing to plant in those two though so no hurry for those.



Put in some January King cabbages and the bare earth/compost is home to some spring green seeds, some of which are already poking their heads up after only being planted last Sunday.  Started planning what we want to do with the plot next year too, did a bit of a drawn plan and with what we have learnt this year it has helped us to understand our requirements for next year.  For example.... less runner beans!  Less brussel sprouts - dont think we need the 4 rows that we have!  Planning to get rid of the old polytunnel too as it is disintigrating and get a new smaller one to sit neatly beside the greenhouse.  That way we have a large new space which would be ideal for the broad beans and the strawberry patch.  Lots of plans.  Oh, and a petrol strimmer would be nice, hard work keeping all the paths down with a pair of shears!