Growing Nicely

gardening, sustainability, growing food, plants and flowers.

  • Home
  • About
  • Garden Writing
  • Garden Services
    • A Garden Consultation to Reveal the Beauty of your Garden.
  • The Blog
    • Sustainable Gardening
    • Growing Food
    • Gardening & Plants
    • Garden Design
    • Garden Visits
  • Contact Me

What I’m planting down at the allotment  

October 23, 2014 By Jill Anderson Leave a Comment

Meanwhile down at the allotment, it’s been a good year so far, I’ve made a few silly decisions, like not really thinking about how tall the sprouts would get and making their netting house too low, so that the plants developed a hump-back shape.

I wasn’t very efficient at pinning down the netting either, so rather than keeping cabbage white butterflies out, they got trapped inside with the sprout plants. But despite my cack-handed approach, a fair number of little sproutlets are growing nicely.

This is my little haul from today, including a few windfall apples.

allotment harvest, www.growingnicely.co.uk

kale, yellow courgettes, apples, sunflowers and dahlias, what more could you want.

Borage always does well, it’s quite a thug, rapidly seeding itself all over the place, but the flowers are so pretty and the bees adore it, so it stays and I have to pull up lots of it up.

borage flowers

borage

The kale is doing well too,  I’ve just picked the tops so far, stir fried they are delicious. It’s such a hardy plant, packed with vitamin C, producing leaves right through winter and looking very handsome with steely-blue, textured leaves.

kale at the allotment, www.growingnicely.co.uk

black tuscan kale (Cavalo nero)

Along with the kale, I’ll be harvesting leeks and sprouts over the winter.

This what I’ll be planting any day now:

Garlic

It likes a period of really cold weather, planted in autumn it will be ready to be picked next summer and stores for about 4 months. I reckon you could plant this in a roomy pot too, if you’re short of space.

The courgette plants in this raised bed have almost finished so this is where the garlic will be planted.

courgette plant in a raised bed

Broad Beans:

My neighbour at the allotment always plants an autumn crop and had a fine display in early summer, so I’m going to copy him (he’s a seasoned allotmenteer) and then sow another lot in late February. Apparently Aquadulce Claudia is a good variety for autumn sowing.

A nice view, shame about the trees

In a bid to stop the stream at the end of the allotment from flooding the local council felled most of the trees on the other bank, revealing lovely views, but so sad to see so many weeping willows removed. I’m concerned too about the bank being de-stabilised and the lack of habitat for birds and wildlife.

the view at the end of my allotment, www.growingnicely.co.uk

Should you be thinking about planting a tree or trees, here’s a recent post with lots of tips.

Happy gardening

Jill

 

Related posts:

Three favourite evergreen herbs. Join me on a little tour of my allotment. How to dry sage leaves, www.growingnicely.co.ukHow to dry sage leaves. How to grow & store winter squash, uchiki kuri squash, www.growingnicely.co.ukWinter squash, harvesting and storing.

Related posts:

Three favourite evergreen herbs. Join me on a little tour of my allotment. How to dry sage leaves, www.growingnicely.co.ukHow to dry sage leaves. How to grow & store winter squash, uchiki kuri squash, www.growingnicely.co.ukWinter squash, harvesting and storing.
Filed Under: Blog, Growing Food Tagged With: autumn sown broad beans, garlic planting, the allotment in October

Never Miss A Post

Subscribe for updates to be delivered straight to your inbox.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

plants-gardens-growing-eating

Jill-profile image

Hello, I’m Jill Anderson.
This is where you’ll find good, solid information about gardening, growing fruit & vegetables and how to keep it all looking good.
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
The healing, calming power of nature in one photo. The healing, calming power of nature in one photo.
These wonderful autumn colours won’t be around for much longer. But that’s ok, because now is what matters, & their fleeting beauty makes them even more precious.
It’s easy to see how being among trees & nature is so beneficial for our health & wellbeing. 
Have a great Sunday.
Savouring all the autumn colour, & doesn’t it lo Savouring all the autumn colour, & doesn’t it look spectacular with this bold front door.
Today has been hard work, after a lovely time last week in Norfolk. The north coast there is spectacular. Realising these last few months, that there are so many beautiful places here. 
Have a nice evening.
Charming glasshouse at Houghton Hall, Norfolk. Vis Charming glasshouse at Houghton Hall, Norfolk. Visiting to see the Anish Kapoor sculptures, which are amazing, but unprepared for the beauty of the grounds & garden. 
Such a treat, worth coming to Norfolk for this alone!
Hope you’re keeping well, & managing to smile some of the time. x
P.S. more of Houghton Hall & Anish Kapoor on my stories
We stopped off on the way home to pick blackberrie We stopped off on the way home to pick blackberries, after coffee & cake, sitting in the churchyard - the cafe was full, & the churchyard is a quiet, peaceful spot..... as you’d expect.
-
One little advantage of lockdown is walking so much more, rather than using the car. Though it shouldn’t have taken something as momentous as this, for me to change bad habits 🙁
Hope you’re weekend is going well.
My hazel arch, a bit lopsided 🙄 using wood from My hazel arch, a bit lopsided 🙄 using wood from a random clump of hazel on the garden. Now looking much better covered in winter squash plants, so you can’t see just how ramshackle it is. I like to think it has a certain home-spun charm .

Great for small space gardening, imagine how much room you need to grow these without vertical supports.

I’ve got 2 Uchiki kuri, lovely nutty flavour.
1 Turks turban, for its flamboyant shape & colours, though it also tastes good.
One unknown, grown by my grandsons in their homeschooled science lesson.
Close-ups of the squash over on my stories.
Stay cool my friends x
I wanted to show you this lovely lily ( Lilium reg I wanted to show you this lovely lily ( Lilium regale) which is flowering right outside our bedroom window. 
It gets sun for about 4 hours only, you can order the bulbs now for planting in September. It’ll reappear every year & waft delicious scent around your garden, or through your windows.
Have a very happy Monday x
It’s British Flower Week, there’s a lot to be It’s British Flower Week, there’s a lot to be said for fabulous seasonal flowers that haven’t travelled thousands of miles ...... & are wonderful for biodiversity
A bit of rain, nice long days (it’s almost mid-s A bit of rain, nice long days (it’s almost mid-summer!) & it’s, mostly, all growing nicely.

Spinach, courgettes & garlic in shot here. 
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday x
Hope is a decision I’ve thought long & hard abou Hope is a decision
I’ve thought long & hard about how to view the tumult in the world we’re living in now. 
The only thing that works for me, is to choose hope.

It’s a tall order, but avoiding mainstream news & speculation helps avoid the anxiety, that’s often waiting in the wings.

One day soon there’ll be grandchildren clambering over this again.
Follow on Instagram

Don't miss any posts!

Enter your email address and receive notifications of new posts.

Archive

Copyright © 2021 Growing Nicely | Privacy Policy

Please note this website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent for cookies to be used. For further information on use of cookies please refer to our privacy policy Find out more.