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