So it’s officially autumn. It was the autumn equinox on Saturday and from now until March the nights are longer than the days. The weather is distinctly autumnal and it’s cold enough to light the wood-burner. The problem is I’m in denial; I refuse to light the fire in September, it’s just too early. I even went into town last week in flip-floppy things, cropped trousers and no jacket. The sun was shining, which had lulled me into thinking it was warmer than it actually was but the nip in the air quickly made me regret my attire. It’s unusual for me to be under-dressed. I have never bought into the ‘a coat is not an option, even if it is minus 15 outside and blue skin is distinctly unattractive’ ethos that some of my fellow north-easteners have become famous for. I guess I’m still hoping that by some miracle an Indian summer will appear and my trips to the allotment won’t require layers of fleece just yet.
Of course, I know denial is futile. Burying my head in the sand like an ostrich might keep my head warm but it won’t do much for the rest of me. Do ostriches actually bury their heads in the sand or have they been badly misrepresented over the years?
Borlotti beans
I did make the most of Saturday’s lovely sunshine though, to start to prepare the plot for its winter slumber. We’ve been lucky to escape the early frosts that have affected some but the cooler temperatures had started to take their toll on the French beans and the weight of the plants on the teepee had caused quite an alarming lean to the structure, so with strong winds and rain predicted I thought it was time to remove them. They were the tall climbing bean variety ‘Blauhilde’ with long purple pods which I would highly recommend, partly because it coped with the worst summer any of us has ever known, and also because the beans were very tasty and never got tough or stringy. I harvested the last two Florence fennel bulbs and made the decision to pick No. 1 squash. It could have done with longer on the plant to ripen a bit more but after nurturing it for so long I didn’t want to lose it to frost. It’s now on the kitchen window sill where the skin can harden a little more but to be honest as it is our only decent sized squash curing the skin to prolong storage is not really an issue; I’m sure we’ll be cooking with it in the weeks to come.
I’ve spent quite a bit of time over the last couple of weeks moving manure from the allotment pile to my own plot. I can only really manage an hour or two before my back hurts so I try to do a little bit every couple of days if the weather allows and gradually the beds are being mulched.
Russian red kale
My plan was to have more winter veg this year so there’s some mizuna and cavolo nero kale in a bed along with some red Russian kale. This Russian kale is actually more bluey-pink and it’s particularly versatile. I love it wilted in omlettes and pasta dishes or in bubble and squeak. If you grow one winter veg I’d recommend this one.
The purple and white sprouting broccoli plants have recovered from the caterpillar onslaught. Even though I had covered them in enviromesh butterflies had still, somehow managed to lay eggs on them. Vigilance and judicious squishing saved the day but it just shows how a gardener can’t rest on their laurels even when pest controls have been employed.
My leeks have not faired so well, in fact they’ve been a bit of a disaster. It appears they have been subject to an attack from the leek moth. I perhaps wasn’t as vigilant with my leeks as I now realise I should have been. They had started to look a bit raggedy but I didn’t think much of it until an inspection last week when I discovered tiny little caterpillars chomping their way into the stems of my leeks. With little hope of some of the leeks recovering I had to remove them. So it seems I need to cover them too next year, with fleece or enviromesh. You never see the elegant kitchen gardens in sumptuous photo shoots swathed in fleece, do you?
Not wanting to end on a tale of leek destruction though, I have planted up some more biennials for early flowers next year. I love biennials as they give me hope at this time of year. It can be quite melancholic removing this year’s plants but biennials remind me of my plans for next year and they fill me with hope for good weather and bountiful crops.
I thought our courgettes had rotted away, but have just noticed half a dozen tiny ones starting to grow, so all is not lost after all, although whether they will develop remains to be seen.
Weather here has changed again, storms, floods etc really bad here last night and yes, for the first time in September, we lit the woodburner!
I think I’ll join you in burying my head, I’m not ready for the cold weather!
It’s tipping it down here again and I need to go to the plot. May need full waterproofs just to pick some courgettes.
More good than bad, I’d say and in vegetable growing I don’t think you can expect much more than that! I know what you mean about denial, even though I’m thrilled it’s cooler, I don’t actually want to think it is winter. The leek moth seems a terrible pest, I don’t remember it being a problem when I was growing leeks 10 years ago, there are lots of ‘new’ to make the gardener’s life harder. Good Gardening, Christina
Leek moths, yet another pest to have to think about now.
I was refusing to believe that autumn was here too, especially after the non existent summer we’ve had, but I’ve succumbed. The fire has been lit, well, the central heating has been on. It’s more like winter today than autumn. I had good intentions of sowing biennials but I somehow didn’t get round to it again. Oh well, there’s always next year.
Hope you haven’t suffered any flooding up there. it has been so miserable. it’s tipping it down again here and I need to go to the plot. Better dig out the waterprooofs.
I’ve dug out the winter coat already… AND turned on the central heating!
And as far as I know, ostriches don’t actually bury their heads in the sand when they get frightened; they either run or make a stand – they have, I’ve been told, a rather nasty kick when they are provoked.
We’re being deluged with yet more rain. Flooding across the country. Our weather SUCKS. The summer clothes have been packed away and my winter woollies have replaced them.
Our squashes have begun to romp again, though it’ll be a race against time for many of them. Sowing biennials is satisfying, I planted out some sweet williams and wallflowers a few weeks’ ago that had grown strong from late sumer sowings, and have a few perennials on the move too.
Sorry that you lost your leeks. Ours are still under the cabbage cage this year, more by accident than intent, as we used that area as a ‘seedbed’ and haven’t moved them yet – perhaps we shouldn’t!
Think I might just cover the whole plot in an enviromesh tunnel next year. Well maybe not, I feel like doing it sometimes though. I had been so chuffed with how good the leeks had looked when I moved them.
Mmm, I need to check whether my swelling yellow squashes are cougettes which should be picked or pumpkins which could get bigger!!!!
What were they called? I think pumpkin plants tend to trail more than courgettes, may be that’s just the varieties I’ve grown though.
Have you noticed Red Russian Kale tends to grow little leaves out of the big leaves? I think I can see some in your photo. Any idea why this might be? I thought it a little alarming at first and no one could tell me if something was wrong or not!
Yes I’ve noticed that too but I can’t see there would be anything wrong with it. I guess it’s just what it does
Thanks for your reply. Glad to hear it wasn’t just me! Have a load of self seeded seedlings coming up now which I will transplant and share around as it so hardy and undemanding. Although I sowed Ragged Jack and Red Russian and couldn’t tell the difference between them!
head in the sand, is an urban legend.
That’s a pity. i quite like the idea myself
Hi,
I’m in denial too. I think most of us in the UK are.
This just cannot be happening to us; did we really just suffer through months or rotten weather??? Seriously? Was only August and the beginning of September reasonable?
Where did all the time go; I just don’t know.
And now we’re meant to be pleased to see autumn! I think I’ll be in denial until the week before Christmas at this rate.
Miserable, isn’t it? I’m going to need full waterproofs just to go to the plot and pick some courgettes for dinner tonight. I’ve reluctantly dug out my slipper boots and packed away my summer clothes.
I did not grow ‘Blauhilde’ this year WW but my plot neighbours had them scambling up their plot boundary wire fence and they thrived. I was fortunate enough to be invited to pick. It has now rained here almost incessantly for three days and the opening words of this poem ‘I Wish I Were A Bear’ sum up my thoughts about the coming months
“If you’re a bear, you get to hibernate.
You do nothing but sleep for six months.
I could deal with that.”
Bears and ostriches – both creatures of infinite wisdom.
Definitely growing Blauhilde again. I think I’d rather be a bear with all that fur to keep me warm.
I’d much prefer to be a cat, well fed and looked after of course!
We had a glorious October Indian summer a few years ago so fingers crossed.
Sorry to read about your leeks, I don’t grow as a plot neighbour, who’s a much better grower than I am, always generously gives me more than enough. xx
Fingers crossed here too. Leek moth, just another pesky pest to deal with