Maysky

Beantalk

The early broad bean crop is in flower, but the growth of both the early and late plants appears to be a bit stunted and the early ones have started to get blackfly: The whole point of an early crop, sown in November, is that they're supposed to flower before the blackfly are around. Marigolds / calendula, which deter blackfly, aren't in flower yet and there don't seem to be as many ladybirds around as usual. It's possible that they all flowered early on short stalks because of the unseasonally warm and dry spring. As usual, the leaves have been chomped by weevils, although it never causes a problem with the crop.

Thirsty for a brew

The strawberry bed's not as packed as it's been in previous years. Quite a few of the plants are in flower and like everything else, they need a good watering a couple of times a week. They would probably benefit from some potash to encourage fruit formation or some of the first batch of comfrey fertiliser, which is brewing in a bucket.

Clinging to bristles

The peas seem happy, although they're not keen on climbing old raspberry cane sticks because of the bristles. Scattering a few fennel leaves deters slugs and snails, although it's been so dry, and cold, that there's been no major mollusc appearance yet.

Waiting in the wings

The runner beans germinated quickly on a window sill and are raring to go. Need to gradually accilmatize them to being outside and then plant them out once the cold snap passes.

The north wind doth blow

 

The dry spell continued for most of the month and then, just as the potatoes pushed through the soil, a cold snap blew in on a north wind and ruined them. Should have given them some protection, but the temperature wasn't supposed to drop so low - and hasn't done at this time of year for at least a dozen years. Just as well there are a few seed potatoes left over with which to have another try.

Bloomin' early

The Cox's apple tree is in blossom early and unlike in previous years, the weather's good for flying pollinators.

Yum

Loads of lovely purple sprouting broccoli around now, hidden away from the pigeons all winter under nets and wire mesh. It grows back after harvesting if you leave a few young shoots and produces more if you give it lots of water.

Truly tulip

Ribes sanguineum

After the delicate perfume of the late winter flowering Daphne, the vibrant early spring flowers of the American currant - Ribes sanguineum - have a rather pungent smell.

Ambient Allotment

Sprung Greens

The start of the purple sprouting broccoli season and the last of the leek and kale harvests (apart from a few leeks left to fatten during the coming weeks, or left to flower and seed).

Early buds

                                              Gooseberry

                                             Blackcurrant

                                              Apple (Cox's)

A warm spell has encouraged fruit bushes and trees to bud about ten days earlier than last year.

The Sower

Came across a postcard of Van Gogh's 'The Sower' this week, apt for this time of year, when so many seeds are crying out for compost, pots, modules, seed trays, sunny window ledges, an airing cupboard or a well-tilled soil.

Already on the go for the veg garden :

• Tomatoes (Roma & Costoluto)
• Chillies (Cayenne)
• Courgettes
• Peas (Kelvedon Wonder)
• Broad Beans
• Celery
• Lettuce
• Spinach 
• Coriander
• Parsley

And a few flowers :

• Sunflowers
• Sweet Peas 
• Antirhinnum
• Osteospermum
• Cosmos
• Rudbeckia
• Phlox
• Sweet Rocket
• Black Eyed Susan
• Calendula
• Tagetes
• Coreopsis

Better not have forgotten anything!

Early bee on an anemone

Grubs up

At first glance it looked like cat shit, but on closer inspection it was a frog nestling in the soil at the base of an olive tree growing in a pot. The olive leaves have been nibbled by vine weevils in the past couple of years and although it doesn't affect the tree, the small white weevil grubs that live in the soil and attack the roots do. Fortunately, frogs and toads like eating the grubs, so this one is providing an important service.

Swelling underground

Garlic looks healthy, on top, but it's what's under the soil that's important and whether it gets too wet over the next few months in the heavy clay soil.

Protection

Ain't no pesky varmints gonna trample on these broad beans, for now.

Early doors

Always a good sign that winter is nearly over: You can smell the sweet lemon scent of this daphne odora several metres away. A shame it's not mine and that cuttings are difficult to root, but it's next to a path, so many people benefit.

Ratty and friends

It seems a longer, darker and colder winter than for a while, despite there being no snow or severe prolonged frost. Foxes, or badgers, have trampled on some broad bean plants that had made a good start in the autumn and a couple of storms have battered most of the others. The dwarf kale plants and leeks have grown very little and rats have got into the shed and eaten most of a marrow and some apples.

All Hallows' Eve

Holey Cabbage

Almost impossible to prevent slugs from chomping the outer leaves of these late summer cabbages, even if the nets prevent pigeons from having a go too, but the hearts are usually dense enough to make them worthwhile.

Bachelor's Buttons

The injestion of Feverfew, aka Bachelor's Buttons, appears to be as beneficial as it is a hazard.

Evergreens

Plenty of fresh veg still around, though running out of onions as the first leeks begin to mature.

Seedy business

 

Now that the sunflowers, marigolds and rudbeckia are starting to wilt, it's good time to collect seed heads before the rain comes. 

Long haul

The garlic planted last month has already put on lots of growth (some of the cloves were unearthed by curious birds, badgers or mice, hence the protection) but it'll be another eight months, around June, until it'll be ready to harvest.

The colour of autumn

Into October and the sweet peas are still flowering, which is unusual. Any remaining colour at this time of year is welcome, before it all goes black and white. More pointless gourds, useful lettuce and tasty beets.

Punkychoke

Globe artichokes look really punky when they're in flower; all spikes and purple mohican. Should really have cut the buds off before they flowered and eaten them: It would have helped the plant too, which was taken from a cutting this year and used up energy producing the flowers, which otherwise could have been used to establish it into a healthier plant for future crops. Then again, bees and other insects appreciate the flowers too.

Selfsufficientish Equinox

Smugly self-sufficient in vegetables and fruit so far this month: Daily harvests of beans, lettuce, sweetcorn, spinach beet, tomatoes and raspberries. Lots of windfall apples about and potatoes, marrows, onions and garlic in storage. Basil, chillies, parsley and coriander still growing well in pots. The freezer is now full up with blackcurrants, redcurrants, strawberries, apple, gooseberries, plums, rhubarb, peas, broad beans and sweetcorn. Still need to visit the baker and the dairy though.

Newberries

Getting regular small harvests from the new autumn fruiting raspberry canes, planted six months ago. A job to keep them vaguely weed free and watered as the plants establish. The yellow variety, 'Autumn Gold' are just as vigorous and tasty as the red.

Green Beets

Spinach beet always seems to grow well here; better then spinach, which often bolts and runs away to seed from being too wet or too dry. It's not quite as tasty as ordinary spinach, but better than chard, which also has quite tough white stalks.

On & on

Can't get enough of these; still producing well. Worth growing even more next year and stuffing the freezer.

Good gourds

Plants which I'd hoped were butternut squash turned out to be inedible gourds: perhaps they'll look good on the xmas tree!?

Big Toms

It's been warm and sunny for most of the month, helping the last of these beefsteak Costoluto tomatoes to ripen in the garden.

Full capacity

Some of the plots at the allotment already have bare soil, some meticulously weeded, others covered over and put to bed for the season. It seems a bit premature, when beans, lettuce and spinach still thrive, leek and brassica seedlings need space to establish for the winter and it's worth planting a crop of garlic and broad beans while the soil's still warm.

Daily beanfeast

Much better harvest from the second, later crop of french beans, (aka cobra beans or climbing beans) mostly due to improved watering, weeding and feeding and a sunnier position. Ambitiously planted out some final late seedlings, but there may not be enough daylight to see them to fruition next month.

Kale futures

A little late in clearing ground and planting out some kale seedlings that have been nibbled and pecked a bit, although hopefully they'll recover as they're a useful winter veg. These are a dwarf variety, not the best, so it's worth sowing as many as possible. Trying a final late sowing now to use up a packet of seeds before the expiry date.

More blighters

Along with all the usual stuff, harvested some celery today, some of which was showing signs of celery leaf blight (a virus that hangs around in the soil and makes the leaves wilt and die) and needed removing. The rest is fine and although the stalks are thin, they're full of flavour and good for cooking with. Spending more time in the kitchen than at the allotment now, cooking or preserving all the goodness.

Pot the red

More ripening every day; these 'Roma' have been reliable this year.

Late bloomers

Lettuce pray no prey

It took ages to get lettuce growing earlier in the year, when it was too wet, cold or dry for the seeds to germinate and there were lots of slugs around to nip off any that did emerge. These are the first to do well from direct sowing into the soil; others were sown in modules and transplanted or harvested. Hoping some. of which there are about half a dozen varieties, might survive through the winter.

Harvest Supper

Crikey! September again and the accompanying panic and melancholia at the passing of the summer and shortening of the days. Still, plenty to harvest in reward for all the work months ago, when the days were lengthening. Trending (?) this week; sweetcorn, french beans, lettuce and windfall apples.

Season of the Spider

Can hardly move in the garden at the moment without running into a spider's web and plenty are making themselves at home indoors, which is helpful, because there are plenty of aphids and fruit flies about, but unhelpful when they end up in the bath.

Sweet pickings

A good year for sweet peas, lasting throughout the summer and benefiting from repeated picking and watering.

Plum snatcher

This squirrel busily slurped on a plum a few feet away, discarding the skin and dripping juice until it either dropped it, or had had enough.

First cob

Inbetweener

           A marrow, a courgette and something in between.