The Veg Plot.

[Sean_Morgan]

Been to pick up a couple of new hens. We should get green and blue eggs apparently
They'll be allowed to wander in the orchard with the 3 we've already got once they have had time to settle in

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[Bibio]

as someone who ties fishing flies i would call the cream coloured one a Honey Dun and the other a Furnace due to the colour of the neck hackles.

[garynortheast]

Funny old business, veg growing. I look at my veg plot and what I see is the stuff that hasn’t done so well, mostly brassicas under slug and caterpillar attack. But then when I think a bit further I remember that I’m not only eating stuff off the veg garden every day, I’m also picking enough to put in the freezer.
So this evening for example, I put around 7lbs of French beans and about 3 or 4lbs of runner beans away for the winter months, and also picked tomatoes, courgettes, Swiss Chard, Russian Red Kale, and a globe artichoke. I have homegrown spuds on the go for dinner, along with chard, and courgettes roasting in the oven. The only part of dinner not from the garden are the vegan sausages, and the onions (mine were a failure).

Even the brassicas will largely recover in a couple of weeks now that the cabbage whites have almost stopped laying eggs on them.

[Sir Trev]

Adam showed us his pumpkins the other day so I thought I'd share a pic of mine. I harvested these yesterday and although I only got one fruit per plant it was what I expected based on growing similar varieties before.

Lady Poppy and the Monkey thought it was very Halloween-ey (for some reason) so Batty Bat, which Lady Poppy made, was duly fetched to be part of the picture.

Pumpkin Heads by Trevor Laight, on Flickr

So you get a better idea of the size of these things Monkey offered to put one on her head. And of course the bat came into this one too... They're mad, the pair of them!

Monkey and Batty by Trevor Laight, on Flickr

Should keep us in soup and stews for ages!!!

.

[garynortheast]

Impressive crop there Trev. I must have a go at growing pumpkins next year.

[garynortheast]

Well the veg plot really is at it’s peak now. My freezer is full to the brim with purple podded French, and runner beans, bottom drawers in the fridge are full of cucumbers and courgettes, I have a bowl of tomatoes constantly on the go. All my veg is now coming from the garden.

I’m shortly going to cut down the pea plants as soon as the final pods have swollen and ripened for next year’s seeds, and then I’ll have a look at what I can put in as an overwintering veg.

The Swiss Chard is particularly spectacular. The colours are astounding and really glow when the light is on them. I’ll get some pictures tomorrow.

[Sir Trev]

Nice one Gary. I have a few runners left before they're all done, leaving just the parsnips. Once we get a frost on them (I'm in NO hurry!!) I'll start lifting them. Roast fresh parsnips are fab! Still got a fair few toms to ripen up from the greenhouse and that will be it for another year.

I have too may hedges close by which means a lot of insects, so brassicas are a no-go for me unfortunately as they get chomped to the ground no matter what I try to stop them. What the insects don't get the wood pigeons and/or foxes and badger gets in the colder months so not much point I've found.

[garynortheast]

Just been out and picked several more pounds of French and runner beans. I'm really hoping we don't get a frost yet as the plants are still flowering and also have loads of small pods on them. Another week of grace would be good.

A lot of my brassicas have been pretty well chomped by cabbage white caterpillars to Trev, but I'm not too bothered as most of them are things that will grow on over the winter, and the first proper cold snap will see an end of the caterpillars.

[garynortheast]

Well, we had a bit of a frost last night but it never touched the veg plot so my beans have survived. It’s very clear again tonight though and I’m hoping we don’t get anything too hard overnight.

[garynortheast]

Back up on the veg plot for a while this afternoon. We had a frost last night so it’s seen off the last of the tomato and courgette plants. Daughter Sioned and I pulled them all out and chucked them in the compost bin, did the same with the long dead pea plants, which I’d left in to help fix nitrogen in the soil, and hoiked out the sweetcorn plants.

Harvested a good sized bunch of carrots, a bunch of Russian Red Kale, and a swede, all for dinner this evening. Started tidying up the dead and yellow leaves off all the various brassica plants, and then started staking them as they are all quite tall. Got about half of them staked, I’ll go up there tomorrow and finish staking the brussel sprouts, green and purple broccoli.

If we get a couple of dry days I’ll hoe the weeds off the beds ready to mulch them all, and then think about what quick winter crops I might get in.

All of this of course pre-supposes that I will:
a). Get the tenancy back when the work is done on the house, and,
b). Be able to have access to the veg plot to maintain it while the work on the house is being carried out.

Worrying and uncertain times.

Still, there’s another thread for that somewhere.....