Sunday On The Allotment - 29 Sep - Autumn Crops

Out to my St Ives allotment this morning to get more work done - despite the mizzly conditions.

Autumn has most definitely arrived in Cornwall.

The Summer plants are starting to fade - although there are still some good crops to be harvested.

I've deliberately left some of my French Beans - particularly the Borlotti variety Firetongue - to grow on to produce beans for drying.

I had a glut of beans last month - so harvested the pods - filled the freezer - and left the rest on the plants.

These are now harvested - podded - and on a tray in the kitchen to dry for storage.

I've also harvested a good crop of Perpetual Spinach - sown in June and grown under a net cloche.

That is all now cooked and in the freezer - looking forward to some nice Autumn meals.

The plants are still looking good - so I'm hoping for further crops.

Now is the time to start thinking ahead towards next years sowing, planting and - hopefully - harvesting.

Last Autumn I sowed Green Manure - Caliente Mustard in my cleared beds - which provided ground cover to exclude weeds. It also protected the soil and reduced the amount of nutrients washed away by the Winter rains.

This worked well - so I'm doing the same this year. I weeded, hoed and raked the bed to level it.

Then simply scattered the seed and trod it in. Should germinate in a couple of weeks.

In late winter I'll cur it down - then either dig it in or add to the compost bin.

All in all a satisfying and enjoyable weekend on the allotment.

And some lovely crops to eat !

More news coming soon.