Autumn update.

It looks like both my Toms and Runner Beans are giving up the ghost, sooner than expected. It seams to have been a short growing season for us. The main crop Spuds continue to be harvested with only just an adequate yeald. I have decided to give up growing main crop spuds. Even the blight resistant verities get blight although to be fair they are the last ones to show it. The soft fruit have been non existent. The Blackbirds have had what crop there was. My bushes are old and should have been replaced last year, so plenty of hard wood cuttings to be taken next week. The Savoy and Drum head cabbages are looking powerful in the poly. I noticed a sharp decline in cabbage white Butterflies this year. Not that I am complaining but like wildlife in general, I would not want them to become extinct. The carrots are good quality even though I had to replant a number of times to get half a crop. I am wondering how a local farmer can get over twenty acres without hardly a miss. I am putting the lack of germination down to some small Adgers eating the emerging seedlings. I am considering sterilising next years seed bed with Jays fluid in late winter and see if that helps. The same can be said of the Parsnips. Initially we had a great crop of Peaches from the poly. Unfortunately a fare proportion of the crop rotted on the tree before they were ripe. I think that hot dry weather over an extended period was the blame for this. I have planted Onions, Garlic, Peas, Cabbage, Saladin's for over wintering and have plans to plant Early Spuds at Xmas, along with the Shallots. The Organic plan for the whole plot this year looks like it has been a great success. This consisted of processing Chicken, Duck and Quail manure along with garden compost and Spent coffee grounds from a local tea room. Mixing various quantities of these products along with a Comfrey/ Nettle liquid feed is all we used this year. Probably too much N in the mix for some crops but others luved it. Hows things with you lads?

Well things didn't turn out too bad, all things considered. Spuds pretty good, also parsnips and carrots. Tomatoes were outdoors and not a great year for them, but I got half a crop - and what I got were exceptionally flavourful. Onions very good, peas and beans (as usual) too abundant to manage - must sow less of them next year! Swedes, Kale and winter cabbages coming along nicely; courgettes a-plenty and still producing. All unprotected soft fruit (particularly raspberries) all scoffed by the blackbirds, but what I planted in the fruit cage gave more than enough for fresh eating, though not enough for jam. And, of course, honey and apples galore!