4 Seasons Square Foot Beds - Autumn

4 Seasons Bed today 9/9/20

Now that it is  Meteorological Autumn it is time to see how the crops in the Autumn bed are faring.  Under the 4 seasons scheme all crops should be ready for harvesting before the month is out.  There are some successes and some failures. Lets take a look:

AUTUMN

The autumn planting scheme was:

Beetroot			Tomato			Carrot
Fennel			Pepper (Cyklon)			Celeriac
Leeks (Jolant)			Dwarf French Beans			Kohlrabi

Here are pictures of each square in turn with notes:

Leeks

Although an early variety (Jolant) these leeks are lagging behind and will need to be left for another month or two before harvesting.  They could probably do with a bit of liquid feed.  Leeks feature in Autumn, Winter and Spring beds.  An earlier start is required for the Autumn ones.

Dwarf French Beans

Rammed full of greenery there has been a reasonable crop.  Not sure that this variety is the best.  A yellow or purple variety would help as the beans got "lost" behind the greenery.

Kohlrabi

 A good choice but early growth was pecked to death by pigeons.  Netting now in place and resowing has worked.  Next year protection will be in place from the start.

Fennel

Peaked too early so the three remaining  stems have bolted.  Abundant feathery leaves.  One stunning bulb was harvested in July by an unknown agency.  5 plants in a square foot was too many so the perpetrator probably did us a favour by thinning the crop! 

Red Pepper Cyklon

 A bit ambitious growing this outdoors in Scotland.  Healthy green leaves, some flowers, but not any significant fruit.  Squeezed in the middle it was not a fair contest. Verdict  Not an appropriate choice for this location. Grow indoors in future.

Celeriac

 Celeriac has been a bugbear for me in the past but I was encouraged by the results in the school garden last year.  A single plant in this square. There is a picture of the root development below.  Could do with a liquid feed.  Also growing this in Winter with similar results.

Carrots - Missing!

 Carrot are a bad choice for the school garden.  Even with fleece the badger seeks them out and totally wipes them out.  The two carrot square feet (Autumn and Winter) hove both been deeply excavated!

Tomato Totem

With more time for ripening this is an ideal variety for square foot growing.  Some support helps:.  A totem pole(?) Otherwise they keep themselves to themselves.

Beetroot 

Old reliable beetroot has been happily growing overcrowded and uncared for it delivers without getting too big to crowd out its neighbours.  Recommended for square foot gardening.

Beetroot Roots

Tomato Fruit

Celeriac Root

Hope you enjoyed this review.

Just for the record here are the other three seasons beds

Winter - bursting with growth

Spring - Some longterm residents some fillers

Summer - Strawberry greenery and some hangers on.