I think you can agree things are looking a bit forlorn on my visit to the allotment today. I keep wondering "Who is that" before remembering that the sunflower is being left for the birds. It is all that is left of the beans and cucurbits (and I think it came in with the plants having originally come from the birdfood at home).
One area still very much in production is the "Other Roots" which is mostly given over to carrots (under environmesh netting) because we eat so many of them over the year and they taste so much better than any you can buy. We haven't even finished harvesting half of them. as we pick them as we need them. I do hope we will get away with leaving them in the ground over winter. The net helps - and I will supplement that with straw if severe frosts are forecast.
Carrots under netting
The rest of the "Other Roots" are parsnips and scorzonera squeezed in at the end. These happily don't need protection. Celeriac had to be squeezed elsewhere (with the cucurbits) as space had run out!
Green tops of "Other Roots"
The Allium area only has leeks left. They have been intercropped with late lettuces, some of which are still on the go - along with the weeds.
Lettuces and Leeks
Harvested lettuces and leeks - and beetroot
Something else still on the go, by design, is curly endive - Pancalieri. I tried these last year tying a string around each plant to blanche them. It worked fine but some insects got wise to my plan and took up residence. So I am being a bit more relaxed (lazy) this year and I have left the rosettes unrestrained. They make great lettuce soup.
New this year is chicory. Rossa di Traveso (I think) is the one that has worked out best. Time will tell if they reach edible proportions.
Rossa di Traveso heads
A mention for the more traditional brassica patch. The small plants are Spring Hero cabbages I am overwintering. There's plenty broccoli, sprouts and kale for the winter too, provided the pigeons don't gain access under that net.
Brassica Patch
So even though it is looking murky and winter is approaching there is still the prospect of more to come from the allotment.
Now the first beans are cropping it is time to clear away the broad beans and early peas. But not to worry, the replacements are ready to go out into the vacant space:
Lettuce, Endive/Chicory
I have got a bit carried away with my seed order experimenting with endive and chicory, as well as a wide range of lettuces. Hopefully this will mean a harvest extending into the colder months ahead. Here they are in the gap site. There are four of each variety which I have been careful to mark with a label. The lettuces are Marveille de Quatre Saisons, Lollo Rosso, Freckles and Gilaad. The endives are all called Cornet de (Insert Name of French/Italian Town) except Pancalieri which is a curly form of endive commonly called Frisee Lettuce.
Away from the Chicory/Endive/Lettuce confusion the bean and cucurbit zone is going hell for leather, except for those Climbing French and Runner Beans on the left which are being a bit coy. (The wigwam on the right is Barlotti beans)
Right in front is the row of Dior dwarf French beans which you can see in the first picture . I may have overcrowded the squashes which are now running rampant across their neighbours. A random sunflower has popped up in the middle of the picture. As you can see it is all green currently. This includes the potato patch which will soon be 'on the turn'.
Those yellowing in the foreground are some Charlotte I planted as an afterthought once the maincrop was already in.
At -6 C it has been the coldest night so far and I am reluctantly accepting that we have moved straight on to winter mode.
One autumnal novelty that has worked a treat this year is Endive Pancalieri. It tolerates cold and thrives just as all the usual lettuces are grinding to a halt.
It looks like a loose leaf lettuce but has serrated leaves rather than the rounded oakleaf we are used to, and is sold by the supermarkets in bags as 'Frisee'. Although the leaves are green they are best blanched in order to minimise the bitterness that can develop as the temperature drops. Here is the result of my experimentation:
The crisp and sweet blanched stems are encouraged by holding the rosette up with a loop of string. In the row of three below the middle plant can be seen before and after tying up.
Before
After
The loop can be lowered for harvesting and then pulled back up again if the whole plant is not being harvested at once. Meantime the next rosette can be tied in readiness for harvesting in a week or two.They are quite voluminous and the stems seem to cluster in groups even though I am sure each rosette is just one plant.
As these are across town at the allotment I am not sure they have survived the current frost, but so fare they have been a roaring success and I will be growing them in future years so as to extend the salad season into the colder months.
p.s. Endive is a member of the chicory family. I am also growing some chicory proper to be dug up and then forced for 'chicons' still later in the growing year. Watch this space!
