-0.7 C registered on the outdoor thermometer last night. Ice on cars this morning. Like a punctuation mark at the end of a sentence we had our first frost of the season. So it is goodbye to these Bishop of Llandaff dahlias that have been so stunning by the front door all this summer.
I will of course attempt to dry them out and store over winter, but the greenhouse temperature was down to 0.6 C and the shed was down to 0.9 C so I am not sure I will find a suitable home for them.
In the past I have annually regretted my lack of foresight when it comes to successional sowing. But this year I have experimented with late sowings of cut and come again salads sown in half seed trays. The dates on these four are 19 August, 8 September, 26th September and 7th October (see below). The earliest tray has already been chopped and is regrowing. The second is currently being trimmed one section at a time and the last two are coming on nicely. Looks like our lunches will continue to be pepped up for a few weeks yet. Although this picture has been taken in the greenhouse the trays have been sitting out in the elements and have only just been moved inside now that the tomatoes and peppers have been cleared out my small greenhouse.
While I am on the subject I will admit that the successional sowing at the plot has been a little disappointing. Second and third sowings of beetroot, lettuce, pak choi, even leaf beet have produced very patchy or non existent rows - probably as a result of all the rain and the resulting slug action. In future I will sow more thickly to allow for poor germination and heavier predation.
Sometimes it is a good idea to sow more more more.
Specifically the courgettes are giving up. Here is today's harvest...
and last Sunday's.
I think that's it for this year. Can't complain because two plants kept up a steady supply throughout the summer. A third yellow one came to nothing - I think it was wind damaged soon after planting out. Two Jaune et Vert Squash failed to produce any fruit either. Kabocha (I guess it is a winter squash) produced a half dozen fruit even though it was crowded out by the Sharks Fin Melon which was as rampant as ever.
Nature likes a bit of a mess, and on that basis we have regressed to a very natural garden. The "wildflower meadow bed" is looking as bit raggedy and the leaves are littering what remains of the lawn. In the past I might have felt guilty about this scenario, but now I have that warm autumn glow of knowing that I am a habitat creator.
Earlier in the season it could still pass as a formal garden of sorts:
Of course some of the wildflowers are biennial and won't flower until next year (foxgloves for one). Others require a cold snap before they will even germinate (Yellow Rattle for one). So it would be unfair to judge the project so early on.
Reverse view now
Reverse view in summer (Scottish Summer that is)
Other environmental enhancements in recent years also mature year on year.
Pond Set Up
Pond with Bee Nesting Annex
Bug Hotel Newbuild
Bug Hotel Today
Here is a gallery of just some of the meadowflowers that flowered in the first year:
Just returned from the most westerly point on the British mainland. Sadly the tower was not open due to renovation work. To get to it you have no option but to take a single track road (with passing places) for thirty miles through woodland and moorland, sandwiched between the sea and hills. We did go further west, by ferry to the Isle of Mull landing at the centre of population - the village of Tobermory:
Tobermory
from whence we embarked on a trip around the island along some dramatic roads.
Passing Place View
It was pretty wild and very sparsely populated. Just the right conditions for golden eagles and other raptors. We saw them but I haven't managed to capture more than distant dots inn the sky on camera.
Tobermory Lighthouse
Home of Clan Maclean, Duart Castle was worth a visit. Unbeknown to us it was the last day of public viewing in 2017. Once again renovation work is underway.
Duart Castle
Goodbye Mull
Back on the mainland it was easy to see why many had stopped off to take photographs at the pass of Glencoe.
My home composting system consists of two alternating daleks at the end of the garden - one at either side. It should be three bins (one building, one maturing and one emptying) but there are only two daleks (and two corners). We cope with this by emptying the mature bin into sacks when the need arises. So this week, the building bin was full to the brim and it was time to clear out the mature bin and start afresh. Lifting the bin all was revealed: a beautifully reduced pile of well rotted kitchen vegetable waste. This result is achieved by the action of our colony of brandling worms, the bulk of which have been transported from one bin to the other year after year for the last twenty five years. The resulting product is ideal for making a bed for the allotment potatoes, although it also benefits the flower borders and raised beds at home. The earth is improving year on year.
Yes it is time to accept that these tomatoes are not going to ripen. I had enough to make a relish and a chutney, although they hardly differ in colour:
Added to the larder shelf where space is running out.
The tomatoes are San Marzano and had hardly any seeds. They need a southern Mediterranean climate to ripen fully and while I like green tomato chutney I wouldn't grow for that purpose.
Just so you don't feel too sorry for me the Sungold tomatoes ripened just fine as usual, providing a steady flow of cherry tomatoes:
I always grow a short row of Jerusalem Artichoke. They never fail, look after themselves and provide a delicious soup early in the calendar year when stores of potatoes and onions are running down and there is not much else ready to be cropped. The tubers keep quite happily underground having their own antifreeze which maybe also puts off pests. Because they grow tall I try to grow them somewhere where they won't overshadow other crops. That tends to be at the end or side of a bed. Truly this is a marginal crop.
Well this year the Jerusalem Artichoke have found conditions ideal and put on a bid for world domination. They have grown to 10ft high. Aside from the light issue this is a cause for concern when the autumn winds arrive. If they go over it is from the base of the stem. Aside from the disruption to the root system they can do a bit of damage to surrounding crops (leeks in this case). So looking at the forecast last weekend I took the loppers to the plot and chopped 3ft off each central stem. I hate doing this to a perfectly healthy row of plants but logic has to overcome emotion where food production is concerned. 6ft plants will continue to photosynthesise until the frosts kill off the leaves. Felled plants would stop growing now.
I also took the top off the runner bean wigwam but left the sweetcorn to take its chances. Visiting the plot on Tuesday I think I made the right call. One or two side shoots had been stripped off the Jerusalem Artechoke but the main stems were all standing proud. The sweetcorn took a bit of a hit and I gathered mini cobs while clearing the damaged plants. Curiously the second planting of peripheral smaller plants were more affected than the central tall plants - which I still have hopes of eating from). So despite the misgivings I think I made the right call.
