Well winter squashes actually. Here's this year's allotment crop
The long yellow ones should be Butternut F1 Hunter, but I think there must have been a mix up with the crossing as these look more like Banana Squash or even Spaghetti Squash. I will report once it has been cut open and cooked.
Not sure whether this is Blue Uchi Kuri or Crown Prince. That will teach me to grow such similar varieties.
Size isn't everything - These cheeky Uchiki Kuri are perfectly sized and one was the first to go under the knife
Now that the leaves are dying back the pumpkin patch is revealing this year's crop. Special mention for the butternut squash (Hunter). This one weighs in at over 4 kilos. There is twin awaiting harvest but there is only so much carrying power between the allotment and home.
Q.When doesn't a dandelion-like flowerhead belong to a dandelion? A.When it belongs to a
Cat's Ear
Sowthistle
Hawkweed
Hawk's Beard
Hawkbit
Lettuce
Nipplewort
Goat's Beard
Oxtongue
Viper's Grass
Colt's Foot
with multiple variations possible amongst these categories.
I came across a yellow dandelion-like flower growing in my back garden several weeks ago and have been trying to narrow down which one it is ever since. It has been driving me mad. Here are some of the features I have learnt are relevant to correct identification: Time of flowering Location Habitat Height Stem - Hollow or not,secreting lactose or not,branched or unbranched,leafy or bare, green or purple, ribbed or not, prickly/hairy/bracted Leaves - Shape/how attached Rosette - The shape of the overwintering leaves at ground level Flower - size, depth of colour, construction, Flowerheads - bunched or single/bracted or not/bract patterns Fruiting head and Pappus (dandelion clock) I tried to reduce these key features but it turns out that there is always another species whose tell tale characteristic is something you hadn't thought of. Here is my seemingly innocent candidate. It cropped up in the lawn and also in the wildflower bed. Multiply branched at ground level and up the stems I would describe it as wirey stemmed (not round or hollow).
The profile view is more telling because it reveals there are two sets of bracts one long and the other short (sepal like).
That makes it a Hawk's-beard. The Crepis family comprises some 200 siblings worldwide. 17 are said to be native to the UK, The most frequently found here are:
But searching for a basal rosette I am thwarted as there is only the remnants if there was one at all.
The stem leaves are however making the case for Crepis capillaris Smooth Hawk's-beard.
Here is the full SP on Crepis capillaris:
Introduced, warm season, annual or short-lived perennial herb to 75 cm tall. Stems are branched, with sparse, crinkly hairs. Basal leaves form a rosette, and are oblanceolate to lanceolate in outline, 10–25 cm long, 1–5 cm wide, margins toothed to runcinate-pinnatifid, glabrous or ± hairy. Cauline leaves are smaller, mostly narrow-lanceolate, stem-clasping, with acuminate auricles. Heads are 5–6 mm diam., and numerous, on slender peduncles, in loose corymbose panicles; involucral bracts are lanceolate, with sparse to dense white non-glandular and dark glandular hairs. Florets are all ligulate, the corolla yellow, often with pink or red stipe on outer face of ligule. Achenes are 2 mm long, lack a beak and have a pappus of simple white hairs. Flowering is in summer. A native of Europe, it is a weed of roadsides and disturbed areas.
So that's pretty clear?
This description along with the photo below have convinced me,
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
I was given the challenge of growing 30 living gifts to be ready by the end of the school year and Sempervivum or Hen and Chicks sprung to mind. We bought a single red specimen a couple of years ago and it had proved it's worth by producing plenty "chick" offsets. These grew to have chicks of their own. I also sowed some from seed early this year to bring up the numbers. I was well please with the vegetative expansion but there was also a fireworks display still to come from the parent plants.
Emerging like rockets from each rosette these are the final hurrah of a multi faceted plant.
Credit must go to Rachel The Gardener for prompting me into action in defence of the lowly plant!
I should also mention that even after the covid interruption these plants hung on with minimal intervention to be distributed on the return to school. By all accounts they were well received by the children.
Author Dave Goulson was already known to me as the "bumblebee man" through two of his previous books (A Sting In The Tail, A Buzz in the Meadow) but I wondered how he would cope with such an extensive remit as "Gardening to save the planet".
First thing to point out this is about global ecology and how our gardening practices fit into the bigger picture. It is not a gardening manual .
In recent times I have looked out books on composting, invasive species, worms, plant hunters, soil fertility and insects. So you can imagine a book with a chapter devoted to each of these by an enthusiastic guy who has devoted his life to the science behind some of the less glamorous of our fellow inhabitants of Earth would be a surefire winner. I am happy to say it is.
Given the gravity of the situation on several fronts it is his saving grace that he has not lost his sense of humour. He certainly shares more of his personal experiences and that of his family than you would expect. For the most part this is a joy but I draw the line at car rides for deer, be they dead or injured.
One surprise towards the end of the book was the bigging up of allotments and the practices of allotmenteers. I hadn't anticipated such high regard for a group commonly viewed as second class citizens with dubious hygiene standards. Now we have an advocate for expansion of allotments as a contribution to solving the World's problems.
He doesn't hold back when he disapproves of something. Garden centre chains, the RHS, chemical manufacturers, the US authorities that use aerial bombardment to blanket spray suburban areas with insecticide, are all called out. One anchor remains: the reliance on science to test what would otherwise be mere opinion. There are plenty of facts woven into the narrative and sources are stated.
In summary, if you suspect we are screwing up planet Earth, but can't quite bring yourself to face the painful facts for fear of nosediving into depression, here is a factual but reasonably light hearted opportunity to consider what is really going on and what could be done to improve the current prognosis.
