It's that time of year when the gardener gets respite from the frantic summer months. Nothing is growing anymore - weeds included. But beside uniformly earthy former potato patch and the skeletonised pumpkin patch there are green patches still. This is when the brassicas come into their own! Late cabbages, Brussel sprouts, kale and sprouting broccoli are approaching their prime. The purple sprouting broccoli will not start producing until next March, but has plenty of leaf already.
The other green area is more of a remnant offering leaf beat, beetroot and leeks.
(Under the net is more kale and some Chinese cabbage. Despite the net the leaves have been pockmarked by some pest). So end of season is here but there are still harvests to look forward to.
Pride of place has to go to the brassica patch. Brussels, kale and PSB still to come. Far left is a short row of mooli that I keep forgetting to check for root development.
The old potato patch looks like a building site, but there are garlic bulbs planted at this end and two short rows of potatoes left under the fabric.
At the far end are parsnips for this winter and 10 bags of farm yard manure to beef up the fertility for next year.
The contents of the fruit cage looks suitably dormant. I am currently half way through pruning . The net has been removed to avoid the danger of snow damage.
My customary "view from the end" looks a bit bleak but the leeks in the foreground should come on in the spring. The net hides the end of this year's carrots and next year's spring cabbages. To the right of the net are the last of the celery and celeriac. Both were high on expectation and a little short on delivery. ( The white piping is just awaiting deployment as protection for plants)
Just for completion, here is the pumpkin patch, currently fallow. There are beets, root and leaf, under the net, and some spring onions. Beyond are strawberry plants and a wannabe asparagus patch.
It is time to revisit the 4 seasons square foot vegetable bed for the winter harvest. The above picture was taken on 21st December and the ones below were taken today as the crop was lifted. ( If you want to see previous seasons posts just click on "4 Seasons" in the labels list.)
Here is the day's harvest
First prize has to go to parsnips. 5 roots out of 5 and all of them stout and long, The only problem with them was that they grew so strongly that their leaves flopped over their neighbours, depriving them of light.
The leeks also showed well with 6 out of 6 transplants growing long if slender. Some bonus parsley was also grown in the same square foot.
Celeriac was a bit bullied by the parsnip foliage, One tennis ball sized bulb (or swollen stem) would be a fine addition to a stew.
I left the swiss chard in the ground. It has already provided several meals worth from earlier harvest. Light picking over winter progresses but there is plenty more to come in late winter and early spring before new seedlings will catch up with it.
The pigeons had a good go at the Swedes but three survived and grew larger than tennis ball size after netting. These would have happily waited for Burns' night on 25th January.
Beetroots were only salad size, despite the long growing season. To be fair I think the larger ones were raided to make soup by one of the classes. These are just the tiddlers left behind. Also featuring in the picture below is the one mooli (white radish) that reached any size. There were some tiddlers too but this crop was the victim of being overshadowed by it's neighbour - parsnip.
Next is a real experiment: scorzonera. Plenty grew. The roots are long thin and whippy. Very hard to dig out without snapping. There is also the challenge of how to prepare them. Once peeled the white flesh oozes latex and rapidly turns brown. You need to turn to French cuisine to get tips on how to use this exotic ingredient. That said, they grew well regardless of the cold.
The only no show was carrots, which was a victim of its popularity with badgers. No sooner had they reached a reasonable size that the whole square foot was excavated and only the tops left as evidence! I am just relieved that the badgers restricted their mining activities to these (and some potatoes).
It is only a shame that this exercise can only be reported virtually as it was designed as an educational exercise for the children to participate in, Perhaps next year?
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 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
Local: If I was going to XXX I wouldn't start here...
I read that the vegetable seed companies are inundated with new orders, especially since the garden centres have shut their doors. So the question arises: What to grow?
First of all consider what space you have available. A windowsill, balcony, patio, garden or allotment? Microgreens, herbs, cucumber, chilli, tomato all suit the first whereas artichokes and asparagus would only suit the bigger sites. Patios are no longer limiting as "crops in pots" has become fashionable in the last decade - even potatoes.
Then there is the season - the reason for the poor joke above. Well the news is surprisingly good for the northern hemisphere. In the UK it is too late for garlic and other autumn planted crops (like rhubarb and raspberries) but still very early in the growing season for just about everything else! Broad beans spring to mind because they can be sown in autumn but also in early spring. It's not too late. In fact April is about the busiest month for sowing in the vegetable gardening calendar. As a rule, what you can't sow in April you can sow in May!
The key consideration for sowing/planting outdoors is the last night of frost. Here in Edinburgh mid May is the usual reference point, but further south you can expect an earlier date. That is not to promise that nature won't come up with a nasty surprise (Edinburgh has exceptionally had frost in June!). Generally plants are 'hardy', 'half hardy' or 'tender' to frost. Peas are half hardy whereas courgettes are tender. That's why you can sow peas outside before the last frost date but you need to protect courgettes and only plant them out after the danger is gone. For tender crops it is worth keeping an ear/eye out for the weather forecast in the days/weeks after planting out sensitive seedlings. Frost warnings feature larger as the year goes as even some weather forecasters are gardeners too.
So you have identified your growing space and are ready to sow. What's best to try? Something fast, something tasty?
'Fast' in gardening terms is relative. You cannot expect to beat 7 days for mustard and cress or other microgreens indoors. Proper salad leaves boast that they are ready in as little as 25 or 30 days. By contrast parsnips are notoriously 'in the ground' for 12 months. Although ready to be dug up in the autumn, there is a reason why they are associated with Christmas. Chillies and tomatoes take all summer to get cropping in Scotland, but then the challenge of getting a return at all is half the fun! In between these extremes most vegetable crops deliver in 40 to 90 days.
Tasty: Tastes differ but one rule is that schoolchildren don't like radishes (a shame as they are one of the fastest crops). Peas and beans, carrots and cabbages are all popular, but each has its own growing challenge. Some unfamiliar crops can turn out to be favourites. When the school garden produced a bumper crop of purple sprouting broccoli some children wouldn't even try it, but others did and enjoyed the novelty. Swiss chard is not common in the shops but really popular in many 'grow your own' households. Bulb fennel is not difficult to grow but divides opinion depending on where you sit on the aniseed tolerance scale. The brassica family (cabbage, kale, Brussel sprouts) is a must for most adults but a no no for many youngsters.
So, time to come off the fence. My top 5 starter vegetable recommendations are:
Mustard and Cress - Quick old fashioned reliable 'microgreens'
Carrots - 6 inches of soil needed for the homegrown taste money won't buy.
Peas - Straight from the pod - unforgettable - or 'peashoots' if you are in a hurry.
Swiss Chard - All the benefits of spinach but easier and with the bonus of buttery ribs.
Beetroot - Red or Gold, so sweet. Worth the wait.
Growing veg isn't as easy as it appears to be on telly, but it is remarkably rewarding in the first year and devilishly addictive once you have taken on the challenge of improving on last year.
Now here is a tune that seemed laughable not so long ago:
