September Week Two Sunday 9th 2007
This weeks installment is the result of a very productive visit to the plot, sunday was changeable but pleasant and we managed to achieve a great deal, as well as do a few housekeeping activities to set us up for the colder months to come.
Our initial task was to tidy and clear out our shed which had become very cluttered and untidy over the busy summer period. After removing all the items from the shed and giving all the walls and floors a sweep (not to mention evicting a huge number of abnormally large and confident spiders), its contents were returned and order was restored. Viewing the state of some of our tools in the outside light also gave us a chance to tend and maintain to those who were looking a bit overworked or rusty, allowing us to be confident they will be able to hoe, dig or fork thier way into the new year and everything we throw at them with gusto.
We were also then able to reorganise the storage are to teh side of the shed which had also become unkempt over the previous weeks, this was tidied and a new area cleared for a compost bin created (a project to begin shortly).
Our attention then turned to our crops, initialy our brassicas. Most of the cabbages were harvested last week so the main cabbage patch was cleared and weeded. Then the purple sprouting and brussels plants had thier netting removed, the soil below them weeded and cleared of any dead or diseased specimines, then a new bamboo cane frame set about them and were re-covered with the netting. Due to attack from the local pigeon population earlier in the year and the unusual weather meaning some went straight to seed, we were very doubtful that any brassica crop would be gleaned in spring 2008. However from inspection and tending to the remaining plants, our hopes have been raised and we will be very careful to try and keep them out of reach from the aforementioned winged villains.
We also netted the area which is housing our swedes to prevent any simmilar damage or losses, as well as checked for further creepy crawlies (like the ones recently identified by readers on the "Can You Help Us" page). Luckily all we found were a few fat slugs who were quickly and easily removed.
This weeks visit only produced a meager harvest as crops like the runner beans, salads and radishes appear to be mostly over. Yet on a more positive note the odds and sods beds, as well as the late sowings of leeks and beets are doing well.
The later maturing crops such as pumpkins, sweetcorn and celery are all swelling slowly in the late summer sunshine. The pumpkins have begun to develop some mildew on thier leaves, this is not harmful to the plant but is very unsightly and so the worst effected leaves have been removed and burned to contain its spread.
Whilst the red celery grown on our plot this year is mainly for oven culinary purposes, the green varieties (intended for salads) have been blanched this week using some thick plastic material around them, tied with string to exclude light and help refine thier flavour.
Finally we were able to view some of the wonderful wildlife present on our plot, who for some reason this week do not seem to be camerashy, this has pompted us to consider the idea of adding another section to our gallery to house them, a job hopefully we will have completed next week. But take e look at the inspiration for this idea below.
