September 2008
Well if that’s our summer we've had it, as we wend our way into September the atmosphere has most definitely taken on a wintery chill and early feeling of dampness. Darker mornings and evenings coupled with frequent mists and gusty winds, have not made for the most enthusiastic month down on the plot and once again the annual "scruffiness" seems to have suddenly taken hold everywhere, something to which our herb bed can clearly testify to.
All is not dark and dreary however, not only is winter a time for rejuvenation and planning for the next season, the months which herald its arrival can actually be some of the most productive and visually stunning.
Our pride and joy this month (as it has been every September we have had our allotment) has been the pumpkin harvest. At the end of the summer and well into September we had numerous fine specimens quietly growing under their thatch of umbrella like leaves. Now comes the time to reap the reward of all that watering, nipping out, manuring and mulching. Careful scouring of the patch is required to ensure fruits aren’t missed and left defenceless to the frosts and harsh mornings not too far around the corner.
Our haul was a total of 45 fruits of various shapes, sizes, colours and varieties. The mainstay of our types are for eating and as such they do not make brilliant carvers or enormous monsters to put on display, but they don’t half taste good. Having just cleared out the last of our frozen pumpkin out of the freezer they are well timed, welcome addition to our larder. After a frantic half hours gathering in the rain the net weight was 56kilo's. Jack be Little's, Crown Princes, Butternuts, Hooligans and Lottieblogs Own Seed Stock fruits were promptly ushered back to our home for a quick spruce up and a few days on the cool dry floor of our kitchen to harden off the skins and dry out the stalks. Shortly afterwards they were divided up amongst family and friends, then the remainder propped up against the window of our cool shed to ripen off and enhance their keeping qualities. Regular checking of the stalks and their "bottoms" is necessary to nip any fungus, mildew or mould in the bud. Apart from that they need very little attention and will see you right in beautiful soups, stews, risotto's, pasties and roasted veg until March 2009.
Not much else might have gone right for us this year but I think we can safely say that these are the most prolific, largest and undoubtedly prettiest cucurbits we have ever produced. Long may they reign supreme.
Other more winter based veg are also coming into their own at the moment, we have seen reasonable success despite continuing pest decimation of our leeks, cabbages, brussels and broccoli. Some are ready for harvest now, others we are hoping will recover enough from persistent nibblers to provide some nice greens in the spring.
One small but delightful crop we have reaped this month was our first three apples from our newly planted Elstar tree. Unfortunately only two of these little beauties made it home due to some damage on the third and despite being small and somewhat sharp, we don’t think its a bad first try for our little tree. It'll probably be another 5 years or so before we get anything notable from it or its counterparts that we planted in the spring but we'll be keeping a close eye and our fingers crossed until then.
Next month, we'll be turning our attention to our onions in preparation for the festive season which seems to be bearing down upon us and our bi-annual soil preparations and plot maintenance should be well underway. - CATCH YOU LATER LOTTIEBLOGGERS