Time for raking up the leaves

   Finally most of the leaves have fallen. The garden oak tree is starting to look bare and its time to rake up the leaves and put them on the leaf mould pile. This autumn I am also going to use them to mulch the strawberries but I am sure there will be plenty to go around. Oh, our mallard/muscovy cross duck is laying!

Raked up oak leaves

   The garden has been pretty quiet. Sprouts, cabbage, broad beans spinach, garlic and peas are all growing. Celeriac, celery, carrots, beet root and leeks are being pulled. The herbs are still ok to pick and there is curly parsley. The green manure crop, Luzerne, after quickly germinating is now establishing itself. The mild weather will help it I am sure. I continue to tidy up and I have managed to finish burning a big pile of plant material. The resulting ashes will be used on the garden along with the ashes from our wood burning stoves. This is a very good source of pot ash.

   In the poly tunnel no sign of the broad beans yet. Transplanted kohl rabi are establishing themselves and the other brassicas (purple sprouting, cabbage, cauliflower) are looking healthy. The sweet marjoram that I planted is looking good unlike the outside plants which have now died off. Fingers crossed I might get some cuttings in February. Beetroot looks ok but I fear that they are going to be all leaves and no beet! There is lettuce (Batavia Grenoblise and salad bowl) but they are small and some have succumbed to stem rot. The tunnel looks under utilised!

   The nettle battle continues and I have cleared another small patch. The nettles left are growing back! I have some major pruning that needs to be done on the old apple trees and now that the leaves are down that job is creeping up the list. I must not forget the vine.

   I very pleased to say that I have managed to pickle some of my Cheltenham green top beetroot. Despite being in the ground a long time they are still very nice to eat. They have not gone woody at all.

   Right. Lots to do, only short days to do it in! This mild weather cannot last much longer surely. In the mean time I need to get as many jobs done as I can, like clearing weeds and forking beds.

Wet, cold, sun......

    What can one say? Rain, frost and sun all in a couple of weeks. As I sit typing this the sun is shinning and the sky is clear. The forecast is for more of the same. The days are short and I find that I do not get going until about 1100hrs, that is when the sun gets over the ridge! It is gloomy by 1700hrs and dark by 1800hrs. I am just looking for excuses not to do work!
   The ground has just about come back to being workable after torrential rain. I have sown another row of the pea variety, Plein le Panier (Fill the basket), a round pea, good for freezing and early! The packets says the seeds can be sown in October, November, December and January! It will be interesting to see how they do. The first sowing is now about 4" high.

Plein Le Panier peas November 15th 2012

    Outside the poly tunnel the battle of the nettles continues.Only a few square feet cleared. The weather has not been kind, however, I have strawberries that are ripening! I keep thinking that a frost will do for them but nope they are still going.

Mara Bois strawberry taken on 15th November 2012

   Seems to me that the garden has a lot going on at the moment. Cabbage, leeks, sprouts, celeriac, swede, carrots, peas, garlic, broad beans,shallots and even some celery growing! A critter has taken a fancy to one of my leeks. It ate all that was underground and it was only because it was wilting a little that I investigated and found a big hole under it and the white part of the leek eaten! Must have been the same critter that ate my carrots last year with same result - all top, no root! A cartoon would not have been any funnier!
    In the poly tunnel I have transplanted the last of the Kohl Rabi. I have sown broad beans with the aim being that these will be my "seed" crop. Cauliflowers have been harvested and the brassicas are growing and are looking ok. The lettuce looks good although not big and "winter leaves" are up and coming along. I have put up a fleece door which is covering one entrance and at the other end I have fitted some draught excluder on the edges of the sliding doors and that has closed the gap. Hopefully both will help keep the temperature up.
   So, despite it being the middle of November I am still busy sowing seeds and pulling up weeds! Bonfire to light and far too much to do. The apple trees need pruning but the leaves have not yet all fallen so that job will wait a while!

First ice of the winter and a policy change...

  Frost and ice! On the morning of the 29th October there was a frost and the water on the ducks bowl had ice on it. The minimum temperature overnight on the thermometer outside the front of the house showed -3C. At 0840hrs it is -2C! After a couple of days of -3C starts to the day it has warmed up a little and I have managed to finish mowing the grass. Hopefully this is the last time. Now it is raining. I have started to light the fire in the evening a sure sign it is colder.
  The nettle battle continues. Progress is slow but sure and more black currant bushes have been cleared and pruned. I have transplanted self grown bushes and now have three more. In my head I have a plan coming together as to what to do with the reed bed area. It will take quite a bit of effort but I think in the end it will look very nice. The days are short so time will be the telling factor here as I still have to keep the rest of the garden in check.
   In the poly tunnel the tomatoes succumbed to the frost and I have picked what was left. They have now been cleared. The poly tunnel now contains asparagus, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, khol rabi, coriander, beetroot and parsley (flat leaf and curly) with an odd plant of basil and fennel! It will not be long until the cauliflowers are ready. I am having a good deal of success with cauliflowers (variety All the Year Round) in the poly tunnel. This is my third lot that I have managed to get to produce decent sized heads. 
   Everything is slowing down and leaves are falling more frequently. In the outside garden the over winter bought cabbage plants continue to do well as do the Brussels sprouts. I do not believe that the Brussels sprouts will be ready for Christmas though. Some others that I grew from seed look like they may produce a few helpings. Overall though growing plants from seeds particularly brassica's has not bee the most successful. The broad beans and peas survived the frosty mornings without any sign of damage. The garlic has put on a good growth already. Much to my surprise the celery also stood up well. I think it will take more than -3C to damage it.
The celeriac looks good and I should get some decent sized ones.

SPRING ONIONS

   I have decided this season to try to grow only "real" seeds. These are seeds that are not F1 or other hybrids. Some are heritage types and I am going to have go at saving my own seed. So as I have invested a reasonable sum of money in buying these seeds so I looking forward to planting and eating the results and see what difference there might be. It is interesting to see that a number of the seeds are French varieties.