Saturday 28 September 2013

Food, glorious food!

   My last blog was almost three weeks ago. I have been back to the UK for a week and boy even at this time of year a week away and the garden still manages to surprise me on my return.
   With Autumn all but here (the wood for the wood burners has arrived) it is time to clear the beds, fork and weed and get prepared for next season as well as nurturing the remaining plants that will provide some food into the first half of the winter. 
2013 Wood delivery
   Also consideration for something to plant to be ready for next spring. I have planted out some spring cabbage, Baccalan de Renne. Yes, I am persisting with brassicas despite the abysmal failure of them this season.
   I have been a little slack with pruning this year. The black and red currants need to be done and I do need to clear off the strawberry beds. Three beds to clear, two down one to go. The third is going to be prepared for planting with Mare du Bois strawberries. The bed is cleared but forking and weeding is proving hard. The ground is dry and I do not think it has been dug for a long time. I have now managed to finish the third bed but I had to re-introduce myself to my mattock to enable me to dig it up!
No 3 strawberry bed
  I have continued to pick tomatoes and those that can be have been and the main bed has been cleared ready for digging. I still have some millefleur in the poly tunnel, flowering and producing tomatoes. I can leave those for a while yet.
  I have a lovely crop of turnips, certainly the best I have grown here in France. The parsnips should be very good this year as long as the critters do not take a fancy to them. I also have a very nice looking couple of rows of Pak Choi! I have tried Pak Choi in the poly tunnel with little success and so I thought I would try it outside at the end of the summer as is suggested. Success and the chickens have not eaten it! So, what does one do with Pak Choi? The swede is looking good and I am still hopeful that the celery will come good but I fear the majority of the celeriac, mostly eaten by escaped sheep earlier in the year, will not. I have an established row of spinach with the first picking being made, however, the chickens love spinach and I have had to cover them with cloche's. The winter leeks are well established and we still have not finished the early ones. Haricot buerre, Champion of England peas (love these peas), carrots, sweet peppers (and there are red ones too!!) and more still being picked/cut. The runner beans have been disappointing although I did get some but not the prolific crop one usually expects. It is a bountiful time of year.
  Of course there are many jobs to do as always. I will be lifting my main crop purple potatoes, Violette, as the tops have finally started to die off as a priority. The poly tunnel is in desperate need of cleaning and I really must get it done before the cold weather sets in. There is pickling to do and apples to pick and process. Anyone want to come and help? 

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