New season gets underway!

   Seems to me that before the old season ends the new one begins! Garlic and broad beans are showing and will be in good stead for next spring.

 Broad beans sprouting

   In the poly tunnel the last of the basil has been removed. Charmette peas are up. The "rescued" fennel is starting to produce new leaves so I am hopeful to get something. I have taken advantage of a couple of mild day and the availability water from the water butts to wash down the poly tunnel inside and out. I had to use my floor mop to get to top of the tunnel! I have abandoned my experiment with spring cabbage and bottle cloches. Out of twenty one seeds only nine germinated into anything reasonable. Those nine have been moved to the poly tunnel.  Sweet peppers and the chili are still producing and the Christmas potatoes continue to thrive. I have constructed a framework for the fleece cloche over the potatoes which I have no doubt will soon be needed. My white sage and bay tree, both in a pot, have been moved to the poly tunnel.
   The fennel outside has been all but destroyed by the chickens! Moss curled parsley is well established and ought to stand the winter. The grass continues to grown and I have had to mow it once more. Hopefully there may only have to be one more mowing before I can stop until next year. If it remains mild then maybe not. I have now picked the few apples I had on my late fruiting apple tree but those that there were are large and bug free. I have also picked all the remaining grapes probably a little late if truth be told.

Butternut squash crop

   This years crop of carrots has not been good. Lots of carrots but they have been small. Guess I need to sow earlier and keep the chickens off and investigate as to why they have been so small.

Not so much gardening but a little work in the kitchen

  This is going to be a short entry as it has been a very quiet week on the garden front. The short days and the weather have made doing very much outside very difficult. Mind you on the couple of days that were sunny I entertained the youngest grandson, Toby! Ha! Still, I managed to pick some apples from the neighbour's tree and collected up the butternut squash to put into winter storage. We continue to enjoy the buttercup squash. The garlic is now up so hopefully the chickens will leave it alone!
   So, leaving the garden behind we have been collecting sweet chestnuts. It is a great year for them. They are big and the recent high winds have brought them down and are therefore easy to collect. That means I have made sweet chestnut stuffing for Christmas and I have also made a sweet chestnut truffle cake! The truffle cake was excellent and despite the pain of have to peel the sweet chestnuts I expect to make it again.
   In the poly tunnel the Christmas potatoes continue to grow well. I will need to cover them up soon as the first frost cannot be that far away. I have sown spring onions to overwinter and the "18 Day" radish are up and looking like they will be the best radish of the year! Man! I continue to crop sweet peppers,  green, red and orange! The chilli pepper is still alive and there are a few more yet to pick.

Sweet Chestnut and Apricot stuffing

Sweet Chestnut Truffle Cake

Autumn bites.............

   It finally rained! After a week or so of fine sunny days with a little cloud the weather broke and it got cooler and it rained. The rain was very welcome and will keep the plants albeit slowly, growing on. 
   I am starting to find lots of tomato plants popping up! I guess that shows how warm it has been. These plants are from tomato's that got dug in or had been missed when clearing them. I have gathered some up but of course as soon as soon as there is a frost they will be done for. Looking back over the last week I have not seemed to have done much. Some weeding and forking and I have picked and cleared the last of the Gigante runner beans and laid them out in my porch to dry. In the poly tunnel I have removed the last of the African marigolds and forked and manured the ground. I have sown in the poly tunnel coriander, petit pois and some radish. My Christmas potatoes continue to grow well and I need to watch out for the possibility of frost. Peppers and lettuce are still being picked/pulled!
   There is still plenty of clearing up to do and of course there is the regular tasks of clearing out the chicken and turkey/geese coops. I am considering planting some broad beans but they are not the most popular of vegetable with the family. If I do I will not sow the field beans again as a crop to eat. They had shown promise and in the end were a disappointment. Back to an old favourite Aquadulce. I have done some research on field beans and they can be used as a green manure. So, I have a use for the seed I have!

Justynka pumpkin

 Walthham butternut squash