Still too wet but improving!

  What can I say? Very little done over the last week. Too wet. The ground is too wet to do any work on. I have cleared the perennial beds and tried to light a bonfire a couple of times with limited success! Of course, soon as I wrote that the weather has taken a turn for better! Dry, overcast and a cold wind but at least the ground is drying out a bit! I have apples still to pick and weeds that need removing not to mention a vine to prune and bullock hoof impressions and mole tunnels to fill in to mention some of the tasks still waiting to be done and Christmas is around the corner!

Clearing the perennial beds and bonfire

   Unfortunately the farmers bullocks got out of their field and wandered into the garden. Ten or more bullocks weighing probably half a ton each wandering around on saturated turf did not do the ground any good at all! At least I was able to keep them off the majority of the garden but there are some hoof prints in a couple of the plots. Minor damage to the garlic and the rest is just cosmetic. Where they walked on the grass though is a mess and will require some tender loving care in the spring. Man! Bullocks and moles not a good combination.
   Autumn/winter animal husbandry moves on. The white turkey was starting to unsteady on her legs and was being picked on by the others so we decided to dispatch her. After processing we got 6kgs (14lbs) of meat. Next to go will be are old cockerel, Wally2, who is looking his age. One of our chicks who we believe is a cockerel will replace him. Coq-au-vin is on the menu! 
   In the outside veggie garden last of the early leeks and carrots have been pulled. Spinach, fennel, orbis,beetroot, celeriac (small but edible), celery, carrots, leeks, Jerusalem artichokes still available. In the poly tunnel I have planted french shallots (as an experiment) and there is lettuce, cauliflower, kohl rabi, celery, fennel, sweet peppers and herbs. Not a sniff of my Christmas potatoes. What is the betting that they grow straight after Christmas. 

Sometimes the weather works against you!

   Not really a lot to say this week. The weather has really been against me. Wet, cold and on/off rain. The ground is wet and sticky and I really need to leave it alone, however, I had to rescue my over winter onion seedlings so a small patch was hand forked and weeded. Unfortunately I only rescued eight plants! The chickens had struck and eaten/scratched up the rest!
    In the poly tunnel I continue to pick sweet peppers, red and green ones. The end is close though as I am now picking quite small peppers. The kohl rabi is promising and fingers crossed I may get a cauliflower or two come spring. There is some lettuce, winter leaves, coriander and parsley (curly and french). The asparagus is going over inside and outside the poly tunnel. Guess it will not be long and it will be sprouting again! I have top dressed a couple of the beds.
   Outside there are leeks, celery, small celeriac, swede, parsnips, orbis, large turnips, Jerusalem artichokes and carrots to harvest. I will probably dig up the artichokes and use them to expand the bed this year. Depends I guess on how many there are. The garlic and field beans are standing up to the weather just fine. I think I got my garlic in at the right time as at least they had time to sprout before it got really wet.  Runner bean sticks have been taken down and the remaining beans (variety Czar) left gathered, dried and hopefully will be used as "butter beans". The Champion of England pea poles have also been taken down and a few peas gathered for seed. I have been very pleased with this variety of pea and even more surprised that I managed to get a autumn crop off them. I have gathered a lot of windfall apples but there have been so many apples this year. I am now waiting for the trees to loose there leaves so that I can get on with pruning. The plum trees need attention as they had so much fruit some branches broke. The grape vine is now loosing its leaves but very few grapes are being eaten by birds. Last year they took the lot in a very short time. Chickens love them though!
    How I managed I do not know but I got the grass cut! High setting on the mower but least it took the worst off. Several stops to clear out the blade cover of wet cut grass! Hopefully, fingers crossed etceteria no more grass cutting till next spring.

Rain runoff pouring down the road

Water flow down the lane at the side of my property

   

Rain? More like the tropics but not so hot.

    This week continues to be wet. The weather is on the mild side but with lots of showers. This means the ground is still unworkable and although the grass needs cutting I cannot do it! Water is running on the surface of the ground and in places it it decidedly muddy.
    I have at least managed to plant my large bag of narcissus and small bag of english daffodil bulbs. Assuming that the mice do not have a winter feast of them there should be a nice display come next March.

Bottle cloches

    In the poly tunnel the sweet peppers are still clinging on. The peas I sowed are now showing and are covered up with bottle cloches. Other crops in the poly tunnel are fairing well. Kohl Rabi and cauliflower are doing ok. No sign of my christmas potatoes! Hey ho! Another failure at this. Next year I am going to plant early potatoes for christmas rather than second earlies or main crop.

Front to back - celery, fennel, corriander

   In the outside garden the only real work being done is either picking up windfall apples or pulling carrots, swede and turnips! The ground is so wet that to walk on it invites clods of wet sticky dirt on my boots. So, it is left for the weeds and boy they are still growing.
   The final four table chickens have been despatched and processed. The freezer has at least 20 chickens in it!
   Well, I guess what I need to do is to plan where  next years sowings and planting is going. It certainly does not look like I am going to be doing much else for a while!

Still wet...

   Another wet week with little being done, however, I did manage to get one day to wash inside and the outside of the poly tunnel. It is always surprising to me how dirty the cover gets. I now need to disinfect the inside and I am waiting for a dry day to do it! I have sown some dwarf peas in the tunnel for over wintering (round peas not wrinkled) and they have already sprouted. I have sown them in such a way I can put "plastic bottle cloches" over them. I have also sown some spring cabbage in their too more in hope than expecting anything much. Kohl Rabi and All the Year Round cauliflower are growing well along with the sweet peppers and various herbs.

   The frame supporting the Champion of England peas finally collapsed under the pressure of size and weight of the peas and the high winds. No damage to anything else. I just need to clean up the mess! My over winter onion seed that was ravaged by the chickens looks very sad. The germination has been poor (not helped by the fact they were germinating and the chickens struck!) and I am thinking that I might move those that are big enough to another bed or inside the poly tunnel.

   The new season has opened up with the sprouting of the garlic and field beans. Yes, field beans not broad beans. Field beans are related to broad beans but are a smaller plant that does not grow so tall. It is the bean that farmers grow apparently. They are still supposed to crop quite heavily.

Field beans and garlic for 2014

  I have managed to spend some time starting to clear the bank where I want to plant my spring bulbs. The ground is very wet here and quite heavy. This is the second year of clearing this area and it is most definitely easier this time.

  So, lots to do but time is now against me. Once November is here the temperatures will start to go below freezing making it more difficult to work the ground. Better get my skates on!

Wash out...

   Only a short write up this week. It feels like it has done nothing but rain over the last week or so but of course there has been the odd day or few hours where it has not rained or drizzled or been too wet to do anything in the garden. The vegetable beds are still pretty much unworkable being very wet. It makes no sense to even try. Having said that I have noticed that the garlic is up and the over winter broad beans have sprouted.
   Autumn is very much under way. The leaves are turning quite quickly now with more autumn colours showing. 
   I continue to pull carrots and pick haricot buerre, variety Minidor. The haricot have been very prolific and I have been very pleased with them. They are a dwarf variety but they are just jammed packed with beans. The grape vine has produce a lot of fruit and much more than we can eat. The chickens like the grapes and I have been surprised not to see the birds eating them more. In the poly tunnel I have transplanted in a few fennel and a couple of celery plants. The sweet peppers in the poly tunnel are still producing much to my amazement.
   Moles are a real problem this autumn. I am going to have to do something about them I think. They are making a real mess of the house lawn and I can see that I am going to have to do some serious repair work in the spring. 
   

Short days

    At this time of the year the days are short and getting shorter almost every day. It is now not light until 08:00hrs and it is dark by 07:15hrs. Add to that the miserable weather, overcast, rain, it is difficult to really achieve anything. The ground is wet and only just about workable although I am reluctant to even try. Still, plenty of other tidying up stuff do as long as I do not mind getting a little damp!
   The grass needed mowing once more and looks like it might require one more cut before I can call it a day.
   The Mare du Bois strawberries continue to produce. There are still lots of flowers but I have to get the berries as soon as they turn as the rain and slugs can beat me to it. I  have again this year planted garlic between the strawberry plants. I have read that they are companion plants and certainly it did not do any harm last year. 
   In the poly tunnel still no sign of my, ahem, Christmas potatoes. I do not think we will be getting new potatoes for Christmas somehow. I have transplanted some fennel and a couple of celery plants into the tunnel. I have also left the sweet peppers in place as I have read that in a poly tunnel they can continue to thrive until December. We will see. The last tomatoes have been removed from the poly tunnel. These were the millefleur variety which I had hope might produce a few more toms. Result was only few small green ones.  I have transplanted some salad bowl lettuce in an attempt to stretch the lettuce season a bit.
  In the outside garden it has generally been too wet to do anything on the beds. I have manage to fork and weed the odd patch but the ground is really too wet. 

2013 Sweet Peppers main crop

    

Autumn sowing and starting to think about next season...

   Knew I had spoken too soon! The chickens have taken a fancy to the Pak Choi and my two once nice looking rows are now hen pecked and with leaves full of holes. The chickens have also taken a fancy to my beetroot and just about all the leaves have been eaten. Man!

 

Waltham Butternut Squash

Hundredweight squash

   I continue to pick and pull a variety of vegetables. The tomatoes are now finished and the final few trays are being processed. I have collected Millefleur and Champion Champeau tomato seed. It is remiss of me not to have got some Latah and Ethel Watkins!.
   Butternut squash has been picked. A good number of squash and a couple of large ones. I also grew some Hundredweight pumpkins to try to have some for the grandchildren at Halloween. Below is a picture of the biggest one. Over twelve inches diameter. There were three smaller ones but each still a decent size.    There has been a massive rain storm which has caused some damage to the garden. Lots of water running off the road, down the drive into the vegetable plots. Soil has been washed away on one side of a bed leaving a deep scar in the earth. Hey ho, such as it is. Upside. The earth is too "sticky" for the chickens to scratch. LOL!
   Once again I am trying my luck with brassicas and I have transplanted a few spring cabbage into a bed that I know grew decent cabbage. So far so good. Most have established ok and I have protected them from the chickens who I am sure would just love to eat them.
   It is a sure sign the season is at an end  and a new season is dawning when you plant garlic and sow broad beans. The garlic is once again a locally bought variety called Violet (100 gloves planted) and this winter I am sowing field beans, variety called Wizard, in preference to the usual broad bean Aquadulce Longpod. Winter lettuce is in (again covered to keep my feathered friends at bay) and White Lisbon spring onions sown to get that early spring crop. The first sowing failed to germinated. This sowing has been affected by the heavy rain so I guess I will be sowing some more later. 
   There are lots of apples on the properties original apple trees. Unfortunately the varieties are unknown. They are not the most inspired eaters so I am turning some into stewed apple and freezing it while also producing apple crumble and the odd apple pie. The apple trees I planted have had mixed results with two trees of five doing quite well. one, Blenheim Orange, doing very well. I fear for my Bramley which really looks a little sad.
   One would really like to believe that the gardening was slowing down. Naaa! The grass needs mowing again, hopefully for the last time this year. We will see.