It must be Autumn

It's getting colder and there is certainly more rain in the air. So it must be autumn. And just to prove it, the mushrooms are sprouting.

I use woodchips for all my pathways for this very reason. Woodchips acts as giant sponges for when it rains. They absorb the excess and hold it, gradually releasing it to make it available for the plants in the beds. The beds also do not compact as much, so any weeds that do take hold (and there are a few in the picture above) are easy to pull out, even those with deep tap roots like dock, thistles or dandelions.

Finally they breakdown over timeAnd this is where the biggest benefit comes it. They act as a home and food source for mycelium of various kinds that breakdown the chips and make it available as a nutrient source for the plants. The offshoot of this is that when it starts getting colder the mycelium start sending out their fruiting bodies and hence we get a load of mushrooms.

They're not edible. Well they maybe, I don't know enough about mushrooms to make that decision and there are some very, very poisonous mushrooms out there. So i just let them get on and do their thing of making food for plants.

On the subject of making food, our Aubergines are still in the greenhouse, and they still seem to be in a state of flowering. They have been for the past month. I don't think they're ever going to set fruit now. It's way too late for them.

So there they sit. Is it a waste of time to water them. Probably. But it's not like anything else is happening.

The chillies however are starting to turn a deep purplish colour. They're supposed to be red, but I suspect that this is slow because of how late they are in the season. But at least I may well get some chillies this year. But probably not many of them.

After the recent rains, I decided to pick the two big George's that we have growing on the courgettes.

I don't want to see them rotting in the mud, and it may encourage the plant to put out a final few courgettes before the end of the season.

The 2021 Courgette Tally:

52

There's a hole in my wellie...

...and I found it by stepping into a quagmire.

So we've had more rain. Downpours that blocked roads and caused a bit of unrest this morning has once again turned the plot into a bit of a muddy puddle. Right outside the greenhouse is a low part of the plot and once i had my wellies on I thought I'd be safe to step into the greenhouse. Nope. My wellie has a hole in it and I got a soggy foot.

Hey ho, well I've had these almost a decade and they've done me proud, so I guess it's time to get a new pair. Looks like The Wife's has also got a bit of a hole in it as well as she complained of a soggy foot as well. Anyway, wet feet or not there is still work to be done.

Well we can't get to the far bed to dig out the weeds, but our aubergines have been growing in the greenhouse and need a little more space. So we potted them on into bigger troughs, as well as put out the last of the tomatoes.

So now the only remaining plants we have in the greenhouse is a single pot of mint, and the chillies.

This year has been somewhat of a mixed pot. The early heat wave and then cold snap threw all the germination into a spin and then we've alternated extreme heat and intense rain. Not sure what's going to happen to the rest of the year, but at the moment we have to go swimming to get the latest courgettes.

The 2021 Courgette Tally:

15

More pricking out

 Today it's the turn of the Aubergines.

This is the first time we've tried growing Aubergines at the allotment. Now like our other ventures, we were somewhat worried when we planted the seeds and nothing seemed to be happening for a long while. But then suddenly everything burst into life. So now we have 12 plants nicely potted on. Yeah, I mis-counted and had to go in search of additional pots.

Today was only a quick trip. The old "She goes shopping, and I go to the allotment". But even so it was just too damn hot. Instead of closing the greenhouse doors, I used some pallet as temporary doors to try and keep the heat down a bit. Large amounts of watering was needed. Hopefully they'll last until Tuesday when I can get back there.