Back on the plot

There wasn't anything posted for the past couple of weeks.Why not? Well I was half way up an Austrian mountain. The same mountain as last year.

But back on the plot it's time to see what's happening. Well firstly the courgettes are now well and truly over. Time to clear them out.

The marrows are also pulled out leaving a freshly available bed.

Not sure what to plant in this, or just cover it and leave it for next spring. Any thoughts?

The Beans are also in their final stages.

We've had an absolute load of beans from these. They were given so me by my Father back in April. Now we have the results of them drying in the kitchen at home.

But what about the Triffid? The grapes were growing nicely before we left and should have been ready to pick. Nope.

Some greedy bugger had pulled them all off. This doesn't appear to be the work of avians. It's more likely that it's the sticky fingers of some of the other pests we have on the plots. Something which we have seen by the way of kids who have been after pumpkins. Time to rig those cameras.

But the Strawberries are doing really well. Too well in fact. The runners off the main shoots that we planted, have started producing their own runners. Time for a quick haircut.

In the greenhouse, the Autumn Colours are starting to settle in with the Blueberries producing a spectacular colour display.

Hopefully, bigger and better for next year.

Winner!

Well my photo has won the "Fruitfulness" competition.

It's amazing what three large green things can do. Those courgettes (marrows) will go towards next years crop.

Fruitfulness

So this will be my entry for the Green Living Forum's September photo competition. "Fruitfulness".

These are my last three "courgettes". Well OK, they're now full grown marrows. They'll spend the next few weeks in the kitchen at home, hardening off the skins (but they are already quite tough), before spending the rest of the winter in the shed. The big fat ones will be used as seeds for next year, the longer one will probably be eaten over the course of the winter months, in stews, soups and  stir-frys. I just wish we had a freezer that we could keep stuff in, but a small London flat has no room for such a creature.

The real marrows still have a few left on them as well. Despite me keeping the canteen at work well stocked up with them.

We've now harvested the last of tomatoes from the greenhouse (they didn't get blight) and a load more runner beans. The beans seem to be producing a lot more flowers - perhaps it's this late summer sun? - so we'll leave the plants in place and see what we can get out of them.

The greenhouse still has plenty of flowers left which the wife looks after. She's wanting her own flower beds for next year. So I suppose I'll have to dig them out and build them ready. Anything to keep her happy.

Burn the Blight

Tomato Blight is starting to hit the allotment. The only way to handle this is to either bag the affected plants, bury them or burn them. I chose the latter option.

Fortunately I have plenty of Silver Birch Wood stored on the plot (which I really wanted to use in a Hugelkulture setup) but with the plot infested with bindweed, I can't really use that option. So I used the wood to get a nice hot fire going.

Being an old Boy Scout the one thing I do know how to do is make a good fire. Where a lot of people go wrong is that they build a fire so that it gets lit at the bottom. Wrong way to do it. If you want a hot almost smokeless fire, build it so that you light it from the top.

In this case there was a base of large wood logs (that had actually been left on the ground and weeds had grown though them - hence the grass in the picture above), then I put the tomatoes on, followed by smaller sticks, and then the kindling on the top. The reason you do it this way is that the heat drives out the moisture before the fire burns down enough to set it rest alight. This way very little smoke is produced. Less annoyance for the neighbours, and for me - being asthmatic.

Produce Show Categories

Belinda asked what categories we have for our show. These are they:

CATEGORY - FLOWERS & HERBS

• Class 1: Mixed flower arrangement in a vase (vase not taller than 20cm)
• Class 2: One scented rose to be judged on perfume only
• Class 3: A single bloom / flower spike
• Class 4: A gentleman’s buttonhole / lady’s spray
• Class 5: Tied bunch of 5 different herbs

CATEGORY - VEGETABLES & FRUIT

• Class 6: Selection of vegetables (min 5 different types) within 12” square (to be provided)
• Class 7: Longest runner bean (judged as straight-line length)
• Class 8: Biggest marrow (judged on both weight & size)
• Class 9: Five onions on a plate
• Class 10: Five potatoes on a plate
• Class 11: Five tomatoes on a plate
• Class 12: Heaviest pumpkin (weighed on plot)
• Class 13: Funniest vegetable (can be assembly of vegetables or single item)
• Class 14: Selection of home grown fruits on a plate (minimum 3 different types)
• Class 15: Five apples on a plate

CATEGORY - HOME PRODUCE

• Class 16: Jam, jelly, marmalade or fruit curd
• Class 17: Chutney/pickles/relishes
• Class 18: Cake (to include at least one home-grown ingredient)
• Class 19: Home-made or home-brewed alcoholic or soft drinks

CATEGORY - PHOTOGRAPHY

• Class 20: Plant portrait
• Class 21: The weather
• Class 22: Views of the allotment
• Class 23: Allotment wildlife
• Class 24: Dusk-to dawn (photo must be taken between these times)

CATEGORY - CHILDREN’S (under 16 yrs only)

• Class 25: Photograph of my plot (8-16 yrs)
• Class 26: Tallest sunflower (judged on plot, under 8 yrs)
• Class 27: Best scarecrow (under 8 yrs)
• Class 28: Best arrangement of garden flowers in a jam jar (8-16 yrs)
• Class 29: 3 decorated cup cakes (under 8 yrs)
• Class 30: Decorated stone (8-16 yrs)

We have a Best In Show award for each category. As well as we can also give out Special awards at the Judges discretion for entries which are innovative (whilst probably not a winning entry in their group). This year we had a number of classes which had no entries (Classes 4 and 24 for example) and multiple entries for some. Most notably Class 6 which is by far our most popular entry. Yesterday's winning exhibit was this: