Tuesday 15 October 2013

October, and the growing goes on

Most of the Summer crops have finished now, but there are some that still keep on going - like the Alpine Strawberries. In this their first year they have not produced a big crop, but the biggest individual berries have appeared since the weather turned cooler:

 
I usually grow Basil indoors, but this year I put some spare plants into one of the raised beds, and they have just reached full maturity now. As it happens, our freezer is already well-stocked with Pesto, and the Dining-Room windowsill is full of potted Basil plants, so it's unlikely that the outdoor ones will get used.


I also planted a few Purple Basil plants, though many of them died very quickly. They are not as robust as the green type, and they really crave full sun conditions. The one or two that are left never really looked strong. I think they may be OK for a bit of embellishment on a salad, but they are no substitute for the green types if you want to make pesto!


In that picture above you can see one of the many Radicchio plants that now pervade my plot. I couldn't afford to devote "official" space to Radicchio, but I have slotted in a few plants here and there, whenever a space has become available.


Radicchio is a good crop to grow in Autumn. Many varieties are very hardy and (unlike most lettuces) will survive several degrees of frost. They are also very decorative: as the weather gets cooler, their leaves get progressively darker.

Likewise, there are a few Endives dotted around the place, in the hope that some of them will make it to maturity before the weather gets too cold:


As well as the Radicchio and Endives I also have some lettuces on the go. A few weeks ago I sowed some
mixed lettuce seeds in a couple of big pots, sowing them very thickly - hoping for an ample supply of "baby leaf salad" during the early Autumn. Regrettably, only a very small number germinated. This means that using them in the way I had originally intended is no longer a viable prospect, so I am leaving the few that did come up to grow to a much larger size. They are not ready yet, but not far off:


My two remaining cucumber plants are determined to keep going until the last possible moment, and are once more covered in little yellow flowers!


I have decided that the Brussels Sprouts are going to be used sooner rather than later. I am a bit concerned for their health, since many of the big leaves are covered in a type of mildew that is an unsightly brown colour.


Fortunately the actual sprouts don't seem to be affected (yet). Still, I don't want to risk losing them, so as I reported in "Harvest Monday" this week, I have begun cropping them. We ate the first batch at the weekend (with chestnuts cooked in with them), and very nice they were too!


As I sit writing this the weather is dull and a light rain is falling steadily. I think it may be time to harvest those Veitch's beans. I don't want them going mildewy too. And the rain has weighted-down the Asparagus fern, and made it topple over. It's days are also numbered...


On the positive side though, I might try lifting one of my Parsnips this week, just to see what they're like.

15 comments:

  1. Our alpines are new this year and so not really productive, I think you are right to use your sprouts - it may be the photo angle but some look on the point of blowing. Are the ones that you removed tops from the same as the ones that you didn't?

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    1. Sue, it's too early to tell whether removing the tops made any difference. To be honest, I'm not expecting any big difference to be apparent.

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  2. It is still a busy time isn't it, you really have done well this year.

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  3. I noticed only the other day that my alpine strawberries are still producing, in fact, they're still flowering too. It's a shame about the sprouts, it would have been nice to harvest some for Christmas dinner, though you could freeze some for later.

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  4. My cabbages are covered by mildew too. It's really annoying. Dry, hot and windy weather make the mildew spreading so fast.

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  5. I've grown the opal basils to make basil vinegar. I like them better for that since they turn the vinegar a very pretty pink. Though I did pick cucumbers last week, I think my cukes are done for. They are totally mildewed and dying. Too bad. I've been enjoying cucumber salads every couple of days. I so love those.

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  6. You still have quite a bit going on outside. Its good to know the Radicchio will take some colder weather as I have some outside. They look similar to your plants but nothing like the seed pack photo (something that confuses me when growing plants from seed). My purple basil sulked all summer and didn't grow at all. Maybe purple basil prefers to be indoor.

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    1. Kelli, yes the young Radicchio looks nothing like the seed pack pictures, but then the same could be said for many other plants. Like the cabbage, Radicchio will eventually form a heart which is kept while the loose outer leaves are discarded. THEN it will look like it's photo!

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  7. Good to see so much still growing at this time of year - I checked my black kale today and found cabbage white caterpillars, I though they would have been long gone, also pulled a couple of leeks which I experimentally grew in a trough, slimmer than normal but perfectly good.

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    1. Elaine, yes I have also found caterpillars recently, which accounts for the holey-ness of my Cavolo Nero. It was a very bad year for white butterfly infestation!

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  8. I thinned and thinned my Radicchio but they are still too close together to produce anything decent!
    Dug up the first parsnips today ,much smaller than last year's but hopefully will have more flavour.
    My Cavolo Nero seems to have made a good recovery from caterpillar attack and is producing nice unholed leaves now.
    Interested in your asparagus ferns.When I moved the small 18 month old crowns over to the allotment from my garden a month ago I cut them down to a couple of inches above the ground but they have produced quite a lot of top growth since.Hopefully this is a good sign?

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    1. David, normally I cut my asparagus fern down to ground level right at the end of the year, when it has gone yellow. It then doesn't grow again until the following Spring. You may have cut yours a bit prematurely, but I don't think it will have done any harm.

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  9. I find that when I grow Basil the cook (darling Brenda) never gets round to using it! She then buys a 75 pence pot at Tesco! Bearing in mind the cost of seed and the bother there are quite a few things I do not grow any more. Perhaps at my age the novelty wears off. (from a crabby old man)

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  10. I tried a purple basil the year before last because, on the packet, it said it had been specially developed for the British climate. Unlike with the usual kind, snails left it alone. They were right. It was tasteless.

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  11. I love the harmony of being able to have brussels sprouts and foraged chestnuts together! You're wise to use your sprouts while they look good, mildew is not a good sign! I'd have those mildew leaves off quick! I didn't grow cucumbers this year but last year my cukes tried to keep on going into autumn and the toms this year are still putting out flowers. Won't save them from the compost though!

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