Autumn is here, Garlic Planting time!

Well Autumn seems to be here, and the harvesting from the Allotment is now slowing down.

I went down to the plots to do lots of sorting ready for winter, a general dig over and tidy up, with no more beans to pick I was preparing to remove all the canes to be stored over winter in the shed, but I have now decided to leave the beans alone for a while while I collect some free bean seed for next year from the pods that were to big and stringy  to eat.

So I just ended up pottering around doing bits and pieces around the site but not really accomplishing much.

There is so much to do, but I just can't do it at the moment. The Hops need relocating but I can't do that until the plants die back, the canes need taking down where the climbing beans are and the whole bed needs a weed and a dig over, but I am collecting seed so thats on hold. I'm splitting another bed into two parts for next year but I can't do that until the beetroot is up.

I did plant my Elephant Garlic cloves that I grew last year, so hopefully FREE garlic for next year. 18 cloves planted with still loads left to cook with here at home. I can't remember when I planted the Elephant Garlic last year, it was sometime around now I think. The internet says it's planted in the Autumn so they are in. Along side the Elephant Garlic I have also planted 27 cloves of Marco Garlic (Softneck) £2.99 for two bulbs at the Garden Center. I still have room for another type of Garlic in that bed and as we use it quite a bit and it stores so well I might invest in another garlic as it becomes available in the garden centres to fill the bed right up.

I'm still picking Chillies and Sweet peppers from the Greenhouse, with so much more to come that are still unripe. Had another bumper harvest I'm running out of things to do with the Hot Peppers.



There are a few more things still growing and that I am able to harvest, the Autumn fruiting raspberries are now fruiting well and I have now collected a good half of a icecream tub that are in the freezer. Which for their 1st year in the ground I don't think thats to bad so far, I have made a wine with them already and we have also had a load in a trifle so half a tub saved so far is doing good . The courgettes and patti pan's are still coming, but a lot slower now. Chard is doing well, and the Kale is nearly at a point that we can start to eat it.

The Kale has been a lot slower this year but I think thats due to it being the wrong side of the polytunnel and it's not getting quite enough sunshine with it there.



I had to pick 2 of my three Invincible Pumpkins today as the plants had died right back to the stalks of the fruit. I still have one going strong which I hope will get to full size as the packet says 5kg each fruit, but my ones I had to pick are only just over 1.5kg each. Should still make a good Pumpkin Beer though.

Got a couple of butternut squashes doing okay, they seem to grow so slowly though.

Well I think that's it for today. Next time I'm down the 'Lottie I need to have a good look on my cabbages, and see how the Savoy's are getting on/eaten