6/9/26 - The Arrival of Autumn

Meteorological autumn has arrived here in Ross Vegas and with it starts to see the slight reduction in activity on the plot.  With the bonkers hot summer weather we've had, the cooler and dare I say wetter period is giving crops remaining on the plot one last chance to put that extra bit of energy into growing and producing.

Some beds have already given up the bounty for the year and this weekend, following a period that has extended over around 6 to 8 weeks, I have actually made a bit of headway into the job list on the plot.  I still have to be really careful with how much I do and how I move around, but today has been one of those days that was just made for spending a few hours on the plot.  It all started off with a bit of mooch about and pulling up the pepper plants from the main polytunnel.  The peppers this year have been good and productive, but not being able to maintain and harvest them appropriately resulted in lots of snapped branches and stems.  In the end the plants were so broken, they were never really going to produce much more.  What followed after that were 15 of the most bliss minutes of the day.  Just sitting on the bench, nobody else around, headphones on and lost in music.  Sitting.  Thinking.  Relaxing.  With every intention of returning back to the bench for more later on, it was time to crack on with a few other jobs.

My main job for the day was to dig up the second row of potatoes.  Since harvesting the first row a couple of weeks ago, it's rained on and off so the soil is slightly easier to work.  Also, we seem to have lots of vole or mouse activity in certain areas and I have found the occasional potato with signs of gnawing rodents.  Time to lift them out. With a combination of trying to dig them out with a fork without bending the knees, and laying down on the floor with a hand fork, out they come.

Seeing yet another bed now clear, I moved on to having a proper clear up of the other beds on the plot that had been cleared down for a little while.  The original plan was for some of these beds to have a winter crop added to them from plants I grew myself from seed.  Alas, that has not happened because I haven't been able to go to the plot much.  So, many of the beds will end up be mulched down and left to recover over the winter.  The first step to that was to remove any weed growth and left over stems, then lightly run the hoe and rake over the top inch or so.  4 Beds in total had that treatment today, and they are all ready to be mulched.  Hopefully in the coming few weeks, they will also get some well needed rain on them,  One thing is for sure though, the look much better after a bit of time has been spent on them.

Also in need of some TLC was the half bed next to the parsnips.  I put some brassicas in there a couple of months ago.  They have been attacked by all sorts, but some how they are still alive and are starting to grow on a bit more.

Elsewhere of note for this weekend, the parsnips themselves look to be almost ready to start being harvested.  Many people say that they come into their best once there has been a good hard frost.  We usually leave them in the ground and just pull one or two up as we need them and then generally starts around mid to late September, so hopefully in the coming couple of weeks we will be able to enjoy our first roots and we will also find out how they have coped with the summer of hot weather.

When I walk around the allotment, I am forever adding to the job list.  I see bits here and there.  I take note of how various crops are doing and try to estimate when they will be ready to lift.  There are also the more mundane tasks like the mowing and strimming.  The recent rains really have brought things back to green and it's amazing how quick it's been before needing some attention.  It could be another couple of weeks before I have the chance to do it though, so we will wait and see.

Speaking of things turning green again, we have a second bed of potatoes.  The same Sarpo Mira variety as those harvest today and a couple of weeks ago, but these have had their foliage left in place.  When I was walking around the beds today, I noticed that the foliage was starting to put on some new green growth again.  This is really encouraging because I thought the plants had died back, but logically I suppose, if the foliage is still growing and green, then the tubers must also be doing something.  I feel a little bit of a reprieve from having to harvest these in the coming couple of weeks now that I can see that there still life in them yet.

On Friday, I also did another sweep of all the tomato plants, removing all the ones that had turned red.  As I mentioned in a post last week, many of the tomatoes are now splitting and I am not the only person that this is effecting.  As long as they are caught early enough though, they are still perfectly edible and the most recent picking will end up in the pan at some point this week, along with some aubergine to make some pasta sauces for us to freeze and enjoy over the winter period.

Much of what is left on the tomato plants is now green tomatoes.  We are forecast another warm spell this month which will help ripen them off.  In the meantime, I have been pruning back the foliage around the plants to try and stop the plants from growing, forming new flowers and to ultimately make sure the plants are putting as much energy as possible into the remaining fruit.  I think it's going to be at least another couple of weeks before I need to worry about starting to take those out. 

The next batch of jobs will focus on pulling up the dead and dying flowers from around the plot.  They have been a brilliant edition to the plot this year, and I really do think that they have helped keeping the pests at bay.  There has been so much black fly on the dahlias and at the same time, the bees have been having a right feast on them, the calendula and the marigolds.  I think all those flowers will definitely be making a return for next year.

That's it for this week.  No allotment time next weekend because I have some other commitments, but I hope to be able to put in an hour or two after work at some point this week.  Until the next time, thanks for reading!