Preparing for Winter
I
have not written anything for a few weeks as I have had some family issues to
deal with. In any case, it’s that time of year when everything slows down as we
prepare our plots and gardens for winter.
As
I’ve cleared crops I’ve been digging so that the winter frosts can help break
down my heavy clay soil. There is a lot of digging to do and as the weather
gets colder and wetter, it is more difficult to find opportunities to go
digging so, I try to dig a bit every time I am at my plot and dig a bit between
other jobs – I was going to say ‘chores’ but, that sounds as though it is work
I don’t enjoy. I think the only job which really is a chore is carrying endless
containers of water to my poly-tunnel or to young un-established plants in dry
weather. Although my heavy clay soil is very fertile, it is extremely wet and
sticky in prolonged wet spells but, dries out very quickly. This allows me
about three to four days when the ground is diggable between the heavy mud and
the rock-hard clay which splits open in lengthy dry spells.
Unfortunately,
that happened this year when young plants like brassicas should have been
planted out and beans should have been sown. So, this has been a poor year for
those crops – not a total failure, just hard work achieving pretty low
production. As I, in common with most other allotment gardeners, grow far too
many beans anyway, it wasn’t a disaster for them but, I am sorry that my brassicas
have been a bit miserable as they are – by a long way – my favourite group of vegetables.
My
potatoes have been lifted, dried and stored a good six to eight weeks ago but, (I
am always afraid of blight) I lift them as soon as they are ready – late August,
if possible. This has the advantage of providing warm enough weather to dry the
potatoes quickly before I store them. If you have not lifted yours yet, make
sure you do so before the frost hits as it will destroy your crop. I was in
Northern Ireland last week and was surprised to see many fields in prime potato
producing country with crops still in the ground. Clearly the haulms had not
been removed and had been allowed to die back naturally. I guess the farmers
are using fairly heavy duty chemicals to protect their crops from blight,
though not from the frost, and it will hit them before it attacks my plot! Though
thinking of the chemicals makes me glad I produce my own. Thinking of storing
potatoes – make sure they are dry, remove as much of the clay attached to them
as possible. Store in a cool, frost free place [garage, attic room, unheated
room in your house, frost-free shed – I stored a bag in my shed last year but,
when I went back to get them in January they has been frosted – spongy, wet and
smelly!]. Store in cardboard boxes, hessian sacks or paper potato sacks – not plastic
as they will rot - and make sure they are protected from light. This all sounds
like a pain but, really – put them in a cardboard box in the corner of an
unheated room and cover with several sheets of newspaper – bingo! Of course, if
you have several tons..........!
I’ve
already done my main seed order for this year. I do love, on a wet miserable
day in autumn, poring over this year’s seed catalogues and working out what I
will grow next year. I think it is one of my favourite jobs. Of course, as
always, I’ve ordered too many different beans, too many brassicas and too many
different lettuces and probably several others. Some of these will keep so it
doesn’t matter but, when my order arrived, I realised I’d forgotten something.
It’s the same every year. I forget to order wallflower seeds. I always grow
them in a seedbed on my plot then bring them home for my garden and my
neighbour’s garden. I will just have to place another order.
I
have already planted/sown my shallots and garlics this autumn. My shallot
harvest was poor this year, although onions were amazing but, I will try again,
this time in a raised bed. This year I didn’t grow enough garlic though that
might have been because I ate so many early in the season as wet garlic and,
wanting to introduce others to this delight, I gave a lot away. I hope I have
planted enough for next year. I bought only two varieties – those which have
done best on my plot – Solent White and Purple Wight. These two have been the
best producers on my plot over the last few years. I have planted the cloves
from six bulbs of each. I’m hoping this will be enough.
I
have also started my autumn broad beans – Aquadulce Claudia. As, in the past, I’ve
had little success with planting straight into the ground (no more than 25-30%
germination), I have taken to chitting or sprouting the beans first (set out on
wet paper – make sure it stays wet! Within a week or less they should have
sprouted). Then I pot up those beans which sprout. I have now put these into my
poly-tunnel and will keep them there until the plants are about 20cm ( 3-4
inches high). As the poly-tunnel is cold it is possible to plant them out to a
prepared bed during November. I will cover them with fleece to keep the worst
of the frost off them. This method has been hugely successful in the past,
providing me with heavy crops of excellent beans early in the season which miss
the black-fly plague. However, last winter’s bitterly cold weather did affect
my crops. I will grow by the same method again but, I plan to sow some in the
spring as well, just to make sure I have a crop. I do like my broad beans.
As
I’ve been ranting on somewhat about last year’s bitterly cold weather I will
also say that I’ve already cut back my globe artichokes and covered them for
the winter. Last year’s very harsh weather destroyed 50% of my established bed.
I am actually surprised that 50% survived! This year I have taken the painful
step of cutting back strong lush growth so that I can cover it with fleece. I
do hope it works. I’ve not done this before, although really, all the advice
books on gardening suggest that you should do this and cover with straw. – I don’t
have a source of straw so, fleece must suffice!.
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