September on the Allotment

September on the Allotment – What’s to do this month?

Early autumn and it appears that now the children are going back to school the weather is picking up again – though so much cooler. It seems remarkable in many summers in the UK, that the weather can be so often warm and dry for May and June but, as soon as the schools close for the summer break the weather becomes wet and cool. Of course, this doesn’t happen every year – in some years it just rains from spring until autumn, thinking of 2013.

This year, I think I am on top of my harvesting and preserving and having a friend to help me – who has good strong arms – I am getting my digging started early. Last year – in early spring, I hurt my back digging ground that should have been left alone until it was in suitable condition. As it took a long time to heal I have come to realise that there are some chores I really do need help with. Of course, I could just give up and sit at home in front of the telly but, I really don’t think it is time for that yet.

Tomatoes, peppers and chillies are ripening steadily in my poly-tunnel. I have reduced the number of varieties this year and am sticking to types which will provide me with the crops which are most useful for my needs and which have been successful for me.

·         Tomatoes – Ailsa Craig [for salads and sandwiches], Fantasio F1 [for ketchup, relish and for freezing], Sultana [ for salads, young children and for eating straight from the vine].

·         Chillies – Joe’s Long [my old reliable] but I couldn’t help a bit of experimenting and am growing Jamaican Bell [they have not ripened yet but, are apparently, a mild chilli and are very pretty].

·         Sweet Peppers – California Wonder and F1 Denver – next year I might just stick to California Wonder as it has been a good grower for me [though it is always good to have a back-up].

There have been some interesting developments outdoors [in some cases, this could be lack of developments].

·         Winter squashes and pumpkins – Last year I had more than 80 from my couple of patches of plants. There was no way my family or I could use that number of pumpkins [these are not the huge varieties used for competitions or for Hallowe’en lanterns, mine were intended for eating]. Eventually I put many of them out on my garden wall, where I put much of my excess produce and invite passersby to help themselves. I did think that perhaps many people would not know what to do with them so, I created and printed off several copies of a recipe sheet to go with them, which I put in a plastic wallet, beside the pumpkins on the garden wall. When I checked later, the plastic wallet had disappeared but the pumpkins were all still there ! ! They did however, all disappear by the next day.

·         Potatoes – have been brilliant this year from my First Earlies – Epicure, to Early Maincrop – Mayan Gold [do see earlier blogs on this variety], Maincrop - Kerr’s Pink, Late Maincrop – Sarpo Mira.

Epicure are a new variety for me to grow and they have been wonderful [but are floury, not to everyone’s taste]. Kerr’s Pink is a variety I have grown when I lived in Ireland. It is definitely a favourite in Ireland, very flavoursome and floury [take care how you cook it or it will fall apart] This is the first year I have managed to find a source of these seeds in the UK and I was delighted to be able to grow them again. The flavour and the quality has not disappointed but by early August when my other potatoes ran out [and yes, I do know it is a bit early to start lifting maincrops but, I was reluctant to have to buy potatoes] I started lifting my Kerr’s Pink. Only a plant at a time as I needed them. I was amazed to see that the potatoes, although still quite small, were putting out shoots and starting on a secondary crop, giving me [as one of my friends said] new potatoes in August! This had not happened to other varieties still in the ground. I put the issue to other members of our allotment committee and the general opinion was that it was due to the 2 month long dry spell followed by heavy rain. It is possible also, that this variety has not been developed to cope with long periods of dry weather. I would be grateful for any thoughts on this. However, they were utterly delicious and as long as I can get hold of the seed, I will certainly grow this variety again.

·         Summer brassicas were disappointing due, I suppose to the very dry weather. Cauliflowers and broccoli did not heart-up properly and cabbages split much too early. As my regular readers will know, I don’t water outdoors except for seedbeds and for young plants until they are established. Everything else just ‘has to get on with it’. In spite of this policy beans and peas have been excellent.

·         There has been an excellent set on fruit this year although my Victoria plums were ravaged by wasps – I was still able to make a good quantity of plum jam. Cooking apples and pears must still be harvested as I can cope with the heavy crops but have been very satisfactory.

·         This year, I am digging out all of my globe artichoke plants. They have now been there for up to seven years and although some of my plants have been off shoots of the original plants, I feel it is time to move my artickoke bed to another part of my plot and give a original plot [goodness it was one of my first cultivated slots in my ‘newly taken over well overgrown plot’] a thorough digging over – potatoes in there next season! I will buy in new plants. Although my daughter has had excellent success in propagating artickoke seeds, my own success has not been so great.

Maintenance

Ø  As crops finish their harvest, remove the spent plants and compost them;

Ø  Over-wintering Harvests – brassicas – [cabbage, kale, broccoli, Brussels sprouts]; leeks, parsnips, Swedes etc, clear of weeds and watch out for pests like white fly on the brassicas [ there have been fewer of these during the dry weather but during the wet weeks the numbers of these little pests has increased;

Ø  Keep perennial crops, asparagus, globe artichokes and fruit bushes, canes and trees free from weeds;

Ø  Keep paths and edges tidy and cut back to prevent perennial invading the plot [and you neighbours’ plots];

Ø  As beans, sweet peas, peas and other crops finish their harvest, lift the canes, clean them and store them where the canes or their ends are not sitting in wet conditions, which will rot them. Carefully looked after they should last for several years;

Ø  Crops in poly-tunnels and greenhouses should still be good to mature and ripen for a couple of months so, make sure you keep the plants well watered and free from pests.

Ø  As you finish using tools, cloches and netting, ensure they are clean and store in a safe and dry environment;

Ø  Remove top growth of tomato plants to ensure the plants put all their energy into those trusses which are already developing. Except for small salad tomatoes – restrict the plants to 2 – 3 trusses now:

Preparation and Planning

Ø  As summer cropping plants finish their harvest, start digging these areas once cleared, especially if you have a large plot to dig. You may find that there will be fresh weed growth before the winter but it is better than leaving the digging until the spring. On heavy clay soil particularly, the difference between autumn dug and spring dug ground is significant;

Ø  Prepare beds for autumn planting perennial crops, fruit trees, bushes and canes;

Ø  Prepare ground for autumn plantings of onion, garlic and shallot sets and broad beans;

Ø  Think about ordering seeds, bulbs, sets and plants for autumn planting. Many of the large seed house are sending out their autumn catalogues now. Write to them to request a catalogue or find them on-line – see our website for contact details.

Sowing and Planting

§  There is not a lot which can be successfully sown during September although some varieties of lettuce and radish can still be sown until the end of September – choose your varieties carefully and protect the young plants from slugs, caterpillars and pigeons.

§  You can, of course, still transplant spring cabbages into their final growing place – as with salad crops, it is important to protect them from the plethora of pests which will destroy them long before you can usefully harvest them. I have found it useful to plant some in my poly-tunnel once the summer crops have finished [a while to go yet!] but this will give me a welcome crop of green vegetables in springtime when little else is available.

§  In preparation for new strawberry beds, pot up ‘runners’ from young strawberry plants [these are much more robust than runners from old – 3years + - plants]. Make sure they are kept well watered and detach from the parent plants when the ‘runners’ are well rooted

§  Set up new strawberry beds with rooted runners. I use a 2 metre wide meshed matting [which allows water through but keeps the weeds down] to plant my young strawberries through. Ensure the matting is well clamped down or high winds will lift the matting the young plants. The method is not perfect and it is necessary to keep an eye on slugs which will hide under the matting but, is better that leaving the strawberry plants on open ground. Of course, you could, like commercial growers, plant in raised troughs, a meter above ground where you can harvest and care for, at your leisure – Hmm, now that’s a thought!

Harvesting

Ø  Lots of sweet-corn is still available to harvest although, my earlier crop is now frozen for winter use or has been made into relish;

Ø  Beans – runner beans are now becoming too tough and stringy to be pleasant to eat. Some French beans for fresh eating are still harvestable. Drying French beans – Borlotto, Jack Edwards, Yin-yang, etc, are now drying on the vines and should be ready to harvest

Ø  Curcurbits – winter squashes, pumpkins are beginning to mature and the skins to harden. If possible, lift the fruits onto a piece of wood, stone, brick or similar, to keep them off the ground to avoid slug and wet damage. They should be useable in the kitchen now but, for storing, ensure they have dried well and can lift from the withered plant easily [store in a cool dark place – I have had some which have kept until May of the following year but, only a few. Check them regularly throughout the winter and remove any which show signs of rotting]. Courgettes [zucchini] are now coming to the end of their main harvest. My yellow courgettes, especially, are markedly, slowing down – I can no longer be guaranteed a crop which I have to leave on my garden wall for neighbours to take.

Ø  Tomatoes are at their best now and I certainly have more than I can use in the odd salad, or even a daily salad. Think about using the excess for Tomato Ketchup, Tomato Chutney, Freezing as pulp for winter use, freezing in a salsa with other ingredients. Outdoor tomatoes are likely to finish cropping earlier than the indoor grown varieties.

Ø  Peppers and chillies – are now beginning to ripen. Peppers can be stored frozen as part of a salsa, chutney or just sliced and frozen. If growing a thickly fleshed chilli like Jalapeno, they do not dry well in our UK conditions but, they will keep well, sliced in small pots in the freezer. Thinly fleshed chillies like Joe’s Long can be hung up and dried very successfully and used all winter long.

Ø  Potatoes – it is likely that all Earlies and Second Earlies have long been harvested and eaten. My late Maincrop variety of choice is Sarpo Mira which, I hope, might see me through the winter – they have excellent flavour and cooking qualities, are blight resistant and will store successfully through the winter. I will start to harvest them later this month.

Ø  Brassicas – some varieties of Brussels Sprouts, broccoli/calabrese and late cabbage are available now. Early kale can be harvested but may be best left until winter.

Ø  Early leeks and parsnips are harvestable now.

Ø  Salad crops, of course are still excellent where we have managed to keep the pests off.

Ø  Fruit – autumn harvesting raspberries are still available;

-          Apples, depending on the variety will now be harvestable – if they come easily from the stem they should be ready and can be stored. If you allow them to fall, the resultant bruising will mean that they must be used immediately. Check also for insect damage – those fruits also must be used immediately or discarded.

-          Pears and damsons should still be ready to harvest.

Our birds can also look forward [do they do this?] to a short time of not raising broods but, for them winter can be a harsh time so, do think about feeding them and providing water for them during the cold months.

 

I am sorry if my many failures make my followers feel I have little of importance to contribute. However, for me, a gardener who claims that everything is perfect and here is what you must do, is not helpful to many growers.

I am not an expert but, I do have much experience. I like to experiment with varieties and conditions. I think it is useful to share my successes and failures and to invite comments and advice from others. I am happy to share others’ experiences – be they successes and failures.

I believe it is also important that gardeners, allotmenters, enthusiasts and those who would like to GROW for whatever reason are encouraged and not be put off by total failures or even by a few failures. I think I am a fairly successful gardener but, never, in any year has everything I have tried to grow been a success for me. Please share this thought with young, just starting and inexperienced growers.

But do remember – as my daughter said once to me – ‘You get out what you put in’!

Cucumber and Gherkin Preserves

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Cucumber and GherkinPreserves

Cucumbers are doing particularly well this year. I have two plants, Passandra F1 [all female – of the five seeds I sowed in my propagator in early March, only 2 germinated and of those, only one has survived to give me a crop. It can be difficult for the allotmenter, when there is only one small propagator and limited conditions for growing on, to have the correct conditions for a variety of different demanding plants. I was happy to have two plants but, disappointed that one of them died. However, a very kind friend gave me a very strong, healthy [much stronger than mine!] gherkin plant….. I don’t know the variety, neither did she. But, as it matures and grows beyond gherkin stage the fruit is really quite spiny. I planted them outdoors as I have noticed in the last few years that in my poly-tunnel, red spider mites have been very crippling to my cucumbers grown inside.

I have given my outdoor cumbers/gherkins little attention through the season. I’m not a great believer in watering outdoor plants in dry weather [well, I just don’t have the energy for all that water carrying!] and once the plants are well established, with a bit of plant food watered in every so often – a plant food which is rich in potash - potassium is good for flower and fruit production. Any good tomato food should also work well for cucumbers.

I have provided a fairly rudimentary framework and have tied the cucumber plants up to it periodically but, I haven’t even been particularly careful about weeding. Last year, in the same spot I had small yellow heritage tomatoes and they seem to be the main ‘weed’ growing in this area. Of course, I have rooted them out every so often. In any case the cucumbers/gherkins are now well above the weeds.

Cucumbers are definitely one of the joys of summer vegetables. I’m not so keen on them in salads and sandwiches. Although, their flavour seems deceptively delicate, I find it totally overwhelms all other flavours – great if you love it. In restaurants I must request that my salads or burgers do not have cucumber. However, I do love cucumber in pickles and chutneys/relishes.

Do try a few of these below.

Pickled Gherkins or Cucumbers

Approx 2lb [1 kg] small cucumbers  or larger cucumbers cut in quarters lengthwise then into suitable lengths

4 – 5 good sized garlic cloves

1 pint [ 500ml] water                                                  ¼ pint [125 ml] white vinegar

8 oz [225 g] salt                                                          8 oz [225g] sugar

2 tsp white mustard seed                                                         

2 tsp peppercorns

2 tsp coriander seed                                                   

 [small bunch fresh dill if liked]

Method

·         Wash the cucumbers and prick all over with a fork. Place them in a bowl and sprinkle the salt over them. Leave for several hours to remove excess moisture.

·         Drain and wash well several times.

·         Put the water, vinegar, sugar and spices together into a sauce and simmer gently for several minutes.

·         Pack the gherkins into sterilised jars, with small bunches of dill if using.

·         Slice the garlic cloves and add them.

·         Pour the hot liquid over the gherkins ensuring they are filled to the top – make sure there are no air bubbles trapped.

·         Cover and seal.

·         Allow a few days for the cucumbers to pickle but these pickles are best eaten within a couple of months but once opened store in the fridge.

Hot Sweet Cucumber Relish

Like so many other vegetables in late summer, we wonder what to do with the glut. It doesn’t take too many cucumber plants to have too many cucumbers. Try this recipe as a way of using and preserving them.

Ingredients

1 kg cucumbers ( 2 lb) – don’t let them get too big or they will be full of seeds

1 kg onions ( 2 lb)

1 cooking apple

600ml white vinegar (1 pint)

3–4 red chillies(I have used Joe’s Long, use a medium hot chilli, but take care if for children)

500gm sugar ( 1 lb) – I used white sugar, but soft brown sugar will ‘warm’ the colour of the relish

2 tsp salt                                                          1 tsp allspice

½ tsp ground cloves                                        1 tsp turmeric

¼ tsp mustard powder                                                ¼ tsp ground mixed peppers( black, green, red)

Method

1.      Top and tail the cucumbers and remove the skin – cut into small cubes - ¼ cm- ish. If necessary, remove the seeds – if the seeds are still soft, you can leave them in.

2.      Peel the onions and chop finely – similar size to the cucumber.

3.      Peel and core the cooking apple and cut into fine slices.

4.      Cut the red chillies into small pieces – if you don’t want the relish to be too hot, leave the seeds out, or leave some of the seeds out. For a hotter relish add more chillies.

5.      Put the chopped cucumbers, onions, apples and chillies into a large pan or preserving pan with the vinegar and gently simmer until all the vegetables are cooked through – approx. 30 mins.

6.      Prepare the jars/ bottles – wash well and sterilise – put in a warm oven - 100ºC for 15mins.

7.      Add the sugar and stir until dissolved.

8.      Add the spices and salt to taste, add more salt if necessary.

9.      Simmer gently until the relish thickens – remember, when cool it will be thicker. Stir occasionally.

Pour into the hot sterilised jars and seal immediately. Label. Cucumber and Apple Relish

3 – 4 medium to large cucumbers  [ slice finely and chop into small pieces -  if using a ridged variety, peel the cucumbers first]        2 medium to large brown onions – peel and chop finely 2 medium to large cooking apples – peeled, cored and chopped finely 125 g [ 5 oz ] brown sugar                         3 – 4 finely chopped or crushed garlic cloves   570ml [ 1 pint ] white vinegar                 1/2 tsp turmeric 2 dsp yellow mustard seeds      salt  for preparation                                2 – 3 green and/or red hot chillies [ finely chopped – leave out the seeds if you don’t want your relish to be too hot or use  mild chillies] Method ·         Top and tail the cucumbers then finely chop – skin if necessary – and place in a non-metal container. Sprinkle fairly heavily with salt to remove excess water. ·         Add the finely chopped onion and mix well. ·         Leave for several hours then drain the excess liquid. ·         Partially grind the mustard seeds and the chillies and add to the turmeric ·         Put the vegetables into a large preserving pan. Add the freshly prepared chopped apple, spices and vinegar. ·         Bring to the boil briefly then cook gently until all the vegetables are cooked and the apples are pulped. ·         Add the sugar then boil until the mixture starts to thicken – take care that the mixture does not ‘catch’ and burn. ·         Pack into sterilised jars, cover and seal. ·         Once opened, keep in a fridge and use within a few weeks. [This is quite a sour pickle – not too sweet, not too hot]