Getting set for autumn
I've just come back from a two-week staycation and very nice it was too. The weather could have been better I suppose, but it didn't stop me from getting lots done at my allotment. It's that time of year when I'm whipping out one crop and replacing it with another in the hope that I'll get something to harvest before the winter sets in. Inspired by Joy Larkcom's visit to Berryfields last month, I've already sown a couple of varieties of pak choi and mustard, and boy they're growing like the clappers. I'm also hoping to get a late crop of baby spinach along with some purple kohl rabi.
French bean 'Cobra' is cropping like mad as ever and I'm totally overrun with 'Autumn Bliss' raspberries. But the big success story so far has been my 'Burpless Tasty Green' cucumbers. For some reason, plants have never thrived on my Cambridgeshire plot. They always seem to run out of steam within a couple of weeks of being transplanted, that is until this year when I did manage to get one going. And yes, it's fruited! Not once, not twice, but thrice! So the moral of the story is never, ever give up hope!
Mind you, like Alys, I am getting to the end of my tether with blight. Like our outdoor tomatoes at Berryfields, my 'Gardener's Delight' are showing the first signs of attack. I honestly thought I was going get a crop this year but now I'm far from optimistic. Why oh why can't some clever person breed a blight-resistant tomato? They'd make an absolute fortune! I know 'Ferline' has some degree of tolerance but it still gets it in the end.
Is it my imagination or are cabbage whites having a field day too? Fortunately, I took the precaution of protecting my brassicas with mesh this year, so my calabrese and Savoys are doing just fine. But I know that many of my fellow allotment chums are really struggling with their crops.
Back at HQ, we're getting set for the autumn run of Gardeners' World and, of course, Toby's imminent arrival. We start filming with him at the end of the week, so it's all very exciting here in the office. I feel very honoured to be working on his very first programme. The start a new era without a doubt.
Comments