Autumn Gardening

It’s a good time of year for produce with brocolli ‘Marathon’ cropping…

plus Cavola Nero which is Winter hardy and there’s still time now to sow seeds indoors to plant out over the next week or so.

Curly Kale. spinach, and Swiss chard are all looking healthy and I keep finding Charlotte potatoes missed when forking up in August.

 

Purple sprouting broccoli, Brussel sprouts and leeks will be cropping over Winter. But beetroot has been good all Summer and this bunch was cooked and chopped up with yogurt and coriander leaves. The sweetness contrasted beautifully as a side dish with a coconut fish curry.

On a glorious sunny day this week I lifted a bed of comfrey out of the ground to make room for a larger cut flower bed next year. Comfrey readily springs up on allotments and another patch still remains and with regular cutting will be enough for my needs. This left a space to plant two rows of  Sutton dwarf broad beans to crop in April/ May and the rows of cut flowers will then take over.  I pushed the beans in at 30 cm intervals and I’ll cover the soil with a fleece if the forecast is snow or ice. They will need no supports since they grow no taller than 40 cm.

I love my walk-in polytunnel although the plastic is shot which allows the rain in through the roof and one zip is useless. But I am optimistic because last year Winter Density lettuce and an annual poppy, inspite of heavy snow in February, germinated well.  So I am hoping it will be snug enough this year to over-winter annual seeds for the extended cut flower bed.  Small amounts of  Amni visnaga,  Rudbeckia occidentalis ‘Green Wizard’, Cosmos ‘Sunset’, Papaver orientale ‘Brilliant’, Sanguisorba officinalis ‘Burnett’ are sown in 30 cm blocks on either side of the centre path.  The beds will be protected by fleece when the temperature drops and if it fails as an experiment then I will sow again in April.

Garlic and onions have also gone in and their green shoots are appearing just about sturdy enough to justify a photo.

Globe artichokes were cut back to the ground six weeks ago and are looking very bonny which inspired the planting of four more 20 cm high seedlings next to them.

I regularly think there is nothing to pick for a vase and then I look more closely and find more than enough. Sedum ‘Autumn Glory’, Verbena bonariensis, Kaffir lilies and Japanese anemone seed heads filled this pot.

I am taking a break from blogging over Autumn and Winter but will be back in Spring.