Hello. The clocks have changed here in the UK – we gain an hour so it’s lighter in the morning but it’s then going dark at about four in the afternoon. Shorter days call for positive thinking ie making plans for next year
We decided not to dig up the dahlias this year. We always dig them up, and it’s a boring , laborious job. Cleaning them and drying the tubers out is time consuming, finding space for storage is difficult. We used large plastic crates last year. Sadly, with the drop in the temperature so severe ( -12 at some points) during the winter, we lost a lot of tubers and had to replace them. So, we decided not to dig them up. We have repaired the beds, put new wood around them and topped them up with fresh wood-chip. Fingers crossed for next May when hopefully we’ll see fresh shoots popping up.
We still had so many aubergines at the beginning of October, that we had to give some away – or rather leave a bag of aubergines on our friendly neighbours table, so they couldn’t refuse them! hehe We’ll definitely grow the Violette variety again. The leeks were great, we just didn’t grow enough of them! In fact we planted them in the bio-dome with all of the brassica and sort of forgot about them. They’re very tasty, and we’re going to grow double the amount next year. We’re still cropping the celery – there’s a lot of it. It’s a bit spindly, but it makes great soup and freezes ok.
We have a new introduction to the plot, or rather two! After the dramatic rise in the price of decent compost we have decided to make (more) of our own. We do use the usual compost bins, but they’re difficult to turn, so we we’re recommended these from amazon. You fill them up and turn them a few times when you’re visiting the plot. It makes good compost within about 2-3 weeks. They were a bit of a faf to assemble but, once done, they’re great. We’ve christened them, Coco and karl. Don’t ask.
Next year we’re aiming to make most of our own compost and fertilizers – comfrey & seaweed. As well as it being ecologically better – it saves money! Take care everyone. Happy Plotting!
PlotDaze 