Thursday 6th October
I spent most of the day finishing off painting the beach hut so only got to the plot around 5 o'clock. After emptying my kitchen waste bin onto the compost bin and covering it with grass cuttings from my lawn to stop the smell affecting my neighbours, I picked some raspberries. The quantity and quality are declining but there was still enough for a pudding.
Then I harvested mangetout/sugar snap peas before moving on to the remaining dwarf French beans. There was also a couple of nice fat fennel and a few yellow courgettes. The green courgettes had a couple of small ones developing but have been a real disappointment this year.
I then pulled up a cabbage that should have matured in late spring but did not heart up until August and had become very large. There was a large amount of waste but the heart was still huge!
Finally I started forward progress on the work needing to be done. In the little daylight left I began rescuing my strawberries that had disappeared under a carpet of weeds. I was surprised how healthy the plants were beneath the carpet of green.
I spent most of the day finishing off painting the beach hut so only got to the plot around 5 o'clock. After emptying my kitchen waste bin onto the compost bin and covering it with grass cuttings from my lawn to stop the smell affecting my neighbours, I picked some raspberries. The quantity and quality are declining but there was still enough for a pudding.
Then I harvested mangetout/sugar snap peas before moving on to the remaining dwarf French beans. There was also a couple of nice fat fennel and a few yellow courgettes. The green courgettes had a couple of small ones developing but have been a real disappointment this year.
I then pulled up a cabbage that should have matured in late spring but did not heart up until August and had become very large. There was a large amount of waste but the heart was still huge!
Finally I started forward progress on the work needing to be done. In the little daylight left I began rescuing my strawberries that had disappeared under a carpet of weeds. I was surprised how healthy the plants were beneath the carpet of green.
However as you can see, I only had time to clear a small patch and I had to leave the thistles that had grown through from the neglected plot next door so I can use glyphosate weedkiller and kill to roots.
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I was pleased at how I am getting on with the winter dig. On the left the old potato patch dug over with leafmould added. In the middle the leafmould before being dug in and on the right , the next patch ready for a compost mulch to be dug in ready for Brassicas next spring.
Before I left I pulled the front off the central compost bin to expose some lovely dark compost ready to spread next time I come down.
Before I left I pulled the front off the central compost bin to expose some lovely dark compost ready to spread next time I come down.
I went home with some beds clear and ready for the winter and, with the evenings drawing in, a lovely sunset as I locked the gate.
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