It seems that someone forgot to tell the weeds that autumn is here and everything is slowing down! Even my Brassica tunnel is decked out with chickweed despite me hoeing it just before I went away. It looks as though there was enough moisture around for the weeds to re-root after I hoed so now I shall have to do it again but this time rake out the growth and compost it. That makes it a laborious task! Once again I have failed to hoe early enough as the tiny seedling weeds rarely survive hoeing.
I have kept up to date with hoeing the recently sown roots bed near my gate and a couple of minutes with the hoe make it look great. The other side of the path though was a different matter. My leeks struggled to poke out from the nearly foot high weeds and it took much careful hoeing and then hand picking to be able to rake out the weeds. - And that was after I had pulled out the taller nettles and such like.
I had to hand weed the parsnips and chard as they spread their leaves out so much it is difficult to see where the actual plant is. However, it was a good opportunity to remove the larger leaves drooping onto the ground.
I picked the last of the peas from my mature row (Douce Provence). There is quite a bit of mildew but they have grown out of it at the top of the plant. I also have a row of late sown peas coming on. However, I think they are too late to produce this autumn and too big to survive the winter and produce early next year. I will try to sow some round seeded varieties (Meteor?) to grow through the winter and give an early picking. It worked last winter though they need more protection than Broad Beans which I shall sow a bit later.
We also got the last of the French Beans though it had to be a mixture of dwarf 'Purple Teepee' and climbing 'Cobra'.
The 'Polka' raspberries continue to produce and the others I salvaged from the top end of the plot have lots of developing berries so promise to keep us going into November, weather permitting.
I also took home a large red cabbage that had stood so long the edges of the leaves had begun to bleach out. Now I can plant out my spring cabbages I bought from the Trading Hut last week.
As always, I have again forgotten to take pictures this time. My apologies as I know it makes for a more interesting layout when you read this. I will try to do better!
I have kept up to date with hoeing the recently sown roots bed near my gate and a couple of minutes with the hoe make it look great. The other side of the path though was a different matter. My leeks struggled to poke out from the nearly foot high weeds and it took much careful hoeing and then hand picking to be able to rake out the weeds. - And that was after I had pulled out the taller nettles and such like.
I had to hand weed the parsnips and chard as they spread their leaves out so much it is difficult to see where the actual plant is. However, it was a good opportunity to remove the larger leaves drooping onto the ground.
I picked the last of the peas from my mature row (Douce Provence). There is quite a bit of mildew but they have grown out of it at the top of the plant. I also have a row of late sown peas coming on. However, I think they are too late to produce this autumn and too big to survive the winter and produce early next year. I will try to sow some round seeded varieties (Meteor?) to grow through the winter and give an early picking. It worked last winter though they need more protection than Broad Beans which I shall sow a bit later.
We also got the last of the French Beans though it had to be a mixture of dwarf 'Purple Teepee' and climbing 'Cobra'.
The 'Polka' raspberries continue to produce and the others I salvaged from the top end of the plot have lots of developing berries so promise to keep us going into November, weather permitting.
I also took home a large red cabbage that had stood so long the edges of the leaves had begun to bleach out. Now I can plant out my spring cabbages I bought from the Trading Hut last week.
As always, I have again forgotten to take pictures this time. My apologies as I know it makes for a more interesting layout when you read this. I will try to do better!
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