The
“ I can’t give everything away” By Alex Webster
Dartmouth Gardener
So begins the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. The plot this year has certainly been productive. The orchard has produced well. The Bramley’s taking first prize at the village show. The rhubarb has taken a battering with the wind, yet another gale in August. This will be soon lifted and divided with several crowns promised to fellow gar- deners; as yet again it took first prize. The weather last year remained mild right up till New Year, so if the same applies to this current year there will still be plenty to harvest from the plot. The winter brassicas are safely under wraps of a product called micro fleece. It resembles an old net curtain. The mesh size is minute and keeps out the cabbage white butterfly as well as the dreaded carrot fly. The fact that it’s permeable saves having to unwrap every thing to water. Any weeding of the covered area is best carried out early in the morning before the butterflies become active. Most of the onion family have been harvested and stored. The late spring onions will remain in the ground then harvested before any sign of frost. The root crops will also remain in situ, being pulled as
The whole point of growing one’s own fruit and vege- tables is for flavour not necessarily to be self-sufficient and save money.
required. The beetroot will soon be pickled in the kitchen. Under cover in the poly-tunnel, growth will continue
a pace until the autumn equinox, as it’s not so much temperature but day length and light levels that affects growth. Any yellowing leaves or diseased plants will be re- moved promptly. Summer salad crops followed by winter salads, such as lambs lettuce and winter purslane will be harvested up until the colder months of January. This summer we like many gardeners have found 20 rec-
ipes for courgettes and 50 different ways with tomatoes, the cook books of Nigel slater and the like have proved most useful. The whole point of growing one’s own fruit and vegeta-
bles is for flavour not necessarily to be self-sufficient and save money. The taste of a tomato truly ripened on the vine com-
pares to nothing else that comes wrapped in polystyrene and cellophane. Different varieties of salad leaves do taste different to one another and the taste and smell of a freshly pulled carrot is beyond compare.
Vegetables
YIf your plot is sheltered, sow over wintering broad beans in situ. Cover broad beans with fleece or cloches to provide insulation in colder spots, as well as protection from pigeons.
Y Carrots and peas can still be sown in cold frames but only in mild areas.
Y Plant out spring cabbages if not already done. Re- member to net them for protection from pigeons.
Y Finish planting autumn onion sets for a crop in early to mid-summer next year.
Y Plant garlic cloves. Divide the bulb, best to buy them from the garden centre or seed merchant as the garlic from the super market was probably grow on the continent, so might not be suitable for our climate.
Y Cut back the dying tops of Jerusalem artichokes to ground level.
Y Cut back asparagus foliage if not already done last month. Take care of the spines and give the plants some mulch afterwards. This will go along way to getting things off to a flyer next spring.
Problems
Y Check stored apples and pears regularly for rotting fruit.
Y Keep an eye on Brussels sprouts, removing yellow- ing leaves to prevent grey mould from becoming troublesome. Stake the plants if your plot is buffeted by the wind.
Y Remove all plant debris from the vegetable patch or allotment; this gives less cover for slugs and snails and reduces the spread and the over winter- ing of disease.
Y Place mouse controls near your stored vegetables.
Y Flea beetle can still be a problem until the end of October.
Y Control winter moth on fruit trees with grease bands.
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