First bonfire of autumn

After a dismal August it's already feeling autumnal down on the plot. I've been clearing my fences of unwanted weeds like bramble and bindweed and had a bonfire today to get rid of them.

The beds are starting to empty as I harvest crops and the summer gluts are over. The courgette and pumpkin foliages are suffering from powdery mildew and looking a bit sad. I haven't had any courgettes for a few days now, although the patty pan is still performing well.

I did get around to trying stuffed patty pan, and some courgettes for comparison.

These are green patty pan, round and Lebanese courgettes, which are club shaped. They're par boiled, scooped out, then stuffed with onions, chopped courgette flesh, breadcrumbs and grated cheese. They are pretty tasty, especially the patty pan.

The pumpkins have stopped growing and are turning orange:

9th August

30th August

I haven't measured this big one yet but it must be around 1.3m (4'3''). The final height of my son's sunflower was 289cm (9'6''). Some of the sunflower heads have ripened and the birds are already feasting on the seeds (this is the sunflower from 11th August post).

If the birds are eating my sunflowers at least I feel less guilty for picking the blackberries around the car park for my blackberry and apple crumbles!

My thoughts are turning to what needs doing over the coming months, preparing the rest of the plot and planning what to grow next year.

I recently found out that I came just in the top half of the points table in the site's best plot awards this year. I thought that was quite good for my first year and out of around 200 plot holders. But next year I want to do better.

You win some, you lose some.

It sure has been a hot week here in London. I've been nipping down to the allotment in the evenings when it's been a bit cooler, to water and harvest crops.

My beans are still going for it and I've been freezing more as well as eating them. The courgettes are also pretty much continuous, good job I love them.

I tried making the courgette cake. It was really easy to make and it was delicious, quite like carrot cake. The recipe used mascarpone in place of the usual cream cheese for the icing and that made it even nicer.

One good thing about the hot dry weather is that I was able to lift my shallots and garlic last week and leave them on the soil to dry out.

Today I brushed off the soil, rubbed away the papery outer skins and transferred them to trays to continue drying.

I'm really pleased with the shallots but my garlic is pretty pitiful in size. I can hold the entire crop in one hand whereas my neighbour's garlic bulbs are each as big as a fist! I did plant it very late and hoped for the best but I will definitely be planting next years crop in the autumn to give it a longer growing season.

In the same vein, last time I promised a tale of woe about my failures. My biggest disaster has been my turnips. First came the pigeon attack, then some bolted (ran to seed) and when I pulled up the remainder their roots were miss shaped and bug damaged. I didn't get to eat a single one.








My pak choi initially did well but eventually succumbed to attack by something and had to be composted. I have planted more but the seedlings are being nibbled too and I'm not sure by what.









My salad has also been under similar attack by a discerning pest. First the little gems were munched and the rest ignored. Then when they had been decimated whatever it is started on the mixed salad leaves, which have a more bitter taste.

I don't think it is slugs causing the trouble since I have found no evidence of them, it looks like bug damage to me. I think it was flea beetle that got the turnips and the stems of the pak choi, but I don't know if they eat leaves?

Since I do want to be as organic as possible I have realised that I need to invest in some kind of barrier protection for my crops next year and I will be looking into this over the winter.

To end on a success story, my son is thrilled with his sunflowers, the tallest of which is 223cm (7 '4'') as of today. Here he is watering them last week when the tallest was 201cm (6' 7'') , it grew 22cm (9'') in just 4 days!

And his pumpkins are also doing brilliantly. We have had to extend the bed because the vines are getting so long. I've also been teaching him about the sex lives of pumpkins. To ensure pollination we've been taking male flowers and using them to fertilize the female flowers (easily spotted by the small potential pumpkin behind the flower. The results speak for themselves.