Clearing the Allotment Plot, Preparing for Winter

Clearing the Plot

Another nice day, sunny and warm, which is really weird for the time of year. Not even had a frost yet and the plants are pretty confused. Usually the annual weeds would be dead but they’re going strong.

Anyway, the weeds may have done well but the brassicas didn’t. Apart from some red cabbage, the rest are a dead loss. What the slugs didn’t eat wasn’t worth harvesting. What’s really upsetting is the Brussels sprouts are blown. I hadn’t eaten one for years until last year when I cooked some of Larry’s for Christmas and became a convert. This is, like most of my brassica failure, down to insufficient manure in the soil. Lesson learnt.

I also noticed clouds of whitefly around. Once again I think this is down to the unseasonably warm weather.

OK, all bar the 3 Brussels sprouts are in the compost bin, layered with comfrey and quite a few weeds. I cleared the climbing French bean teepees as well. Cobra and Blue Lake don’t appear to make haricots worth podding, so just a recycle job.

Larry appeared just before 5 o’clock, checking the site and back home with muddy boots.