That was it, the season is officially over. Woke up this morning to a white frost upon the land and we’re officially in the Blue Tongue zone as well! I was going to make a joke about changing my mouthwash but it’s not really funny. Hopefully the cold snap will prevent it getting fully established in the UK. Goodness knows our farming industry has had enough this year.
I finished dipping the scrap wood I’d cut up yesterday in Cuprinol and then headed down to the plot in weak sunshine. It was absolutely deserted on the site, which was OK. I really rather like the solitude.
Time to take down the beans clinging to their wigwams. Runner beans are definitely not hardy and they are not going to produce any more. This year they’ve not really had a chance, their roots were under water for months and the only thing that has done really well on that part of the patch has been the weeds.
Further up the plot my hopes of a couple of squash were finally dashed by the frost as well. I had hoped that they would ripen up but it was not to be.
Some of the bamboo poles had rotted at the base due to the water and now I have some 7′ poles that were 8′. I did get a few usable beans off before the plants came down.
Hoed off the weeds and dug out a couple of docks that were trying to get established, which took quite a while because the soil there is pretty claggy. Still, it’s clean now and ready to start putting the deep beds in.
Back down to plot 5 where there were still some sweetcorn stalks needing to come up. They were, surprisingly, one of the success stories this year. With the lack of summer they were one crop I would not have bet on. They’d really made good root growth and taking them up was another job that took longer than expected.
Being as it was six o’clock and getting chilly as the sun sank behind the trees I sat on the bench for a rest before heading back and ticked off the jobs to do list. Pete from the Glastonbury plot showed up to check on his late planted potatoes after work. Amazingly they seem in fair condition considering the frost. Last year we didn’t get a frost until December as I recall and that would have been better for late new potatoes.
Well tomorrow is predicted to be nice and it is POETS (Push Off Early Tomorrow’s Saturday) day so maybe I’ll get a bit more time down there.
Hi, just had first frost here in Dalgety Bay, Fife. I’ll need to fleece my onion seeds and sets, and carrot seeds, which I’ve sown to see if I can get early start for next year, but if it’s starting to frost now I don’t hold out much hope of a mild winter. Also late planted peas are now ready to start climbing, any idea how to protect them once on wigwam other than wrap fleece over? Good luck with the raised beds, it’s the only way I can get some decent soil depth due to plot being on old railway siding.
Hi Jim
I don’t know if peas are sensitive to daylength but fleecing the wigwam is the only thing I could think of.
I think we might get a hard winter – and a good thing too. Kill off some of the slugs for starters.
Raised beds are the best answer for thin soil although it’s more about raising the plants above the water table for me.