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| Our orchard of apples and pears |
I LOVE autumn although some would still call this late summer, there is definitely a feeling of it being a season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. The mornings are cooler and darker and we are generally being greeted now with the sunrise as I am seeing my better half off to work.
In the polytunnel the cooler evenings have put paid to the
cucumbers although they haven’t been a huge success. They are difficult to grow
and the temperature swings tend to play havoc with the tender plants. We have
definitely used this year to experiment with the plants in the tunnel and have already
drawn up a list of ‘mistakes’ or learning opportunities (being an ex-teacher)
that we can put right next year.
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| Rampant squashes |
Desperate to grow brassicas, the cabbages were
devoured by caterpillars in the tunnel. The purple sprouting and the brussels have
all been stripped bare by the fuzzy monsters but I have been assured by others
that the plants may come back as the colder days see an end to their life cycle.
They could also be grown outside next year. Also facing eviction next year are
the squashes. With just 3 plants, we have seen one bed turn into a matted
jungle of leaves and yellow flowers. We appear to have an abundance of male
flowers, something which following some rapid research is quite normal and
patience will bring the female flowers in due course. I have hacked back the
foliage to reveal the flowers and in an effort to restrict their growth to just
one bed but it is an uphill battle. Once the female flowers appear, I can
tailor the plants even more to their space, or at least that is the plan.
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| Three San Marzano tomatoes and a Roma for comparison |
The San Marzano tomatoes are finally showing their class and
producing the most enormous red, juicy tomatoes of all time. The taste great
and cook really well. We have made sauces and passata out of the them and they
are one of the main ingredients in any self-respecting chutney. They do seem to
take longer to grow than the Roma tomatoes but it is well worth the wait. The
hanging baskets of Tumbling Tom cherry tomatoes were a moderate success too as
long as they were in the spray of the overhead watering system.
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| Cluckingham Palace is finally finished |
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| Five nest boxes and a big 'people' door |
The chicken house was completed yesterday to the extent that the chickens were allowed access to their new accommodation. This is my husband’s own design which is off the ground to allow the chickens access underneath for shade and shelter from the rain. It has a large people door for cleaning access, five nest boxes and two roosting perches. It has been covered with thicker wood than is normally found on chicken houses and has a corrugated bitumen roof to keep the weather out. It will have a draw-bridge style access ramp when finally finished as the current on is only temporary. I feel that it needs some mesh ‘windows’ but for now, its finished.
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| Light Sussex cockerel checking out the accommodation |
