So, it's that time of year again... the greenhouse and potting shed needed a clear out, tired plants needed to be thrown out, and autumn onions & garlic needed to be planted out, so that's what I did today.
The pepper and chilli plants in the greenhouse were definitely in need of some attention... most of them were put in the compost bag, although I did manage to pick these little beauties first.
One Bellboy and one Oregon looked like they might have a bit more to give, so I topped them up with a bit of fresh compost and moved them to the potting shed.
Similarly, a couple of the Apache plants are still showing a bit of life in them so I did the same.
Could just be wishful thinking on my part, but we'll see.
50 Troy sets, 50 Electric sets, 10 Jermor sets and 16 cloves of Lautrec Wight have been planted out where the brassicas used to live.
I also emptied out the last bag of rooster potatoes and was again pleased with the contents.
When I was tidying up the potting shed I found a couple of opened packets of salad seeds (lollo rossa & rocket) and an almost empty packet of feltham first peas... rather than wrap them up for next year I thought I'd see if I can get a few salad leaves and pea shoots out of them, so they are now in a couple of troughs in the greenhouse.
I still have a few more jobs to do outside, but thought that was plenty for one Sunday so they will have to wait for another weekend.
I finally got round to planting out the brassicas that have been in the potting shed for far too long... each weekend I have been looking at them and thinking that they really need to be put in the ground.
I'm not even sure that they are all suitable for over wintering or using as spring greens, but have no other choice now than to put them in and see what happens, so the collection of broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower now resides in one of the raised beds.
They are covered with nets for the time being... I'm not sure if cabbage whites are still around? The fleece is on standby for when the temperature really drops.
I can't say that my attempts at carrots (or roots in general) this year have been successful, because they haven't. The first few sowings in the ground didn't even germinate so I tried sowing in tubs. I picked a handful of tiny paris market a few months ago now and thought I would leave the others to grow on but they haven't come to much at all. This was one tub of chantenay that I picked today.
The remaining tubs, paris market and early nantes have lots of greenery but nothing underneath?! Today's pickings will accompany roast dinner, I just wish I had a few more.
All is not lost though, I did have another surprise bean harvest... they just keep on coming.
And also, I finally emptied out my penultimate bag of potatoes, that I have been rummaging in every now and then and pulling out a few; I was not expecting to find this many left in the bag.
A couple of weeks ago I completed the mammoth task of picking the remaining tomatoes, both red & green and disposing of the plants.
Some of the plants were looking a bit worse for wear and had started to get blight, so I figured it best to get rid of them. I've had a fair few tomatoes over the season and have loads in the freezer ready for winter soups and sauces so didn't feel too disappointed having to pick them all.
This was how many there were.
Some of them were just right for using fresh in salads, some went into bolognese sauce but most of them were still green with a few on the way to being ripe. So what did I do with them all?
Three batches of Green Tomato Chutney
Two batches of Green Tomato Jam
Pickled Green Tomatoes
Tomato & Pepper Relish
I thought the french beans had come to an end, but having left the remaining ones on the plants to dry, I have continued to harvest on a couple of occasions since. This was two weeks ago
This was last week
And it looks like I will be picking another portion for today's dinner.
This little gold rush courgette was another surprise a couple of weeks ago.
I think the plant has definitely finished now though, the other fruit rotted before they got to a decent size. I have one all green bush plant that is still producing regularly so courgettes in general aren't finished yet.
