Penellype's Allotment

[Penellype]

More photos



The raspberries have finished and the old canes have been cut down. Some of the new canes have also been removed as there were far too many. Several of the new canes have grown through the net, so I have rolled the sides of the net up and tied it to the frame so I can weed more easily. I will remove it when the leaves have dropped.



The blueberries have also finished but the pink ones are now in full flow. Like most of the fruit, these have done well this year.



The little chilean guava has some fruit on it this year but is being smothered by the rhubarb. I intend to move the rhubarb a bit to make more room (it is in a bucket), which will mean moving a trough of strawberries, which didn't do well here anyway.



The melons in the growhouse. I have about given up hope of any fruit, but it is possible there is something lurking under all those leaves.



The buckwheat was starting to produce flower buds, so I pulled it up and chopped it onto the soil. I was disappointed with this - it is supposed to form deep roots, but only went down about an inch, and considering the amount of seed I sowed, there was very little of it.

[Penellype]

Courgettes and tomatoes



The courgette in the compost bin is growing well and producing a reasonable number of smallish courgettes. The compost has dropped quite a lot and some of the courgettes are getting trapped inside the bin and are very hard to harvest. I will need to make sure I fill the bin to the top next time - this time I left about 6 inches headroom in case I needed to cover the plant against frost - that was a mistake.



The 2nd courgette is now growing well and starting to produce small fruit. These are getting a bit slug damaged (the ones in the compost bin are not). It isn't easy to see, but there is a Sungold tomato in the middle of the bed which has green fruit on it. The 2 Garden Pearl plants at the end of the bed have already produced some ripe fruit. These are starting to look tired and won't last much longer.



The Sungold plant in the hotbed has got completely out of control. I put up a plastic tomato cage and tied the stems to it, but the whole lot got too heavy and pulled the clips away from the stakes, so I have stopped off every shoot I can find and removed loads of sideshoots, but it keeps on growing. It is in fact a perfect illustration of exponential growth! The first tomatoes ripened just before the end of August. Behind the Sungold, Crimson Crush and Oh Happy Day are doing their best to hold their own. These always get unruly however hard I try, so I am just putting up with it.



Oh Happy Day in the tunnel is slightly more under control. The visible tomato (there are plenty more) is starting to look like it may turn red soon.



Garden Pearl in the tunnel looks happier than the ones in the raised bed and is just starting to produce ripe fruit.

[Penellype]

More photos



Beetroot in the tunnel.



The terrain peas with more flowers and pods forming.



Romanesco in the bed near the raspberries.



Kohlrabi in the hotbed. I had 7 plants and only 5 copper rings. One of the 2 plants without a ring has almost disappeared (slugs).



Beetroot and turnips ready to harvest in the hotbed.

[Snoop Puss]

Looking good, Penellype.

I sometimes wonder about growing nasturtiums and the like: are they really a distraction/deterrent, or do they just encourage pests to come closer to my plants?

[Penellype]

Looking good, Penellype.

I sometimes wonder about growing nasturtiums and the like: are they really a distraction/deterrent, or do they just encourage pests to come closer to my plants?

I've wondered this before too, but this time the caterpillars were definitely migrating from the nasturtiums to the tunnel, as I caught several on their way.

[Mark_Riga]

I've wondered this before too, but this time the caterpillars were definitely migrating from the nasturtiums to the tunnel, as I caught several on their way.

Depends how big they are. If fully grown, they could be looking for somewhere to form a chrysalis.

[Penellype]

Depends how big they are. If fully grown, they could be looking for somewhere to form a chrysalis.

Yes, they do that, but they were also quite definitely migrating onto my romaneco and eating it.

[Penellype]

October

A very wet and soggy allotment. I waited as long as I could before going to take photos, but the rain didn't stop. Some of the photos are rather blurred as a result.



There are a few runner beans left but the plant has now stopped producing any more.



French beans on the right have also stopped producing and the pods that got too big are being grown on for dried beans. Kohlrabi and turnips in the hotbed are doing well.



The romanesco has huge heads that I can't possibly eat all at once. I have bent the leaves over as best I can to protect it from the rain.



Parsnip foliage is being eaten by something but I haven't seen the culprit yet. Beetroot is almost finished. The kale continues to be an odd colour and is being eaten by slugs. The tomatoes behind are crimson crush and oh happy day - they are soldiering on and haven't yet caught the blight that killed the big Sungold plant, but very few tomatoes have ripened so far.



The PSB is doing really well. Once again the paths in the bottom quarter of the plot are under water.

[Penellype]

In the tunnel



More french beans trying to dry. The romanesco in here was ready earlier than in the raised bed, but was attacked by caterpillars. I have eaten some of it. The peas beyond are looking very straggly but there is still the odd pod developing. Calabrese in the centre bed is growing well and looks like it may produce some shoots soon. This variety (De Cicco) doesn't produce large heads and I have not grown it before so I am not sure what to expect really.



The Spacemaster cucumber in the cold frame has grown very big for a "compact" variety. It has so far produced 2 cucumbers of edible size, the first of which was a strange shape and tasted tolerable, the 2nd was a more normal shape and tasted unpleasantly bitter. There are more fruit forming but I am not going to bother eating them - they are prickly so need peeling and all in all this plant was a mistake.



The lettuces on the left (lollo rossa) are producing seeds, some of which I have collected. the pak choi on the right has bolted and may produce some seed.



Strawberries and another view of the enormous cucumber plant.




Beetroot at the shed end of the tunnel is about ready to eat.

[Penellype]

More photos



A closer view of the peas (Terrain) which are still trying to produce pods despite some mildew.



The tomatoes (oh happy day) near the tunnel door are looking remarkably happy considering the weather, but very slow to ripen.



Leeks (giant winter) outside the tunnel door are growing slowly, but nowhere near giants yet!



Spinach which will hopefully last the winter if the slugs don't eat it all.



Turnips in the hotbed.

[Penellype]

More photos



Kohl rabi in the hotbed.



One of the huge romanesco heads in the raised bed.



The Oh Happy Day tomato that was tangled up in the blighted Sungold. I expect to see blight any day, particularly with all this rain, but apart from a few yellowing leaves and lots of hail damage, the plant currently looks happy enough. It was covered with a sheet of bubble wrap on the coldest night last week.



2 melons developing in the growhouse. I think these are both Emir due to the shape. The other plant, Magenta, doesn't appear to have set any fruit this year.

That's all this month.

[Bren In Pots]

Those Romanesco do look impressive Pen, congrats.

[Penellype]

November photos

Having windows fitted today so I was in a bit of a hurry taking the photos and some are rather blurred.



The runner beans have finished and have been cut down. Raspberry canes are slowly losing their leaves and I will need to work out how to get the net off soon.



The yellow french beans are drying slowly. I'm hoping they will soon be ready to pick now that it seems to have stopped raining for a bit. Kohlrabi and turnips are ready to eat in the hotbed. The courgette in the net bed is just about surviving having been protected with bubble wrap on a few cold nights.



I have more romanesco than I can eat. The tomatoes in the next bed have all succumbed to blight and have been removed.



Parsnips and kale under the net, although the kale is almost invisible.




PSB is about ready to eat. The grass is rather less flooded than last month, but is still rather squelchy.

[Penellype]

In the tunnel



The tomatoes are hanging on in here and seem to have avoided the blight so far. There is still some romanesco but the ones outside are better so they are being eaten first. Some of the peas still have pods on which are being left to dry for seed. The calabrese in the middle bed has had it central head cut and sideshoots are starting to grow.




The cucumber in the cold frame looks completely dead, but there are a few smallish fruit on it that might still be edible. More beans trying to dry in here.



Lettuce seed has been collected and the pants chopped and dropped on the left. Pak choi is well and truly bolted.


I need to pot up more strawberry runners.



The beetroot is growing well but has a few slug holes.

[Penellype]

More photos



The tomatoes in the tunnel are still slowly turning red.




Calabrese developing sideshoots.



Leeks outside the tunnel are growing very slowly.



Spinach is beating the slugs so far, but I haven't eaten any of it yet.



PSB is nearly ready to eat. This is the wettest bed, but the plants seem to be liking it.