I have now

mostly cleared what needs to be out before winter sets in, and have covered the grassy area after weed killing it so that it should be much more manageable in the spring. All that is left in now is the last of the chard, a few swede's and the last of the carrots which are a little small and several actually were probably attacked by some bug, i need to look up the damage a carrot fly does before i pronounce him guilty.

The other winter crops are the solitary savoy cabbage who still looks good, and the spring cabbages, cauiflowers and sprouting broccolis. These are mostly looking healthy, certainly 90% have survived, although about another 10% still look a little small and pigeon attacked.

I also have now planted my overwintering onion sets and garlic. (L to R) 2 rows of Autumn Champion went in, then a row of garlic which consisted of 2/3 of a row being Spanish Roja, and the remainder being Purple Georgian Wight which i got at the Cowbridge food and drink festival this year. The next two rows are onions Swift which i have done before and were good croppers and stored well.

I also have now cleared the greenhouse of the last pepper plant, cleaned the glass inside and now all that remains is the herbs which seem to be doing well.

Etna chillies

now picked and strung to dry. Aided by my daughter we picked them on Sunday, although half way through picking them i realized that probably letting my daughter help me wasn't the smartest move if she decided to rub her eyes or lick her fingers!!! The idea of trying to get cold milk down to cool her down wouldn't be easy!! Thankfully mission was accomplished and hands washed quickly.
Amazed at how quickly these are turning red.

Tidying up

in the greenhouse this morning, and picked a lot of the chillies. Most went in the freezer but i've strung a few up in the kitchen to dry, but mostly for show!
I have been using 2 three tier greenhouses for staging and keeping grow bags and plant pots on. I always intended to move one into the greenhouse as staging but today got round to sorting it out. When i looked at them one was quite unsteady and the other was older and the plastic had degraded in several points. I ended up canabalizing them to make to make a three tier, then added another tier, until i settled on a five tier shelving system!! I popped the herb pots onto it, and also sowed more coriander and basil. I got round to weedkilling the floor and covering with gravel also.

The remains of the greenhouses!!!
This the Etna chilli, great looking clusters of chillies but the leaves are looking a little lackluster currently. I am going to dry these when they've all turned red.
I went onto the BigJim Chilli competition site (link below somewhere) to update my entry but its closed now, with the winner growing one to about 32cm. I only managed at one 19.5cm but still quite chuffed at he result. The site are going to announce next years competition in November so i may attempt that also.

Greenhouse latest

Clearing up

the plot has been the order of the day when the weather has been amenable. Its been pretty much cleared now on one half, removing some well established bindweed and many other weeds. Some of the crops such as the mini leeks which had got established i had to sacrifice in order to properly clear the weeds.
The cabbages, broccoli's and cauliflowers that i planted earlier in the year all performed badly so were also removed bar one savoy cabbage which seems to have persevered.
The carrots are still coming up good though and have provided for two soups this week. And a few grins also!!
The white chard is also still growing well, and the swedes are swelling up too. The runner beans are over now and need removing, and i managed to dry out some of the beans for next year also.
In the greenhouse the aubergine plants have still only flowered but not produced any fruits, but the chillies continue to look good with several of each variety turning red now. I have found a chilli pickle recipe also which sounds good but requires massive amounts of spices as well as the chillies, potentially could blow my head off!
More of the same on the plot next week, weeding never ends. I have ordered and waiting for the onions and garlic to be delivered and have also got some overwintering lettuce to put in next week if it warms up which its forecast to do.

Big Jim

Here are 2 of my Big Jim's. One of the others has also turned red red now but was also starting to go off at the tip.

Digging it all up,

I've been starting to clear some of the plot, the area which had the potatoes has now got some winter/spring brassics, including claret and white types of sprouting broccolis, 2 cabbage varieties, and one type of cabbage. In total 50 plants now in for the slugs and birds to eat over winter!!!
I have also dug up all the beetroot and pickled it, this time using white wine vinegar and popping a few different chillies into each jar for a bit of a sweeter and hotter flavour this year.
In the greenhouse i have cropped a lot of the green tomatoes and made some chutney today, and will clear a few of the tomato plants out now to give the chillies more room, and hopefully the aubergine will start to fruit soon, lots of flowers but thats all, it maybe to late in the season though which i must check on. To be honest i'm getting into the mood for preparing for next year on the plot and the greenhouse while i have the time and the weather.
The chillies by the way are still looking good with many fruits on all 4 varieties i'm growing. The Etna and Jalapeño are really quite nice and hot, the Padron and Big Jim bland really, and i have found many of the BigJim have started
going off once they reach about 15cm or so, i keep them with brown/black patches.

We are top of the league, i say we are top of the league!!!!!!!!!

Tasting tomatoes

I have been able to taste test all 3 varieties of my tomatoes, Gardeners Delight, Nyagous and Camp Joy.
Gardeners delight are a common favorite amongst growers as they are good croppers and quite reliable. They have produced for me a reasonable crop this year but they are always quite small and whilst tasting good, are a big plant for small return.
The first new one for me this year is Camp Joy, which has grown well and produced medium sized fruits. Taste wise they have a light flavour, a little disappointing really.
The second new one Nyagous has produced some large sized fruits and averages 4-5 to a truss.The plants have grown well and are very keen to continue putting on new shoots all the time. The fruits when ripe do have a lovely dark blush to them and are quite fleshy and soft inside. i would imagine these cook and break down very easily but taste wise again they are a little light on flavour, so both tom's i would give 6/10.
Next year i need to reduce the number of plants i grow in the greenhouse so i will need to consider which varieties i am going to grow, whether its a beefsteak type or any others.

Also an update on the chillies - all plants are now laden with chillies, the Big Jims have really done very well, and the largest so far is 19cm long. The Etna and Padron are also producing many fruits, and i am looking forward to this tasting session!!!

Plot Update

The plot has grown loads recently, unfortunately its mostly weeds again. But i did manage to dig up some more potatoes although blight has ruined a fair few of them. I took a good couple of handfuls of the white chard pictured below, and tonight i made a chard gratin to go with some gammon steaks. I now cannot move to far or fast!! The chard has been a success this year amongst all the other poor crops.
I also thinned out the swedes, picked some runner beans and courgettes, and pinched out the tips of the pumpkins as they have several fruits now on each plant.