Nearly ready for the winter....

I had not been to the plot for over a week, but we were running out of spuds so I had to go and dig some up. I stayed for two hours and continued the tidy up.

There were loads of beans still on the Cosse Violette on the poles here so I took them all. There are still flowers so I left them to see what will come of them.
The Borlotti beans which were on another tepee in the same bed were over so I harvested a huge bag of them and took down and composted the bines.

The Brussels were all falling over so I re-staked them, took away the big net, took off all the dead leaves, firmed them all into the ground again....and picked a few that were ready. Some of the sprouts have "blown" so I looked up the problem and followed the advice. Next year I'll put them further apart because that apparently helps. (I always put stuff too close together...a personal hang-up of mine. Putting tiny plants two feet apart just looks so lonely!!) The little cabbage stalks that I cut a cross into have produced some tasty greens which we sampled yesterday evening.
I also dug up the last of the carrots...mainly round ones...Permex. A few had been attacked by fly but most were good. I'll leave the marigolds for a while as they are so pretty.
The courgettes are almost over. One had succumbed to the chilly night weather, so I pulled that up. The other two are still performing so they are staying there for now. I want that bed for broad beans so they haven't got long....
The raspberries had a last pick....and produced a half cup.

When I can get back to the plot (we are having a new bathroom fitted soon and I'm busy taking tiles off etc at the moment) I have to do some sorting at the far end of the bank area. The comfrey there needs cutting and the whole area cleaned for the winter. The comfrey is grown purely for the compost heap and for mulch.

I also need to give attention to the pathways between the beds as the grass is returning with a vengeance. I'm tempted to weed killer them but won't as I am trying to keep the plot organic. (The silly mistake when I sprayed the broadbeans with weedkiller instead of bug spray last year was an aberration!!)

I've been making chutney at home with windfall apples and our pear glut. I also need to do some green tomato chutney, and to pickle the beetroot which will soon be big enough to do. We like the baby ones rather than sliced big ones.

I spent a couple of mornings in the tunnel this week clearing the beds and re-jigging the irrigation. I will be sowing some salads in there soon for over the winter. We tend to have soup rather than salad for lunch in winter but do have the odd salad so I like to have some ready. It seems to grow slowly, and stand a long time over the winter in the tunnel without going to seed, so a few rows are worth the effort.

Monday promises to be nice weather so I'm hoping to spend a few hours at the plot then. I also need to do quite a bit in my front garden. We will be having the drive widened, and a path laid to get to the back gate. When that is done I am going to remodel what is left. Winter is the perfect time to do it as the soil there is far too dry to dig in summer....like concrete.