MY WEEK : 42 ( 30TH OCTOBER )

Hello all and welcome to this week's update, we have had the arrival of our first sign of Winter this week with some hard frosts making an appearance in many parts of the country. The start of the week was Halloween, as you can see from this photograph Daniel made a good job of carving his Pumpkin, it looks almost as scary as he does!! only joking Dan.



The first log fire of the season was lit this week with the arrival of the frosts, just what is needed to get you warmed up at the allotment on a cold crisp morning. Mind you once I got started with different jobs around my plots I soon warmed up enough to start peeling off some of my layers of Winter woolies as by about midday the sun had warmed the air and the afternoons have been lovely.



Before the frosts did arrive I managed to make one last flower arrangement with my Dhalias, I did not realise until this year that the Dhalias would last so long as a cut flower in wet oasis, about 5-6 days on average and they look so colourful to.





When the first of the hard frosts arrived the Dhalias went black, this is then the time to cut them back down almost to ground level as the photographs above show removing any old plant debris as you go to avoid any disease problems over the winter.





Then I take soil from around the sides of my raised beds that I use for the Dhalias and mound it up on top of the Dhalia tubers, finally for that extra bit of protection I then cover the whole row with some of the weed control fabric that I use for my paths, this will give them further protection from the frosts over the winter.


Also before the frosts did arrive I lifted all of my Spray Chrysanthemum plants ready to overwinter, as you can see from this photograph their beds look really bare after all the beautiful colour they have given me during the season. To overwinter them I cut them down to about 6" in height and then place them in some bread baskets that have been lined with a black bag and a couple of inches of dry damp compost, I then place these underneath the staging in my greenhouse which I keep frost free until the Spring when I then encourage them to start shooting which I then use as cuttings for next year.



I also lifted my Gladioli before the frosts arrived, they can be left in the ground over the winter but I prefer to lift them as during a season they will produce extra bulbs as the picture shows very well and also the tiny bulbils which will if left in the ground take up valuable nutrients and feed which I do not want, then in the Spring I will plant them again ready for next season's show.



This week I have continued to harvest the side spears of Calabrese, Carrots, Leeks, Parsnips, Celery and Swiss Chard from around my plots. Unfortunately my Brussels Sprouts do not look like they are going to be a good crop this year as most of them are not producing nice tight buttons as they should, they are opening out but never mind with all the successes that I have had this year I cannot complain, the Purple Sprouting plants are still looking really healthy and hopefuly will give a bountiful crop in the Spring.



I have started to make repairs to my raised beds this week, some of the timber is 5yrs old and in need of replacing, I used 6" x 1" timber for the edges and 2" x 2" stakes driven into the ground as supports. Before I replace the soil up against the boards I will treat the timber with an eco friendly woodstain and preservative to prolong their life and then finally I will re-attach the material used as my paths. My father-inlaw kindly cut the 2ft stakes for me on his bench saw and he also pointed them as well which made them much easier to drive into the ground, thankyou Ron.



My compost bays are bulging with all the plant debris from clearing my plots, at the moment I have not mixed it all up but when we have a bit more cold weather which will keep me cooler, I will mix it all with some manure that I have stored since the Spring along with any grass cuttings and also some Sulphate of Ammonia which is very rich in Nitrogen, this helps with the breakdown of the compost and should speed up the proccess in time for me to use the compost next Spring to mulch my crops and for trenching purposes.



Well that is it for this week, thankyou to all of you who have taken the time and trouble to add yourselves to my Guestmap it is great to see where my website visitors are in the world, have a good week whatever you maybe doing and I will speak to you all again next week as usual, thankyou Steve.