Thinking forward to next year.

Swallows gathering ready to leave

This year has been a challenging one but still I have learned a lot and things have moved forwards here on the smallholding.
But as September is upon us, I start to cast my mind to next year. Which varieties have earned their place in next year's plan? What should I change? What has worked well?

Saturday 1st September 2012
An autumn sunrise!

Of course, next year may well be completely different. But here are my initial thoughts.

Potatoes - They liked the water this year, but the swollen lenticels made them a difficult prospect to sell. Then The Blight hit. I tried over a dozen varieties, which has given us way too many spuds given that I can't really sell many. And that's a lot of digging to plant them in ridges, earth them up and then dig them out at the end. So next year I'll be more selective. I've not even investigated how some of the types have fared or harvested, but my initial thoughts are:
Earlies and Second Earlies
Bonnies - a definite - large, smooth, abundant, good-looking. Quite large losses to blight, but next year I'll be more ready to deal with it!
Red Duke of York and Salad Blue - The Yorks are a mealy potato, great for chips and roasting. Didn't enjoy the wet soil though. Salad Blues did well, but more of a novelty crop. They give a nice, sweet mashed potato, but the purple flesh turns a little greyish.
I'll probably choose one of these varieties each year. Both hit heavily by blight.
Dunluce / Arran Pilot - Two good early potatoes. Dunluce grow big quickly but Arran Pilot didn't reach full size before the tops were bitten. Probably grow one of these in future, along with Charlotte. All affected by swollen lenticels, not great on a new potato.
Swift - I won't bother with this one again. Maybe it just didn't like conditions this year, but poor yield, never really got going.
Edgecote Purple - An attractive, purple potato (clue's in the name) which has cropped fairly well. Not too many tubers got by blight. Shame I had to take off the foliage so early. The spuds which reached full size were amazing. A definite for next year.

Maincrops
I've not harvested many of these yet. Last year the Desirees and Pink Fir Apples did brilliantly, but that was a dry year so I'm expecting the opposite this year. However, there'll always be a place for both of these in my potato patch. The Setantas cropped well. Although the tops were decimated by blight like all the others, I seem to have a good crop of healthy, red tubers under the soil. I've not tried them enough ways to comment on taste yet.
Sarpo Mira - strange to see one variety almost totally unaffected by blight. Top growth is still green, even now. This is a big advantage, though I have been told that the taste is a bit bland. I'll let you know.
I'm really hoping the Orlas do well, as they're sold as the organic gardener's spud. Top rotted away with blight, so we'll see what lies under the soil.

Peas
Well, we've all learned that peas love loads of water. What a great year for them! I used to think they weren't worth growing, and they're probably not if you're going to put them in the freezer. But as a fresh crop they take some beating, even if they don't stay on the fork, especially raw which is how I prefer them. I must say, I find it hard to tell between different varieties. They're all lovely! The traditional Kelvedon Wonder did well this year and they're going cheap in the shops at the momnent. I could save my own seed, but if it's economical I like to change it every now and again.
The Sugar Snaps were lovely too, so fresh and crunchy, but I'll make more effort to get a successional crop next year. As for the mangetouts - well, the purple-podded look nice and crop well, but for me they're a bit too cabbagey. Next year I'll be trying a more traditional green mangetout.

Beans
What a disastrous year! Virtually none made it past the slugs, which is such a shame. I grow French Bean Blue Lake for fresh pods and Canadian Wonder for kidney beans to dry. I tried the latter as fresh pods last year but couldn't bear the stringiness. The Borlottis joined both these varieties in totally failing this year.
On the plus side, the pack of "exotic beans" which I got from the 99p shop (or was it Poundland?) gave me a pretty good crop of purple pods (Purple Teepee) and the yellow pods (Monte d'Or) tasted beautiful. I'll be interested to see how the black-eyed beans do.They are healthy at the moment. I'll be buying a few of these packs next year, though it's a bit of a pain having to sort out the seeds from the mixed pack.

Runner Beans
Again, these struggled to get past the slugs. The Painted Ladies are a heritage variety which I've chosen on account of their red and white flowers. They are vigorous and crop well, but I've decided to go for a stringless variety next year. I don't like a mouth full of razorlike stringy green stuff and, even if I try to pick them young, I reckon that a customer finding themselves chewing on one of these would not come back.
The Czars, which I grow for their white flowers and white beans, are much less vigorous but, when I do eat them as pods, less prone to be stringy unless they are obviously too big. So they get another chance next year.

Three Sisters
Well, it only ended up as Two Sisters but I've been pretty impressed. The Sweetcorn (Lark) has flourished, it's wispy heads towering above the carpet of courgettes, squashes and pumpkins. Aside from the courgette mountain problem, this system may get even more space next year. I'll add more different winter squashes, as they look great and store well.

The cucurbits which I grew in tyres have done very well too, so I'll continue with this next year.

Leeks and Celery
The leeks and celery seem to be growing very well indeed in each other's company. We've started taking some of the young celery already and I look forward to the leeks later in the year.

Root crops
The Parsnips (Tender & True) have, I think, done brilliantly. Another crop which likes plenty of water early on I guess. I'm confidently expecting to have to bring in a digger to get the whole roots out. I don't know whether interplanting with garlic has helped, but since they've done so well I'll repeat this next year. In stark contrast, none of my Hamburg Parsley came up from two sowings. Such a shame as I really like it. I'll try again next year, but if it fails again...
Carrots of all varieties have had a catastrophic year. I've always been able to rely on these doing well before. I'm sure they'll do well again next year and I'll still grow lots of different colours and shapes.
The Scorzonera, which did so well last year, also failed to materialise. We really like the taste but the long, black roots are extremely fiddly to peel. In contrast, its sister crop, the Salsify, has done brilliantly, as has the Celeriac next to it. Both crops need longer to harvest, but I'm full of expectation. I'll leave some Salsify to flower, since it's a lovely plant all round.
Beetroots have done OK this year, though germination was poor and the slugs got all of those which were planted later. But I do love the taste. I think three types is enough, a red one (may try one of the longer tubers next year), stripy Chioggia and a golden one for sure.

Brassicas
As usual, everything else has got on top of me and the poor brassicas have dropped off the bottom of the list. Next year! The turnips did well early on!



So, that's the beginnings of my plans for next year. No doubt over the winter months I'll be absorbed in planning everything in much more detail. There's the flowers and herbs too, and of course I have a polytunnel for next year which will give a whole new range of opportunites and challenges.

Roll on 2013!

HELP!!! Swamped by courgettes

 

If you ignore the missing bean plants, then I guess this is what the Three Sisters planting system is supposed to look like. The squashes, pumpkins and courgettes have slithered along the floor and crept in to every gap to completely cover the ground. And in between rise the clusters of sweetcorn.

The cucurbits growing in tyres are doing equally well, spilling over the sides and along the ground.And just look at the harvest we're getting. We are harvesting courgettes daily and poor Sue can't keep up with them. So far we've got a sea of Spicy Courgette Soup, we've got griddled courgettes, variously flavoured Courgette Fritters and grated courgettes. The freezer is positively bursting. The only thing we've not tried yet is courgette cake.

But PLEASE! PLEASE!! PLEASE!!! Does anyone out there have any inspired ideas how to use a mountain of courgettes, especially the ones which have miraculously reached gargantuan marrow proportions overnight, without necessitating another visit to the freezer shop?

I've scoured the interweb, which is full of similar tales and pleas, but I'm just looking for that one killer idea. Courgette beer?? Courgette cordial?? Courgette sorbet?? Even Courgette juice??

Meanwhile, here are some images.

 

 





 





Potimarron pumpkin.

There is a fascinating website devoted to

Tai Chi and Potimarrons!

http://www.rainbow-taichi.org.uk/site/the-potimarron-project/

The gurgling water is somewhat disconcerting.

I thought it was my fermenting cider

about to explode!





At least the squashes and pumpkins grow at a nice, steady rate and will store through the winter, a great asset. As for the courgettes, well here's what's happened to some of them.

Good news is that the chickens, geese and the pigs all like courgette, so nothing is going to waste.












Two Sisters

Three Sisters, Sweetcorn, Climbing Peas and Cucurbits















This was my Three Sisters patch just over two weeks ago. The sweetcorn was beginning to do well and the various squashes, pumpkins and courgettes were just beginning to flower and burst into growth. The pea beans, though, had twice floundered under attack by slugs. I'd raised some in the greenhouse though and these were looking healthy enough to go outside. Three Sisters restored.














The cucurbits planted in tyres were mostly beginning to thrive too. This system of planting means I can pack all the nutrients in around the roots. It is most beneficial in a warmer and drier year, when the tyres heat up the soil and help retain water.

Thursday 2nd August 2012



So, fast forward to early August and here's my Three Sisters patch.



The sweetcorn is doing well. I had my reservations about planting it in blocks of four, but decided to follow the planting guidelines to the letter. The flower tassels are waving about in the air and the cobs are beginning to swell.



Underneath, the cucurbits are really beginning to ramble now and most have fruits forming.

As for the pea beans ... well, the third Sister has again failed to make it past the slugs. Maybe one or two might survive to clamber up the corn stems if I'm lucky. On the positive side, I think this system will work well for me. This is just an exceptionally challenging year for all the beans.

 

The first courgette.
This is Grisette de Provence.
It grew rather fat and I thought
it might go pulpy inside,
but no, it was lovely and firm.
I griddled half with burgers and chips.
The other half held up very well
in a chicken and potato curry.

The squashes, pumpkins and courgettes grown on the ground in the Three Sisters system seem to have faired about the same as their cousins grown in tyres. I'll give them all a feed of comfrey juice now they've set some fruits.

We've started harvesting courgettes and the patty pans aren't far behind. A welcome glut will soon be upon us!

I'm growing pumpkins for the first time this year, Jack Be Little and Hundredweight. I don't just use them at halloween. They are great in soups, curries and in cakes and muffins. So versatile.

And with the winter squashes too we'll be well fed from our stores in the colder months.

On the Cucurbit front

Patriotic Potatoes revisited
I have been totally perplexed of late. Viewing figures for my blog have rocketed and I haven't been able to work out why. While it's nice to think that anybody would want to read about what we do here at Swallow Farm, I'm no self-publicist (thought the Sex In The Strawberry Bed post was a shameless attempt at increasing viewing figures!) So why should Patriotic Potatoes storm ahead of all other posts?? And why would I get more hits from Germany than from the UK?
Yes, my flag made of three varieties of potato was ingenious, witty and original... Apparently not!

For I googled Patriotic Potatoes in search of explanation. Turns out I'm not the first person to think of it. In fact Patriotic Potatoes is a celebratory American dish. And tomorrow's date...

And Germany? I guess they still have all those American bases there?

I do hope my flood of recent visitors haven't been too disappointed with what they found.

Oh, forgot to say for tomorrow..

Happy Fisherman's day to all in The Marshall Islands.
Happy Family day to all those in Lesotho.
Happy day of Agwe to all Haitians.
And a very Happy Birthday to Queen Sonja of Norway.

Reckon I may just have hit on a plan to up the blog hits!!!


On the Cucurbit front

The squashes, pumpkins and courgettes always take a bit of a knock when planted outside. It's not unusual to lose a few. Stems wither, leaves yellow, slugs attack, grey mould appears. This year I've given them as much help as I can, protection, goodness, special planting sites, rainy slug hunts...

And it seems to be working. Today I found flourishing green leaves and even a couple of flowers. One was growing so well it pushed it's milk carton protection right off the ground!

I'm not setting my hopes too high yet, but if we get some sunshine things may just turn out well on the cucurbit front.

Tuesday 3rd July
and tomorrow is...

Squash Tyres

Saturday 9th June 2012

At the moment a pattern seems to be emerging. Grey starts to the day seem to lead on to the better days weatherwise. And so it was today. A day to be busy in the garden.
I had a big job to do. The squash tyres.

Luxury High-Rise Squash Accommodation
Some of my cucurbits (squashes, pumpkins, courgettes and cucumbers) have gone in with the sweetcorn and beans as part of my Three Sisters experiment. The rest though, have their own special area, each with it's own home fully equipped with everything it could possibly need. Firstly, a tyre to keep it warm and to raise it above the ground. Then, a layer of turfs, back to back, to rot down and give goodness. The next layer of the cake, well rotted horse manure for strong growth. On top a covering of topsoil, just to stop the diet being too rich. Atop all this, each young plant, lovingly reared in the greenhouse, would get its own protective cloche made from a milk carton.

When I showed Sue how to do this, she put the milk carton upside-down...and it made a lot of sense. Easier to secure, a smaller rim to push into the soil and a larger rim to catch the rain and allow for expansion. The final luxury, a layer of slug repellent granules.
Now, this didn't all build itself. In fact it took the best part of the day. Just one last thing to prepare before my cherished plants came to their new home. A slug bashing session.

This year has been quite the opposite of last for slugs. So it didn't take me long to dispatch well over a hundred slugs. Just one of these, nibbling through the stem of a young plant, could wreck all the effort put into rearing it. I know I've talked about working with nature, but I'm afraid that doesn't include slugs. Well, not until I've managed to attract more hedgehogs, frogs and toads into the garden.

Luxury high-rise apartments for the cucurbits

A big scare
Mid afternoon our cat, Geronimo (Gerry for short) came miaowing up to me in the garden. When we moved in we acquired three delightful kittens, mainly to help with the rodent situation. They were supposed to be feral, but we are cat people, so these were always going to be loved and mollycoddled. We were devastated last spring to lose two of them on the road within a short space of time. Olly and Charlie are still much missed and lovingly remembered.
Now, Gerry disappears for long spells into the fields or hunting in the dykes, and occasionally he just decides not to respond to us, especially if he is hunting. So it is always a relief when he puts in an appearance. So I put him in the house at 3 o'clock and got on with my work in the knowledge that he was safe.

At quarter to ten, just as I was contemplating stopping for bad light, Sue came down to where I was working and said that Gerry was nowhere to be seen in the house and that he hadn't come to see her since she got home late afternoon. Convinced that I had put him in, and that the door had not come open again, I searched the house, but no sign. The first place we look, with dread, when Gerry does not come, is on the road. Then along the dyke, in case he has ended up in there. But that's when it's light enough to see. By now it was gloom, heading for pitch black.

Well, to cut a long story short, we searched more and more desperately with no luck. He had always come in before dark, but it was now approaching midnight. I still could not understand how he had got out, so searched the house for the third time...and there, under the bed, tucked away behind an old quilt, sat a very devected looking cat.
What a huge relief! But something was clearly up. He really was not himself, listless, no purr and no response to us. We put him on the bed and went to sleep. It wouldn't be long till the morning and we could see how he was there. At least I wouldn't be out searching for him at first light.