Kitchen Garden Forum

Shallot Man wrote:Acorn trees are shedding acorns by the bucket, wonder what it means.

Squirrels stockpiling food before Brexit?

Hi Colin!

They are ready when the vines get the first frost but if before this time you cover them, they will continue to grow a bit until the inevitable happens. The ones in the tunnel should escape the frost but the vines will still wither as they will be spent of any energy to keep going but being in longer I have my fingers crossed for bigger sweet potatoes.

Too much dry weather I suspect Shallot Man, although that has varied up and down the country. I think the north west has had far more than we have had down in the south east.

I notice a horse chestnut tree in our local park looks ready to shed its load of conkers . How times change! In my childhood there would havebeen gangs of lads foraging around underneath searching out the best ones to thread up, bake or do whatever they used to do with them to make them a winner. . Now they trudge past unseeingly, heads down Into their mobile phones and probably none of them even know what a conker is !

Lots of beech mast about, too. The ground under the trees is covered with them - hopefully, the chaffinches and later the bramblings will discover this bonanza.

We have beechmast here too but I checked some of it out and unfortunately virtually all of was empty inside. Another consequence of the dry summer I suspect.

It has been very dry in Cambridgeshire. This is my sister's pond.

And I think similar situations elsewhere in southern parts of the country. Very worrying for the wildlife which depends on a watery environment. You can't really rely on a hose to refill an area that size , and obviously natural rainwater is better than chlorinated tap water.

We have not got that problem around here my three water barrels down th plot are all overflowing as is the pond in our garden

Thanks Westi, I am growing buckets one is in a cold frame so guess I can just shut the top, the others were in a plastic green house until it go blown down but should be easy make wood fame for the plastic cover.

Quite shocked this morning, just come back from doing a few bits over the allotment and in the last hour the grass turned white....a good frost indeed....wasn't expecting that.

Gosh that,s early OH. We're not yet in the middle of September. I guess sensitive eggs like beans are more vulnerable in an open area like allotments than in gardens where perhaps they have a little more protection from fences and hedges but even so, it could end the production cycle earlier then expected.

Prayer for the day:
Lord, Much as I like them, the onslaught of fresh tomatoes is starting to become overwhelming. A glut of fresh mangoes, for example, would be gratefully received!

Subject came up at the Rugby Club Bar. Whether one should split Garlic up as soon as you get them. Or leave whole until planting. One thought was by splitting early and dusting with flower of sulpher this would check any early virus. Well it was more interesting than talking of Brexit.

Do you not plant the garlic straight away, Shallot Man? Mine usually arrive at the end of September and I get into the soil straight away. Mersley Wight have been amazing this year, so I will grow them again now.

We had our Village Show on Saturday. There were lots of entries overall, but the vegetable numbers were down, presumably because of the strange weather this summer. There were no entries at all for peas or broad beans. I won a number of prizes, alas not for any vegetables because with our small growing area nowadays, I grow to eat not to select for showing!

Good that you picked up some prizes, Monika.

Just been over the allotment and my late sown peas, (that are just coming into flower), have all gone limp....not sure if it was the cold weather or, where the sun has come out hot....hope they recover, as they looked really promising.