Allotment/Veg patch thread 11 'We bid farewell to rainbow leaves but will keep plotting along'

[bookbook]

Well, nights are drawing in, leaves are starting to turn, harvesting carrying on
What a summer it has been!
Join in with the ups and downs of growing our own into autumn.
Last thread www.mumsnet.com/Talk/gardening/2951768-Allotment-Veg-Patch-Thread-10-Plotmenters-busy-into-summer-and-loving-James-Wong?msgid=71770088HERE

So it sounds like the best plan is to be patient? I’ve cleared/cleaned all the beds and have spread compost from the several bins that were already here.

Sounds like a weekend with the catalogues. 😊

I spent a lovely afternoon at the plot today. I found two butternut squash hiding under the swiss chard and I am still picking raspberries. I have put one bed to bed for the winter by covering in manure and black polythene. Two more to go but the DCs will have to drink more squash and milk before I can put down the polythene on those beds.

Afternoon!
izzy - sounds like a plan!
elephant - gosh, you still have raspberries?
I went down this morning - very chilly overnight - it was still -3º when i got up this morning. But it was beautiful and sunny, even if there was frost everywhere. I carried on weeding/ forking over this years squash bed - nearly there thank goodness.
I picked sprouts and dug up the old calabrese - there were some tiny sprouts on them , so brought them home . I tidied up in the brassica cage all the fallen leaves too - I want the bugs frozen out

Evening. I was up at the allotment quite a bit recently - onions, garlic and broad beans (The Sutton) are all in now. Fleece cliche over the beans, and heavy duty plastic mesh over the onions & garlic to stop birds pulling/cats digging them up. I also cleared all of the horrible crocosmia mess out of the big front bed, hoped it & put my perennials & spring bulbs in. Had to leave lots of sacks of rubbish sheltering in one of my empty compost bins. I was planning to go back & clear this over the last week or so but my young cat unexpectedly became seriously ill, I've been so worried about him & spending time going back and forth to the vet. If any of you are on the Litter Tray board I have a long post about him on there, he's in the vets now on a drip. I should have gone to the plot today as it would've been an excellent distraction, but it's been so wet and gloomy. I thought I'd end up even more miserable if I went there & was wet cold & muddy. My mum is visiting at the weekend and is very keen to see my plot, she gave up her allotment recently but had had it for over 30 years so should have lots of tips for me.

Cloche, even. Not cliché

And hoed not hoped!!! Aaaaagh autocorrect!

Morning!
Very windy here , and dank too - no plot yesterday or today , but not too much left to do before proper winter and holidays away, thank goodness.
timtam - so sorry about your cat - just read the other thread - hope hes pulling through .
I've sown The Sutton too - it is a good one for me, always does well, and by sowing early, you tend to miss a lot of the problems with black fly on the shoots . Help from Mums are always good :)

Afternoon!
well, had a lovely bit of time this morning at the plot. Bright, with a bit of a stiff breeze, but warmish .The soil was perfect for forking/weeding, so I have finished turning over the old squash bed . Now onto the fruit cage ....
Picked some beetroot and kale .

It's lovely weather today but I've had to clean the house as we are expecting visitors
On the bright side, the cat made a miraculous recovery and is now home, although he does now have a diagnosis of chronic kidney disease.
Should be popping up to the plot over the weekend, although the weather forecast looks a bit damp.

DIY has taken over from gardening for the time being. Not much going on here anyway.

Do sprouts go past their best if left in the ground? Really want to save some of mine for Christmas

Afternoon!
well, it was cold this morning , but once it had started to warm up, I managed an hour . I have got about half the fruit cage done - it went a bit quicker than I thought , so another hour or so later in the week should see that done. I need to cut down the asparagus next, and get that mulched.
I just pick off the bigger sprouts off the stalk, and leave the rest on tiz , and pick as and when I want them . Some of mine are only just getting going, as I can have some for January then :) Sprout tops are lovely too.

Pleased to hear your cat is home TimTam. I managed an hour at the plot today. I got some more muck spread and more polythene down. I will have to make lots of cauliflower cheese and custard this week for more milk containers.

hope everyone is okay
weather has been atrocious the last few days, and today we have snow, and wind . So no plot at all this week. So near to finishing too

I made this tonight with veg out of the freezer. It was really good, I didn't have any asparagus so just left them out.

I love risotto .
we had roasted butternut squash - the joy of stored veg :)

Book please give advice about butternut squash. I have sold quite a few, given away some, but still have about 12. I have roasted and then peeled the skin off, which seems the way to go. Vegetarian DS will be back for Christmas what wonderful meals can I create with BNS please?

elephant I tend to roast one, and use it over a couple of days.
Normally roast cut up into large chunks with garlic and rosemary and olive oil - this we eat as a side on the first night.
Then I usually do THIS , having already cooked the squash, so less work :)
I also love salad with cold roast butternut , baby spinach and puy lentils
and it makes fabulous soup - very rich and thick

Stuffed butternut squash is also good.

I made a vegetable soup last night with squash in - onion, carrot, squash, tin of tomatoes, cannellini beans, chicken stock, rosemary and chorizo (fried separately then added). All put through the liquidiser (so that DD can't complain although she still spotted a bean!). Turned out to have a nice mellow sweetness to it. You could do a similar soup without the meat parts.

elephant I'm impressed at your harvest of squashes! Mine never do as well as that.

Managed a couple of hours at the plot last Sunday. Planted my garlic and then cleared a bit more of the weeds. We've had snow flurries but nothing settled. It's bitterly cold in the wind today but cloudier so no frost last night. Hope to get over there again this weekend to do a bit more clearing and tidying.

Butternuts are supposed to taste best about 3 months after they're picked so no rush!

We make butternut squash soup a lot (alas not from home grown).

Going to look at tidying up the herb patch a bit, we going to try and dry some herbs, probably mostly sage which seems to have got a bit rampant. Any top tips for drying herbs?

Afternoon!
Lovely morning here - not very warm , about 5º but no wind, and the snow is all melting away.
tiz - I don't really dry herbs, they seem mostly to keep growing, and I just go and pull or cut off what I need. I do cut whole rosemary branches off, and just leave them to dry out on a piece of greaseproof, so I wonder if that is possible with sage leaves? Alternatively, could you freeze them in ice cube trays with a bit of water.
So, I managed to finish forking and weeding the fruit cage
Picked sprouting broccoli, sprouts and leeks, and came home .
This week, if possible I need to cut down and mulch asparagus, and weed around the turnips and beetroot. Once those are done, its mostly done and ready for spring. Weather forecast is looking a bit iffy by next weekend.

I've dried rosemary by cutting off branches and leaving them hanging upside down to dry off. It's worked quite well.
I've never tried it with sage as we don't actually use that much in cooking - even though we've got a plant growing like mad in the back garden.

It's pouring with rain and windy here today. Didn't manage to get over to the plot last weekend as it rained on Sunday which was my free day. I was forced to do some housework instead! But another cold spell is apparently on the way later on today or tomorrow.

Morning!
well, It's a bit breezy out there - somewhat windblown to say the least. Had an hour at the plot this morning, as the weather is supposed to worsen towards the weekend.
I have cut down and hand weeded all around the two asparagus beds, and mulched them .
On Tuesday, DH and I went and pruned all the soft fruit in the fruit cage.
So , just some general weeding and tidying needed over winter , checking and harvesting . Almost there....

Butternut squash soup made and consumed this evening, although loads to freeze. It was very warming on a cold day. Thank you for the suggestion.

Morning!
well, cold here , but no snow :)
elephant I do like a freezer full of soup. It is so good to get be able to take some out of the freezer on a busy day, - glad it turned out well !
I just popped down to pick some veg this morning. Funnily enough there only seemed to be about 3 of us down there. Sprouts for tonight, kale to make a casserole with some borlotti beans out of the freezer for tomorrow .
Hope everyone is warm and cosy, and not too snowed in