25th September, 2012

Amongst the failures have been some surprising successes such as the blackberries and apples which of course go very well together. So I've been making deep pies with them.  I should also make some jam.

The beetroot are very big this year and I have been pickling them and making soups but I also like to make curry dishes with them.  The problem is that I am the only one in the family that eats them, oh well all the more for me.

The apples are good enough to eat raw as well as for cooking.

I've started the autumn digging which is possibly a first.  Usually the digging doesn't happen until I need to plant in spring, but I want to empty the large compost bin to make room for this season's garden waste.  I left the compost bin untouched for most of the summer so I wasn't sure what I'd find when I pulled back the covering.  I'm pleased to say it's turned into some lovely dark humus which I'm adding to the dug areas. This should turn into some lovely friable soil next spring.

I dug up some strawberries and planted new ones that had grown from runners.  The old plants have distorted leaves and fruit (is that a virus?) so I replaced them.  I contemplated replanting the whole bed elsewhere as perhaps I should not be growing them in the same place for so long.  I'll give it another year.

There's a good haul of peppers in the greenhouse which are starting to turn red.