Doesn't the allotment look smart? Obviously, we must have been looking after it assiduously throughout the summer...
Er, no! Having pledged to keep this blog updated regularly, I've actually spent most of the summer on a very long narrowboat journey from our home mooring at Kidsgrove down to Godalming and back. I'll be including a few items from that journey in future posts as we stopped off at several places of horticultural interest but today it's time to celebrate a great crop of taters and squashes.
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| 'Kestrel' potatoes |
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Pink Fir Apple - less knobbly then usual!
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All three varieties gave good yields of largely undamaged tubers of a decent size and shape. The PFAs in particular were bigger than in previous years and much more uniform, less eccentric shapes, although there are a few spectacular monsters as usual.
The other pleasant surprise has been a superb crop of pumpkins and squashes, considering the lack of care they had throughout the summer. I grew several different varieties from packs of out-of-date seed, with good rates of germination despite that. The varieties grown were 'Small Sugar', 'Crown Prince', 'Avalon' butternut and a spaghetti squash, along with an ornamental swan gourd.
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| Squash - small sugar - growing in midsummer |
Scrambled over a cane framework to keep the young fruits away from damp soil and slugs, they would have benefited from more pruning and training, and watering during the hottest periods perhaps but, despite being left for months without attention, we have a decent crop, although the swan gourds aren't very swany, having developed straight necks as they hung from the framework!
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| Some of the squashes |
We'll just have to make sure we eat them in good time, They're too good to waste on Halloween lanterns!
