After a welcome break in the sun, it was back home to frosty nights, & the leaves off every tree within half a mile of the house piled up outside the back door.
I did my bit with the leaves, filling 10 green bags for the 'green' collection & lugging them to the front of the drive (I have more than enough compost material at the Hill without adding these) - it's just a shame that the collection chaps haven't done their bit & come round with the green bin lorry today as per schedule.
This weekend has been mild, although grey & gloomy (not helped by the clocks being turned back an hour on Saturday night - so that was Summer, then), & so I headed off to the Hill with my List reading:
- clear the misc. beds of toms/squash/cucumber/courgette
- plant garlic instead
- dig parsnip for tea
Clearing the beds was easy. After collecting three 'butternut' (?) squash (well, they don't look like the ones you buy in Tesco, do they?), all it took was a few armfuls of frosted greenery & a tickle over with the fork & they were ready. I found a last perfect courgette amougst the collapsed leaves - a final taste of summer.
The squeak of a wheelbarrow approaching heralded Jason (bethind retired Maureen) & his dad. "Did you know that I've moved to a full plot up the top end?" he beamed, "I'll soon get it to how I want it - I've been moving some of my fruit bushes - and guess what! It's got a greenhouse too!" Well this is a terrific move for Jason as it is a well cultivated full plot, near the top compost bin, and away from the hedgerow.
We'll all have to up our game - he picks up so many prizes at the Show already, with a full plot, there may be no stopping him!
I got waylaid by the pea frame - a failure of a structure which was inadequate in nearly every way, but you live & learn - & spent a bad tempered half hour untwisting wire tags to dismantle the bamboo poles from the netting from the dead peas.
I rescued a few pods which I am nearly certain are from the 'ne plus ultra' for next year. I confess that the netting will not be used again next year, what with being stuffed in a wild tangle in the dustbin when I got home.Back to the List, & I planted out 36 plump garlic cloves - twelve from each of three of the biggest bulbs from last year (the smaller cloves from each bulb will be eaten) - as I know that Big Cloves planted grow Big Garlic bulbs.
The bean frame will be the next to be taken down - but this is a job for next week's List - but I did pick great handfuls of drying bean pods 'hunter' for shelling, then I dug my parsnip - big & Ood-like - some small but respectable carrots & the final cabbage (bigger than my head), then loaded the car & came home when it got dark. 4.45pm. Boo.
Looks like your butternut squash got crossed with something along the way! Would be interested to see how they eat. If you get the lovely texture and flavour of a butternut with the size of a bigger pumpkin? hmmm
ReplyDeleteI always think there should be some sort of scheme to match people with excess leaves to those wanting them for leaf mould - it'd save me a job of having to collect my own at least ;>)
ReplyDeleteMy chickens love a barow load of leaves in their run - I suspect they pick them over for creepy crawlies.
ReplyDeleteIf you had space, you could have just left the leaves in the black bags and they will turn into lovely leaf mold.
ReplyDeleteAnd they will have crossed again this year, Matron, which is a huge pity as the taste is just wonderful. Roasted iwith other veg the other day topped with a lamb leg steak - divine!
ReplyDeleteOh dear, Rob - everyone down our road must have been busy last weekend - you could have driven down our road alone last Monday with a trailer and collected more bags of leaves than you could imagine!
Maybe the chickens just enjoy kicking the leaves about, Flum - I know that I do!
I did have a dither about that, Carolyn, but eventually decided that I have enough compost material already at the Hill, and I'm short of space for keeping bags of leaves for 12 months.