A second chance

A couple of months ago, when I had all the trouble with Cabbage Root Fly attacking my young brassicas, I potted-up a couple of the Flower Sprout plants, to act as Reserves. In the end they were not needed, but they have hung on unobtrusively, awaiting their opportunity. Because they have been in smallish pots, their growth has been constrained and they are very small - about a third of the size of the ones growing in the raised beds. This week I used up the last of the Celeriac, thereby creating a vacant space, and the Flower Sprouts finally got their chance:

With plenty of room to grow now, and with an added dose of Vitax fertiliser, I'm hopeful that these two plants will go on to produce a viable crop. If they do, it will almost certainly be later than their earlier-planted siblings, so that may work out well for me in the end, extending my harvesting season.

At the other end of the same bed are some Swiss Chard and Perpetual Spinach plants. I cut them right back, nearly to ground level, a couple of weeks ago, because they were suffering severely with Powdery Mildew. They have responded enthusiastically to the severe pruning and are producing another crop of succulent leaves with no trace of mildew.

Swiss Chard

Perpetual Spinach

At this time of year, all my photos include lots of fallen leaves. Earlier in the week I did have a go at removing some of them with my electric "leaf-sucker" machine, but I had to give up before the job was finished as it began to rain and the machine doesn't handle wet leaves very well. I also realised that I probably need about three more compost bins to accommodate all the leaves from my Maple tree!