Thursday 11 October 2012

The container garden in October

My garden is rapidly winding-down for the Winter now. I've got rid of all the pots of French Bean plants, discarded a number of very tired-looking lettuces which have been growing is old plastic bowls and (most importantly) have finally emptied out the big pots in which I grew my tomatoes - a job which has needed doing for nearly a month. I tell you, disposing of the spent compost from 12 large pots is no easy matter. I have distributed it around the garden, topping-up the levels in the borders. The clearance of the tomato pots has given me space to re-organize my remaining containers of veg:


The Endives in the wooden wine-boxes are mature now, so I have tied-up a couple of them, using soft string, in order to blanch them. Blanching means making them go pale (and thus sweeter), by excluding light from the inner leaves. Blanching an endive like this takes about ten to fourteen days. In a few days' time I'll tie-up another couple, so that their blanching is staggered and they're not all ready at the same time.


Here's one I prepared earlier...


One of the black plastic boxes is planted with turnips. Despite the voluminous foliage, I think there are only about eight or a ten plants in there (which is probably still too many, I know).


The roots are noticeably beginning to swell...


The other plastic container is planted with Spring Onions. They are looking a bit floppy. I don't know why. Maybe they have not been getting enough light. Hopefully they'll pick up when they get bigger.


In the group there are two "Matsuri" miniature Broccoli plants.


They are not looking so special, having been somewhat ravaged by caterpillars while we were away in Turkey last month. They are picking up a bit now, and there are tiny flower-heads forming, so perhaps they'll come good in the end.


Lastly, there are two little Purple Sprouting Broccoli plants, in their green-and-white recycled chicken manure containers.


These are actually "reserves" left over after planting-out my main PSB bed. They are never likely to get big, being constrained by the size of those pots, but I love PSB so much that even a little extra crop will be welcome. Many of my friends and family like it too, so if I have too much I know I will be always be able to give it away.

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P.S. Just a mention of another startup blog that I have a good feeling about - The Suburban Kitchen Garden. You never know for sure about these things. Some blogs start with a burst of enthusiasm which soon fades, but others turn into real winners. I think this one might be a "Stayer" rather than a "Fader", if you see what I mean. Please visit this blog and give it a good start!

10 comments:

  1. You wouldn't think your garden was winding down, Mark. I think you've got more growing than I have, and I've got an allotment. My purple sprouting broccoli plants never got going, and I didn't buy any either, even though I had every intention to, so I think there's no doubt that I'm going to have a hungry gap next year.

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  2. Quite a collection of vegetables there and great looking too!

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  3. Eight or ten turnips are too many? I grow so many and think I haven't planted enough this year. I did have too many in the spring though. At least they keep really well.

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    1. Daphne. No you misunderstand me: I don't think 8 or 10 turnips is too many - just too many for that little container! I love turnips, so I would welcome threee or four times as many.

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  4. Still got plenty to tuck into Mark - all my container veg is now safely ensconced in the greenhouse.

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  5. You've got a good selection of crops still going there :) I have a bit of chard left which I'm hoping will withstand overwintering and some raddichio still plodding on - we'll see how they go over the winter.

    Thanks so, so much for mentioning my blog - what a surprise, it's made my day! I'm definitely a "Stayer"!! ;) It's just a case of finding some interesting (yet hopefully informative too) topics to talk about whilst waiting for the next growing season to start again but I have a few things lined up.

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  6. I give you the prize Sunshine Award! Greetings!

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  7. One thing about having an allotment is that it is easy to use spent compost - it just disappears. Often though unexpected seedlings pop up like the cyclamen under our plum trees that I never planted.

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  8. Those greens look so healthy! Do you eat the turnip greens as well?

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    1. David; No we never eat the Turnip tops, although I have tried them. There always seems to be something better, and turnip tops get pushed down the list of options.

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