Thursday 29 October 2015

October salads

Normally I would expect there to have been a frost before the end of October, which would kill off most of the salad crops. This year, October has been mild and the salads are surviving - doing well, actually.


There are several of this type of Lettuce. It is called "Dubacek", and has been grown from seeds received in my seed-swap with Dominika in the Czech Republic. The seeds were sown at the end of July, so it has evidently grown very slowly.


This one is "Redin", another Czech variety, sown at the same time as "Dubacek".


This is one of the blanched Endives (untied moments before cutting).


I didn't really want to cut this one, because we already have lots of salad in the fridge, but it was "Use it or Lose it" time - the outer leaves were beginning to rot.


Here is another type of Endive, still tightly tied.


This one is a Batavian or Broad-leaved Endive.


This very frizzy one is called "Tosca". It is currently very tiny but will hopefully continue to grow.


The "Palla Rossa" Radicchio are also still tiny. They have grown incredibly slowly. I blame the compost. It just didn't seem to have any nutrients in it, and it took AGES for the seedlings to grow large enough for planting out. I think they may never come to anything.


Many of the bigger Endives will have to be used in the next couple of weeks, before they rot, and when the salad bed is a bit emptier I may cover some of it with my big long cloches. This will give some of those little Lettuces, Endives and Radicchio a chance to mature without being taken down by frost - which must come soon, surely?

4 comments:

  1. It's great that you still have so many fresh leaves to cut at this time of year. As you say, it's just a matter of time now until the frost arrives, we've done well this year.

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  2. Mine has been the same! I can't believe the frost hasn't started yet. My dahlias are still blooming too. Crazy!

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  3. That Palla Rossa radicchio is simply gorgeous - I hope it sizes up for you. Our fall lettuce finally reached a harvestable size a couple of weeks ago, but we have been enjoying other veg from both the garden and the farm, so we haven't harvested any just yet.

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  4. It looks like autumn in your garden with all the fallen leaves, very pretty. It's hard to believe that your lettuces have grown so slowly. All the lettuces that I sowed in the summer for autumn harvests bolted while I was away for a week. I just cleared them out the other day and they were at least 3 feet tall. I really wish I had some salad greens. :-(

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