Saturday 29 September 2012

Wind and critter damage.

Well I managed to get down the allotment today. My plan was to go yesterday and get a bit of work done initially but the sky darkened and the rains came and I just didn't fancy getting wet through so I figured I would wait to see what the weekend brought us.

Anyway the day dawned bright and I was up at the allotment bright and early to dig some potatoes and have a bit of a tidy up before helping out at the shop.

The potatoes have quite a lot of slug damage so I dug far more than I really wanted to but a row has given me a bucket full and it's really my fault for leaving them in the ground so long so I won't complain too much about it.

I have grown Picasso this year as a main crop, not one I've tried before so I will let you know on the taste later in the week as I will be using them for dinner tomorrow. I also have some 'melody' in the ground which were free so I will do a comparison of the two. In past years I have grown Desiree and King Edwards so I guess I could do a tester for you as I did for the new potatoes.


wind blown sweetcorn



Here is my sweetcorn looking a little the worse for wear after the winds earlier in the week. I think I will just have to take this down and hope that some of the cobs are ready.
wind blown tomatoes



The tomatoes still show no sign of ripening so these are also something I am going to harvest and pull up before they just end up with slug damage...I may try to ripen some indoors, the rest I will use green .
babycorn standing tall




 Amazingly even though it was on the east of the sweetcorn and should have took the brunt of the wind the baby-corn plants are still standing proud!







the brassica bed



 I never did get my brassicas netted this year but to be honest I ma quite pleased with them...










 caterpillar infected cabbage




As you can see from this specimen a few have fallen pray to caterpillars but the damage isn't so bad that it has damaged the heart of the cabbage and this one has grown quite large.






Lovely hearted cabbage ready for harvest



Then some other remain untouched and have grown into very proud specimens which I am looking forward to eating very soon!








A few blown over plants was the only damage from the winds which is a good thing although to be honest they weren't that strong anyway...however they did blow a lot of leaves off the trees leaving a lot of garden debris littered around the bottom of fences and gathered at curb sides.


And as for the critter...well what do you make of this????

a hole in the bell pepper pot

Above is the tub in which my bell peppers are in, in my greenhouse. I'm not sure if you can really see but there, just to the left of the centre of the picture is a little hole, also the soil has been dug bag quite vigorously. Thankfully the plants seem to be OK at the moment but I have no idea as to what could have done this. I can't really investigate beneath the soil without disturbing the plants. My greenhouse door has been shut all the time too. Any ideas as to what might be lurking beneath the surface?? Do I even want to find out??

Well that's about all for now. Not the most productive of days but it did start to get quite chilly. I'm hoping for a dry day tomorrow too so that I can get some more stuff done at the allotment and in the garden.

Oh I was also very good and got the ironing done...and boy do I hate ironing!!

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9 comments:

  1. that cabbage looks so good. I love cabbage but haven't had any in ages because my husband doesn't like it.
    I think I would rather not find out what's beneath that soil

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    1. You should buy yourself some cabbage Ann....Don't go without just because you are the only one to like it...it just means it will last you a lot longer!!

      I will no doubt eventually find out what's in the hole!!

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  2. I am an ironing hater too. Could you have a mouse hole?

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    Replies
    1. We should create a club Sue...I'm sure there would be LOTS of members..lol

      I thought probably mice but I can't find any other evidence which usually comes with them so I am a little puzzled....no doubt I will find out soon enough

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  3. It's a little blustery here at the moment, but you must have had worse winds than us as it's not so bad as to cause damage. Your cabbage looks great, especially when it hasn't been netted. I would bet it's a mouse hole, I should imagine they'll be looking for warm greenhouses now to escape the cold.

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    1. It probably is Jo...I guess I will just have to wait until my peppers have finished fruiting before I check and hope I don't get an infestation in the meantime!!

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  4. Dear Tanya, Fall has definitely arrived here on LI and I love the fall. The skies are a bit dark, but not in a rainy way, the dark of a fall sky.
    Your garden seems to have produced a nice harvest. There are always some things that don't go as planned. My garden barely got started this year. The tomatoes just did not grow. I had about 20 in all and they all were the size of a golf ball! Well, I am not complaining. I am blessed to have a garden at all.
    I hope that your Sunday is beautiful and blessings dear. Catherine xo

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    1. The garden has done quite well considering the weather we've had this year Catherine. I try never to grumble but always find the good in any situation thrown my way and always be grateful for what I do have and get as I know there are always those who are far less fortunate.

      I have many green tomatoes and as I don't usually I am going to try my hand at some green tomato recipes, something I've never had chance to d in the past!

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keep it clean...keep it relevant...I look forward to reading your comments!!