Veg and Flowers...The Season Winds Down

The weather here has taken a turn and the season begins to wind down--it is hosing rain as I sit here to type. I guess that I won't be going out to the lotties before work today. Tch! Oh well, it is a good time to quickly show some piccies of the veggies and flowers.

I shall begin with the newest addition to the garden--a water meter. I have to say that if I think about it--a water meter is one of the most useless things that I could have. I mean, so I can see how much water fell the day before. So what then? This knowledge does not mean that I will give plants in the greenhouse or out in the open plots more or less water, will it.

The water meter is purely something nice to look at. I don't have alot of "things" in the garden, but for some reason, this just looked neat. The iron work...the glass, nice thick and heavy. I just find it appealing (that and the fact that my partner came back from Lappendag with it).


Do you recall this view of the half-empty potato patch from a couple of weeks ago? Well, the last spud has been lifted now and the rest are nestled in crates on the north loggia at home.


That warm, but thankful job complete--it was time to work the ground of the patch and plant it with borage which will be pulled-up and laid on top for winter protection. Take a look at the plot now.
The first new strawberry patch for next year has been made. The drying potato foliage covers the strip of soil where the second bed will go.


Ok then, now it is time to remove the dead spud plants and prepare the ground. The new plants will be taken from the "old" beds just adjacent.
The old beds must go to make room for where the potato bed will rotate to next year.
Here is the ground after the work has been done.


So, in the foreground there is a bed of Korona plants, the next bed has Polka's and the open ground in the distance has been planted in borage...a nice day's work, eh?

Nearby is the little leek patch that seems to be coming along fine. I won't be harvesting these until the end of the winter or perhaps in the early spring.


I also have some Kohlrabi's in with a handful of b'sprouts. They are doing well, but they will not be ready for the year's end harvest show in the clubhouse. These are the jumbo sort.


There is also knolvenkel. I am not sure what this is called in english.

As you can see from their size, they will not be ready for the show either, so no butterflies and the veg will have to go to the Food Bank. No matter, there will be someone that will eat it. I can't eat them all.

Moving back across the path to the old garden, there are loads of flowers to see there before talking about the veg on that side.
Look at these lovely red coreopsis blooms at the water point.


And a close-up of them. I really like their brilliance in this place.


One of the Lathyrus that is still blooming on the rack.


The Hibiscus syriacus is trying to co-operate, but has few blooms this year and doesn't seem to want to grow very fast in it's new place.


Along the front of the flower garden the blooms seem to be in layers--an effect that I like very much.


Here and there in the garden I have planted these Echinops bannaticus 'Taplow Blue'. They were supposed to reach a height of 90-100cm...but they are only about knee-high. Hopefully they will make a more impressive showing next year. We shall see.


I like their delicate structure and gentle colour. The bees like them as well.
Red is a good colour to have at this time of year as things begin to die here and there. These Crocosmia 'Lucifer' stand do the trick for me. I have small stands here and there in the garden for a nice, bright effect.


Well, with any garden there has to be a negative side. My garden is no different. It is always a fight against weather conditions, animal and insect pests and ....disease.
Here is a "sick" butternut squash that I had to remove from the plant. I had two sick ones and hope that that will be all.


I will just make a note that the insulting agent here is Didymella bryoniae--Curcubit black rot, in case that you ever encounter it on your plants. It can present in a number of ways, but this rusty-ringed pattern is pretty much diagnostic.
I will have to keep a watchful eye for progress. it is possible that I will have to remove this plant entirely. I really do not want to do that, but time will tell (and dictate further handling of this killer).

These beetroots are going great guns this year as are the Chogghia. I am growing this sort exclusively for the Food Bank this year.


Carrots are also welcome at the Food Bank.


I still have tomatos, Perp. spinach, Swiss chard, courgettes and runner beans in the old garden now and I am getting the strawberry beds ready for the coming season. So then-- the work is not yet all done there. Making the gardens "winter ready" is still some time off.

The sun begins to set on another productive day at the lotties.


Well fellow gardners, it was the end of another long and hot day...just the time to head down to the harbour for a fishie and view of the boats.
Well, yes, that is right ...and I would have done, had it not been for this--


Hmmmm...let us just have a look. feeling the silky end of the ear, I feel that it is round and almost flat. ( A sign that the kernels have filled and turned colour --thus ready to be picked). A further check internally: Carefully peeling back the shucks and peering inside. Pressing on a kernel...SPURTT! The white, milky sap says that it is ready to eat. Oh me, oh my--the fish will have to wait, I am afraid.
I do not usually do an internal visual check unless I am pretty darn sure that the ear is ready. I always take masking tape with me to seal it back shut if the guess was wrong and the ear must stay on the plant a bit longer.

Open shucks attract yellow wasps (yellow jackets), worms, aphids virus and fungus. It also allows a drying effect to take place. All these factors are not wished for, so I close the peep hole back up and let Mother Nature continue her work.

Once home, I didn't know how fast to put the water on to boil. I had take two ears--a long one and a short one. I was opening the shucks carefully but with a tiny bit of haste and expectation. I wanted to see those lovely, full kernels all jam-packed together on the cob.


Oh dear me--just look at that!
I blinked with anticipation as I removed the rest of the husks, broke the stem off and took off the rest of the silks. Oh what a specimen this is!
I exposed the second one and eased them into the boiling water...

Here is my long one broken in half, glistening with butter and sprinkled with salt. I can say with all honesty, that for me there is no fish in the sea that can compare with the first ripe corn of the season!

 

I know what you mean Sjoerd ... the air here has changed too. In the morning it feels undeniably like Autumn!
I love your rain gauge! I have a few scattered throughout the gardens, but none as fancy as yours. I always forget to check them after the rain and what difference would it really make anyway.
I think your "knolvenkel" is fennel.
What wonderful looking veggies you have Sjoerd, I would say your garden this year was a great success! The food bank there is very lucky to get such great fresh produce.
Oh and by the way...the Lathyrus did not grow for me again this year. I think I've officially given up on it!

 

I was going to say it was fennel, too. I love the flowers and the corn. I only have one tomato and an eggplant left but you can do a fall garden there and I've been thinking about it. Toni, the evenings here are not quite as hot this past week. But, it's after the sun has one over the edge to somewhere else.
dooley

 

Thanks for liking my guage, NETTY--Yes, "fennel", that's it. Thanks for mentioning.
Oh no!!! The Lathyrus didn't do well for you this year either. Tch! Oh darn. I am sorry to hear that you are giving up on them. There must be a way for you to have success.
What went wrong with them this year anyway?

Thanks so much TONI for your nice comments--I'm glad that you like ythe rain gauge. It was really the glass that was so attractive, it was then just a matter of finding the right holder (one can buy the parts separately here).
You grow fennel for exactly the same reason that I was growing it. We see a swallowtail up here once and a great while, but it has been years since I have seen one. My plan was to grow it for the butterflies and then give the knollen to the Food Bank and eat one or two myself of course.
I hope that you will try Lathyrus and have good luck with them.

Thanks DOOLEY--It sounds like things are winding down there for you, in terms of your veggies.
It isn't too late for you to plant some things for your fall garden, should you want to begin one.