After an absence of over a fortnight, we actually managed to visit the allotment last week.
As always, after unloading the car, we checked on any plants that were still growing. That didn’t take very long as, at this time of year most of the beds are empty. We were pleased to see that the winter onions, shallots and garlic were growing away well. We were especially pleased to see that the shallots have started to grow as there was no sign of this the last time that we checked. I don’t expect much more growth to be put on now until next spring when hopefully they will grow away quickly.
We were also pleasantly surprised to note that the cabbages, that were planted very late in the season, were actually making the effort to form hearts. Granted they are quite small but we only planted them on the premise that we had nothing to lose if they didn’t provide us with a harvest. We came home with a couple and there looks to be at least a few more that will be worth cutting.
The task that we had set ourselves was to lift the dahlias and bring them home for storing. We expected that we would be digging them from mud but, incredibly after all the rain, the soil in the two beds was reasonably workable, so much so that after also removing the sweet pea frames we managed to weeds and dig over the beds.
Last year, we lost all our dahlias so instead of leaving the tubers in the plot greenhouse we have brought them home where hopefully we can give them better protection. We also came across some gladioli bulbs which also came home.
We had a couple of afternoons at Nostell. Ruby was due to be groomed on Wednesday and so before we bathed her on Tuesday, we decided to brave the muddy paths. Ruby is very good at avoiding puddles but we knew that she was likely to end up filthy after this walk.
Her coat keeps lots of her body clean and dry but she still ends up with dirty legs, feet and ears which she trails along the ground when sniffing about.
Our second visit was in the morning and the sun shone which showed off the autumn colours at their best. Many of the leaves are falling and it won’t be long before the trees are bare. Some already are.
I took lots of photos as I want an autumn image to use for an acrylic print to hang in our dining room where we already have two other prints. If you have time to browse through the photos below, which would you choose? If you hover over an image the carousel will be paused. I’ve numbered the images for identification purposes.
The drainage channels appear to be doing their job to reduce the flooding. On a less positive note, there are still no signs of any swans.
After, the second walk, Ruby enjoyed laying in one of her favourite spots to enjoy the sunshine and keep an eye on the comings and goings outside. Her ears have been trimmed so hopefully will keep a little cleaner when on a sniffing mission.
Finally on to some of last week’s meals. I made a Thai turkey curry using some of our frozen peppers and some of our garlic.
Another meal was a chicken, leek and mushroom pasta bake. Some of our leeks and more garlic went into that dish.
A third meal was a vegetable stew into which went some of our carrots, onion, squash, parsnip, potato, one of the small cabbages and some peas from the freezer. The intention was to use one of the Turks Turban squash but this proved impossible to break into so we reverted to a dependable Crown Prince. I added some mushrooms, red kidney beans, soy sauce, stock, tomato puree and herbs.
That’s all for this week so as always keep safe and well.
Good to see your onions, shallots and garlic, mine are at the same stage. Lovely autumn images, I do hope the second swan shows up. Tasty, warming meals there.xxx
Both swans are now about Dina
Great photos. I love Autumn!
Thank you Ivana and thank you for commenting
You have a lot of great photos Sue – it would be hard to pick a favorite! Our leaves are falling here too but without much color. The dry, warm weather we’ve been having didn’t seem to give us much autumn color.
Thank you, Dave. We certainly haven’t had a dry autumn
Liebe Debbie, was hast du für einen interessanten Blog dahin gezaubert, bin beeindruckt. Abwechslungsreich und
mit einen tollen Wortspiel hast du alles mit viel Liebe dahinein gesteckt.
Ich kann mich zwischen zwei Fotos nicht so richtig entscheiden, beide Nummer 4 und 11 gefallen mir für einen
Acryldruck.
Das Hundekind Ruby ist ganz bezaubernd und wie verlockend zu verspeisen sind deine Gerichte.
Weiterhin wünsche ich dir gutes Gelingen in deinem Schrebergarten für das leibliche Wohl.
Herzliche Grüße zu dir, Karin Lissi
Vielen Dank für deinen Besuch und die Zeit, die du dir genommen hast, Karin. Ich freue mich, dass Sie meinen Beitrag interessant fanden und hoffe, dass Sie uns wieder besuchen
What a lovely post!
Good on you for saving the dahlia’s and glads, they will reward you next summer.
We had a success with our celery this year! Never had much luck with it in the past,
but apparently, we found a spot that it enjoyed and will make note of that for the future.
(lots of sun, good drainage, but keeps moisture in the soil- keep their feet cool!)
We have never had any luck with celery or celeriac and have given up on it riverrim which is a shame as we use it a lot. Thanks for the comment
Ruby is so cute, even if she has dirty legs, paws and ears! Your cabbage seems to be growing very well, maybe you’ll have some cabbage soup one cold day soon.
She doesn’t seem to mind getting wet and dirty when she is out on a walk, Mary but shuns going out for a toilet break in the garden if it is raining. She dispels the myth that poodles are prim and proper. I’ve never had cabbage soup.
I like your photos numbers 1, 4, and 20. The first one has. good perspective with the line of trees and it also has very good colour in it. Of course you will know what you’ve already got on your wall and it’s going to be a case of picking something that’s going to go well with the two you’ve already got. There’s good, strong colour in number 4 And the gate provides a lovely focal point, drawing us into what is beyond number. 20. Do you post edit your pictures at all? when I had adobe photoshop. I used to frequently remove things like errant branches and badly positioned telegraph poles.
I think we are going for the gate one, Debbie. I do edit some photos and have been known to remove unsightly items but often cropping is enough. I also use Lightroom to lift shadows and cut back on highlights. The photos in the carousel were taken using the camera on my phome – it’s easier to carry around than my ‘proper’ camera but it gives an unnaturally deep blue sky which I have edited to make it more batural.
Lovely photos, I really liked a couple that weren’t numbered – counting from number 10, they would have been 13 and 14 (14 being with ducks in the foreground) – but these are not the ones you’ve numbered 13 and 14 if that makes sense. Also the one you have numbered as 15 with the gate. And the one of Ruby face-on to the camera! That’s a lovely shot. I am thinking of digging up a huge dahlia and getting rid of it. It’s a Penhill watermelon and does seem to survive absolutely anything, but the flowers are very heavy when they’re wet – which is a lot of the time at this time of year, and it takes up a lot of space and doesn’t have a huge amount of value for wildlife, unless you count early season snails. Also I’m wondering if the tubers might be edible…
I’ve renumbered the photos now CJ – I’d jumped a row when numbering! I think we will use the gate photo. Ruby is a natural poser she seems to know what is expected of her when a phone or camera is pointed at her. Straight after she has been groomed she runs to the same spot and sits down waiting for her photo to be taken.We have one dahlia with large flowers which isn’t really useful as a cut flower. I’ve read that dahloa tubers are edible but I’m not sure whether I am convinced enough to try them.
My garlic is stubbornly refusing to emerge, and now that we have had a couple of frosts most likely will not until the spring, if at all!
That’s disappointing Mal – hopefully it will appear in spring.