Tales from the Plot, September 2022

The days are now shortening and it won’t be long before the cold damp days of autumn arrive. Many crops are still producing well – I grow my potatoes mainly in 30L tubs, I just empty into my wheelbarrow and take the potatoes home as required.
Towards the end of this month I will cover what tubs of potatoes are left with straw so I can continue taking them home as I require, the straw will protect them from frost, this method doesn’t suit all but works for me. 
If you keep picking the raspberries they can keep cropping right up until the first frost. Cut courgettes and marrows regularly because they will be finished by the end of the month, as will outdoor tomatoes. I remove any green tomatoes and place them on a windowsill to ripen …. in the past I’ve been lucky enough to still have tomatoes on Christmas Day!
I have some spring cabbage plants which I’ll get in this month, along with other winter greens. Spinach can also be planted and will crop right through the winter, I normally plant more than I need as the chickens will love any surplus.
The onions are now all harvested and drying, I normally manage to grow enough to last us till well after Christmas.
Over the years I’ve had many discussions with other plot holders regarding overwintering onion sets, every year I say I’m not going to bother again however I’m sure this year will be no different …… there will no doubt be a bag of sets heavily reduced towards the end of the year that will have my name on them! It’s my understanding that an onion plant produces its fruit in the first year then goes to seed in the second because onion sets are grown then their development is arrested. When you restart them they believe they’re in the second year and that’s why a high percentage go to seed, however many gardeners have had far better results than I’ve managed to accomplish so the practice is still debatable.
At the end of this month it’s time to dig up and compost any plants that have finished their season. Clear the soil of spent crops and leave it rough dug over for the winter. It is also a good time to sow winter grazing rye as a green manure, it can be dug back into the soil as part of spring preparations. This is a practice I’ve never taken part in however many swear by it – we must all remember you cannot keep taking goodness out of the ground without putting something back.
We must take care of the land, they don’t make it any more!
Richard Thorpe 15b