Jottings from Heather

We have now got to the time of year, that is the pay back for all the planting, weeding and watering that has been needed to encourage the plants to grow and produce their fruit and vegetable offerings.

I have started by picking both Dwarf and Runner beans, courgettes, tomatoes, lettuces, beetroot and Swiss rainbow chard. Some of these crops will go on for sometime now that they have started producing, whilst others will be over before the first frost. Chard will go on growing over winter, if slowly, as it is a biennial that keeps producing. However it ends up going to seed in its secondĀ  year and so is only suitable to eat early in the season. I grew it for the first time last year and it a lovely greens that is cross between spinach and cabbage. It is a very easy crop to grow and requires the minimum of attention, which is just what you want for an allotment.

I have recently moved my small thin stemmed leeks into their final home for them to grow on over winter. They require a little more attention, owing to needing to be moved on at the right time, but they certainly return a good crop for this.

It has been surprising how many strong weeds have grown up even in this very dry weather that we have had since lock down. The vegetable crop has been suffering due to lack of water, but the weeds still keep coming.

Happy Growing

Heather