Barry Cuff takes a look back at his diary of what happened on his Sturminster Newton plot last month
October was a very wet month, with around five inches of rain, though we did have some warm sunny days with temperatures in the mid to high teens and many nights not falling below 10ºC. These warm wet conditions meant the weeds flourished and our grass paths kept growing. The growing season was lengthened too, and French beans and gherkins were producing right up to the end of the end of the month. The sunshine brought out the butterflies, which were attracted to the flowers on our wildlife patch.
Beetroot – Two varieties, Moulin Rouge and
Cylindra, which we’re harvesting as required for salads and pickling.
Broccoli – Both early and late purple sprouting plants are looking well, and have been staked.
Brussels Sprouts – The buttons are nicely swelling, ready for picking from December onwards – the plants have been staked.
Calabrese – The good weather is keeping both varieties (Ironman and Atlantis) growing and producing nice side shoots.
Cabbage – We’re still cutting Red Drumhead for coleslaw and stir-fries. One head keeps for a month in the kitchen and the plants stand well on the plot with no bolting.
Cauliflower – We’re waiting for Cendis to produce curds in November and December.
Carrot – (Early Nantes) We have a lot of carrots sown over a four-month period – it’s always good to dig fresh carrots when required.
Celeriac – We lifted our first plant early in the month. Smaller than usual, perhaps due to a leaf disease (probably Septoria or Cercospora). We have not seen this before.
Celery – (Golden Self Blanching) This has loved the rain, although we have had a little damage from slugs and woodlice. Plants are lifted as required for salads and soup.
Chicory – (Witloof) This will be lifted next month for forcing.
Chinese Cabbage – We’re now cutting excellent plants for stir-fries.
Courgette – We finally had our last pickings in the middle of the month.
Dwarf French bean – Still producing a few small beans at the end of October.
Wildlife patch – At time of writing we have flowering moth mullein, tithonia, gaura, Michaelmas daisy and echium. These are attracting bees, hover flies and the odd wasp. We’ve seen a whole range of butterflies too – small copper, large white, peacock, red admiral and just one comma. We also had a visit from a southern hawker dragonfly on a lovely sunny day mid month.
Leek – Looking well, perhaps a little weedy. Lifting as required for soups.Manure – We have ordered our usual 30 wheelbarrow loads. Hopefully November will not be too wet so we can spread it when it arrives!Parsnip – (Palace) Digging a root when required, but they do need a frost to improve flavour.Squash – All were harvested and stored by 25th. In total we had seven Crown Prince and seven Butterfly butternut.Sweet pepper and tomatoes (in the greenhouse) – A few pepper plants are still producing small fruits. The tomato plants were removed from the greenhouse and green fruits stored to ripen.Winter salad – All leaves and roots are growing well, and we’re cutting as needed.
- If you are interested in an allotment in Sturminster Newton, get in touch on sturminsternewtonallotments@gmail.com
- Our new seed order has gone in to Kings Seeds via our Allotment Association (members get 40 per cent discount)
