David Lifton

Some of the rewards on the allotment this year have been better than expected...

This year has been a year like no other for crops. The tomatoes have out-performed, the pumpkins are swelling in a great quantity, and the chillies and peppers are quickly catching up. however, autumn is taking hold. it almost feels like the spring that we should have had. Now, the night-time temperatures are slipping back into single digits and all the exposed outdoor-grown edibles must either be harvested and brought in to store or covered with fleece to stop any unexpected frosts from wrecking them. Over the past two weeks, i’ve been covering my ‘Musquee du Provence’ and ‘Crown Prince’ pumpkins with blankets to keep them warm. slowly, i’m harvesting them and curing them inside my friend’s polytunnel – once the skins have hardened over a week, they’ll store for six months at home. Now that October is upon us, i’m setting my plans in motion to increase growing space, soil fertility and variety. Autumn is a perfect time of the year to grab a tape measure and draw up a rough outline of your plot. At home, i’ve been marrying up my list of crops for 2019 with the rough dimensions of the beds to make sure that no soil is left without a plant next year. Earlier in the year, i had planted several broccoli plants, with hundreds of carrot and beetroot seeds scattered over the beds. sadly, the slugs beat me to the broccoli and the patches of carrots. Taking stock of what i have in October, my parsnips have done exceedingly well. With higher soil needs than most, i have generally avoided sowing parsnips in my clay soil. Earlier in March, i created my nodig bed by layering two bags of well-rotted manure over newspaper. With little feeding, i didn’t expect much from my parsnip bed. Yet, once again, this proves we gardeners often smother our plants with too much love. Pulling up one of my parsnips last week, i was surprised to find a root the size of my hand. Finally, i’ve managed to eat my way through two months without having to buy any vegetables. The meals at home have been full of colour and taste; even the simplest of pasta dishes has been brought to life with my pumpkins and courgettes. And there’s nothing quite like the flavour of home-grown garlic to make these meals even more delicious.