The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Summer turns to autumn
Time to harvest crops in John’s garden as the seasons change – and why Anna’s aronia crumble bars are truly scrumptious
Cooking apple Bramley continues to lose fruit to gales – but there is still plenty left for picking in October
As summer makes way for autumn, the harvesting range of fruit and vegetables changes as most of the soft fruit has been picked as well as summer cabbages, cauliflower, onions, broad beans and early potatoes.
The wet but warm summer did the potatoes no favours as marauding slugs and snails just loved the soft fresh leaves.
Second early potato Charlotte was picked first followed by maincrop Mayan Gold, then first early Casa Blanca was lifted in August as its leaves lasted a wee bit longer.
Finally, at the end of August I lifted main crop Maris Piper as the leaves had totally disintegrated in spite of ample dressings of slug pellets, yet there was still a great crop of large clean potatoes.
Cauliflower, sprouts and cabbages were also badly affected and caterpillars were a real nuisance. Kale seemed to be less affected but some pruning was necessary as growth was so prolific that the normal spacing was just not enough as all brassicas fought for space.
Kale should keep us going well throughout autumn and winter.
Other winter vegetables of swedes and leeks will give variety, though many of my leeks have run up to seed.
Autumn salads have been sown on land cleared of broad beans to keep the kitchen supplied with lettuce, rocket
and spring onions well into the coming winter.
Land cleared of potatoes will now get several rows of young wallflower seedlings that were saved from a brilliant display of Cloth of Gold, sown in August and now growing strongly but needing more space.
Hopefully, these will be ready to plant out in late autumn for flowering next spring.
Autumn raspberry Polka and autumn strawberry Flamenco are both yielding well with plenty fresh fruit and surplus going into the freezer, but lack of sun, still too much rain and lower temperatures adversely affect texture and sweetness.
Apple Arbroath Pippin was totally wiped out by brown rot, but now Discovery is ready for picking and other apples are looking good.
Cooking apple Bramley continues to lose fruit to gales but there is still plenty left for picking in October.
Pears and plums are both bearing well this years, although a new Victoria
plum tree planted two years ago is still too young to bear fruit, but hopefully we shall see a few in 2020.
Aronia Viking, the chokeberry, is giving us heavy crops of black berries. Although I keep 11lbs for wine brewing (giving me three demijohns) there is still plenty left, so Anna can experiment with new ways to use this very healthy berry.
She recently bought a brilliant Aronia Berry Recipes cookbook published by the Midwest Aronia Association.
The aronia is native to North America and viewed as a power packed superfruit, due to the very high levels of antioxidants.
Anna’s latest creation of aronia crumble bars were unbelievably delicious.
Figs seem to love Scotland outdoors no matter what the weather throws at them, although this year massive growth will need some severe pruning once cropping has finished.
Last year I got about 150 figs from two bushes and so far this year cropping has been just as good.
Tomatoes outdoors were better last year as there has been just too much rain and not enough sunshine, unless that jet stream turns north and brings us a warm autumn.
However, tomatoes in the greenhouse have been prolific and two grape varieties, Solaris and Seigerrebe have now been picked and are in the brewing bucket for a lovely Muscat-flavoured wine which will be ready in two years’ time.