The Winter Crop Experiment Begins

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Over the weekend I was lucky enough to get several hours in the garden, pottering around, doing a little weeding, edging the lawn where it had become a little untidy, moving some pots around and generally tidying up. I also had time to begin the Winter Crop Experiment. 

The White Ishikura Spring Onions have been sown into a trough and the Carrot Amsterdam Forcing 3 sown into a couple of old buckets that I grow the odd thing in and a spare terracotta pot. I have used bulk standard multi-purpose compost bought from the local Horticultural Guild Trading Sheds on Sunday morning. They have all been placed in the Greenhouse and now the waiting game begins. I am as confident as you can be that they will germinate and all being well I will have a few extra crops throughout the months of autumn and hopefully even early winter.  

Just for fun, as I am not sure if this sowing will work, I have also sown a line of Carrot Amsterdam Forcing 3 in the veg patch. This is very late for outdoor sowing, July is the recommended latest date for these seeds according to the packet, but we are surely due a little late summer sun; at least this week the forecast is fair down my neck of the woods. It will be interesting to compare the crops from the pots and bucket in the greenhouse and those sown outdoors on the veg patch in due course. 

Another job undertaken was pulling out and composting the Amethyst Dwarf French Beans. They have cropped fairly well, I have several bags blanched and frozen in the freezer and have of course had a serving or twenty fresh! As I have mentioned before I was disappointed that upon being cooked they turn green and a lesson has been learnt. They looked nice on the plot but if you want plenty of beans to eat for your time and money stick with the good old reliable varieties. 

As it was so pleasant the evening was spent next to the Chiminea with a coffee simply enjoying a little downtime. I keep the cuttings from the Cherry Tree each year along with random pieces of wood no longer useful in a small log store in the garden. These are cut down into easy to use Chiminea sized logs and after a year of seasoning they burn beautifully and pretty much smoke free. 

Cheers 🍺

 



Location: London Borough of Havering, UK

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