The Winter Crops Experiment - An Update

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 We have seedlings! 

I wrote back on the 23rd August how I planned to sow White Ishikura Spring Onions and Carrot Amsterdam Forcing 3 carrots to grow undercover in the greenhouse through autumn and into winter in the hope of having some crops or the long dark months ahead and a few carrots for the Christmas Dinner fresh from the garden. I have also sowed a line of Carrot Amsterdam Forcing 3 seeds in the veg patch outside to compare with those in the Greenhouse. 

Those in the greenhouse appear to be going well and I have a very high germination rate as you can see from below. Excuse my terrible sowing skills some thinning out will clearly be required - my big old sausage fingers are not built for sowing carrot seeds thinly 🤣

The carrots in the veg patch haven't germinated as well thus far but a few seedlings are popping their heads above ground and with warm weather forecast for the next few days I am hopeful a few more may get going yet.  


It really has been a funny summer with some weird and wonderful weather patterns leading to some strange results on the plot. As mentioned previously the Runner Beans continue to crop beyond expectations and I am pretty sure I will grow Benchmaster again as not only do they just keep producing but most are lovely long straight beans making topping and tailing that much easier, and they are delicious! The Limoncito tomatoes are another new find that will almost certainly been grown again. I really like them, as has everybody who has tried them, and they have cropped very well. The Gigantomo toms haven't been quite as big this year as those I grew last but they are a great beefsteak variety and another that will be grown again in 2022; they make a great addition to any meal especially a Sunday morning fried breakfast. 

Parts of the garden are beginning to look tired already, despite the fair weather forecast for the early part of this week, the garden does already have a feel of Autumn about it. One bright point is the Miscanthus Indian Summer grasses it's feathery flowers nodding in the breeze and looking quite lovely with the sun shining through them - they will only get better with each passing year as the plants grow. 

A few hours will be spent wedding and tidying this week no doubt, and a few hours will be spent sat under the pergola or in the conservatory just looking and planning for the coming months.....

Cheers 🍺



Location: London Borough of Havering, UK

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