Thursday 5 November 2009

Toms and Leaf Mould !

Welcome back to Reads Retreat, after what seems like a very long time! Our absence has been partly due to the inclement weather, as well as a couple of other factors. Mum #2 has been a tad ill of late, and we have been visiting her on a regular basis. Thankfully she is going home today, and we'll be off to see her soon. I have also been a tad ill, and am just getting over a bout of Viral Pleurisy.
On the garden front, the raised beds are very nearly finished in terms of this years growing. There's still a few Beetroot growing, but that really is about it. The fronds on our Asparagus crowns are starting to yellow, and these will soon be cut back for the winter. Over the next couple of months we'll be adding some manure as a mulch dressing, and we'll probably use the spent compost from our tomato tubs on this bed too. The raised beds have really struggled with the dry summer, and the soil was really baked and starting to open up large cracks. The level of the soil has also sunk somewhat, and again this will be replenished over the winter.
Our previous post regailed the news of our last tomato harvest - hehehe - how wrong we were! The picture above is of our last harvest. There's a good mixture therein, including Yellow Pear, Gardeners Delight, and Moneymaker. Clearly the majority are not ripened, and will be used in green tomato chutney (anyone got a good recipe?), to add to our store cupboard!
The only other item to report today is that we have started collecting leaves to use as leaf mould. There's a lot of praise for this soil conditioner, and although it will take a good year to rot down into something useful, it is free. On that basis we'll give it a go. There's plenty of falling leaves in our driveway, and we'll collect these and see how we get on! We'll store them in a garden refuse sack in the corner of the plot, and keep our fingers crossed for next year!

That's all for now folks, but pop back soon for more updates from Reads Retreat.

TTFN.

6 comments:

Sue said...

Dear hubby just got done LOADING my small fruits garden with leaves. They are great for conditioning the soil (and smothering weeds!)....You'll love what it does for the garden.
And nice tomatoes---I wish I had some!!
:D

Anonymous said...

glad everyone is on the mend now. I have just took the last tomatoes off my plant too. I'm not a great fan of green tomato chutney but I'm sure if you head over to 'The Norfolk Kitchen' another blog that I follow you will find one there.

Gary and Jen, and Ruby and Peter said...

Hi Sue,
Thanks for your comments.
We're on the lookout now for loads of leaves and will be gathering them up as and when we can!
TTFN

Gary and Jen, and Ruby and Peter said...

Hi to Tanya at allotments4you.
Thanks for your nice comments!

Will check out the Norfolk Kitchen.

TTFN

Michelle said...

Hi Gary Jen and Ruby, I saw you pop up on the followers gadget on my blog and just wanted to stop by, say hi, and check out your blog(s). Lovely tomatoes you've got there. It's a bit sad to see the end of them this year, and every year, isn't it. But now you can start thinking about which ones you'll grow next year!

Gary and Jen, and Ruby and Peter said...

Hi Michelle,
Thanks for your comments.
Maybe next year we will try Plum and Beefsteak toms?

You'll have to check back at a later date !

TTFN