Barry Cuff takes a look back through his notes of what happened on his Sturminster Newton plot last month
Temperatures throughout October were high enough for growth to continue unabated. New flushes of weed seedlings appeared within days of hoeing, and most crops needed regular hand weeding. Both the brassicas and autumn salad crops put on good growth, as did the carrots and spinach sown in August.
An unexpected bonus in the middle of the month was finding a giant puffball in a small area of uncut grass at the back of the plot. Peeled, sliced and fried in butter with bacon, it provided three excellent snacks!
Autumn salad plants
All have put on amazing growth. The mustards, mizuna, spinach and winter cress are cut-and-come-again crops, so we are harvesting them as required. Whitella radishes are ready now and are being lifted for salads. Daikon, Blue Moon and Red Moon should be ready in November.
Beetroot
Lifting excellent roots of Moulin Rouge and Crimson King.
Brassicas
All plants have been staked to protect them from strong winds. With the continuing mild temperatures, there are still plenty of whiteflies present.
All images: Barry Cuff
Cabbage
Cutting Red Drumhead and a green variety whose name we would love to know, as the seed was packaged as Kalibos (a red variety). Even seed companies make mistakes!
Calabrese
Cutting side shoots of Ironman and the first main heads of Stromboli.
Cauliflower
Harvesting Cheesy as required, although the curds are smaller than last year. Our next variety, Cendis, should be ready in late November or early December.
Celeriac
Both varieties, Giant Prague and Asterix, put on good growth during the month. Lifting as required.
Celery
Doing well, with good plants of Golden Self Blanching being lifted as needed for soups and salads.
Chinese cabbage
Cutting superb plants of Yuki for stir-fries. Probably the best we have ever grown.
Compost
We have four compost heaps, and this month we emptied around 20 wheelbarrow loads of excellent compost from the oldest heap and replaced some of its wooden sides. We have now started refilling it with spent vegetable plants and weeds.
Courgettes
The last were picked in the middle of the month, and the old plants added to the compost heap.
Flowers
Tithonia, cosmos, nasturtiums, tagetes and zinnias are still flowering and attracting insect visitors. We have also planted out wallflowers and Sweet Williams to enjoy next year.
Garlic
Our garlic arrived in the post on the 6th and was planted on the 28th. Four varieties: Eden Rose, Cledor, Germidour and Messidrome, making 106 cloves in total.
Green manure
Growing well and doing its job of smothering most weeds.
Leeks
Growing well and being harvested as needed.
Lettuce
Seedlings from our final sowing have been planted in tubs in the greenhouse.
Manure
The manure delivery arrived on site on the 22nd, and we have collected our booked 30 wheelbarrow loads from the bunker.
Parsnips
Dug the first Palace roots on the 31st. They were quite small.
Pears
Harvested the last fruit on the 8th.
Sweet peppers
The odd plant is still producing a few fruits.
Sweetcorn
The old plants have been removed and used to form the base of the new compost heap.
Tomatoes
Most varieties are still producing fruit in the greenhouse.
Winter squash
All were harvested on the 16th: seven Butterfly butternut and six Crown Prince.
Jobs for November
We’ll be checking the stored potatoes and onions, spreading manure and having a general tidy of the plot.
