Pumpkins enjoy the sunshine
Aside from harvesting, we have been sowing the last of this year’s spinach and chard. Green manure has also gone in where the potatoes have come out.
The nets have come off the strawberries, and we have been tidying up the strawberry beds in anticipation of another good year next year. The peas and broad beans have finished, so we have been removing the wire and stakes then digging in the spent plants. A rotavator chops everything up and turns it into the soil, saving us a lot of effort. This process puts nitrogen back into the soil for next year’s crop.
Our pumpkins (‘Jack O’Lantern’ and ‘Connecticut Field’) are coming on well. We have been tucking the leaves under the growing pumpkins. This helps the vegetables get the full effect of the sun plus it also helps protect them from the soil, which can make them damp and rotten. Using the leaves like this also means we can cut down on using straw.
Help this month has come from – among others – volunteer Dave Newman. Dave is a lecturer at Riseholme College in Lincoln where he teaches RHS Level 2 with Elena Malloy. By spending time in our Kitchen Garden, Dave is enhancing his Continual Professional Development. Dave has been helping with everything and anything that needs doing, and says that he enjoys getting out of the classroom and into the fresh air to put his practical skills to good use.
We also had a visit this month, from the North East Lincolnshire Allotment Project and Young Carers. Young People Support Services’ Sue Wood runs two large allotments with lots of young people so it was wonderful to be able to tell them about the Kitchen Garden, hear what they are growing and swap a few ideas!
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