I love this time of year: the crisp mornings, hearty soups, and leaves on the trees turning beautiful shades of red, orange and pink in preparation for winter. And preparations have also started in Garden Organic’s gardens at Ryton. I’ve now harvested a lot of the vegetables from the Pest and Disease Control garden and started sowing green manures in the empty beds. These will prevent leaching of nutrients from the soil, maintain and improve soil structure and suppress weeds over winter. I’m using a mixture Hungarian grazing rye and mustard, both of which should still germinate and grow at this time of year, and the grazing rye should continue to grow over the winter.
Another thing I like about this time of year is the drop in temperature. It means the weeds aren’t growing as quickly as they were a few months ago, and I finally feel like I’m winning in the battle against them.
Elsewhere in the Pest and Disease Control garden, the leaf beets and kale are continuing to provide fresh greens, the courgettes are growing at a more manageable rate, and it’s time to harvest the pumpkins. The pumpkins (‘White Large’ variety) aren’t going to break any records, but I’m pleased with their size and can’t wait to make some tasty soup with them. I’m also looking forward to helping out with the pumpkin carving activities that are taking place at Ryton Gardens over half term. When I was growing up, I don’t think pumpkins were readily available in our town, so my dad had the arduous task of hollowing out and carving a face in a Swede every halloween. I’m hoping it’ll be a lot easier to make lanterns out of pumpkins!
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