Vivi's Kitchen Garden

The big Autumn clean up aught to have started at the beginning of October…..but with so few dry days the days that I did have in the garden were all about harvesting and planting….. Now, finally, at the beginning of November there are a few clear days in which to start catching up on the jobs….

My postman never fails to delight me with his daily visit…..but this arrival is particularly pleasing……some beautiful bulbs for a Spring show all the way from Holland. Flower bulbs are beyond my budget so I am thrilled beyond words to have these to add to my little garden…….roll on Spring!

The first frosts have arrived……but the garden still looks like it’s at the beginning of October because of all the rain we’ve had delaying the work…..the nets are finally off though so it’s a great opportunity to see how much food is still growing.

It has been a bit of an up and down month……the weather has been rubbish but the harvests have been great and for that I am truly thankful…….but something is nagging me…….it may be the change of seasons, the greyer days….

I am continuing to make the most of a break in the dreadful weather we have been having for the last three weeks….finally a dry, warm day gives me the chance to plant my garlic and , new to me this year, some Elephant garlic.

After many more rain days we finally get a break in the weather…and what a beautiful break it is. All the autumn colours in the garden sing in the beautiful light…….and I finally make a start on my last seed sowing of the year. Getting the broad beans in now will give me a head start on harvesting next year…..

It’s finally time to make like a pirate and go digging for buried treasure – time to harvest the main-crop potatoes. Other plot holders on my site have had very disappointing harvests (lots of damage from slugs and wire-worm) so I’m holding my breath somewhat….

After too many days of rain there is finally a break in the weather and an opportunity to race down to the garden to do some harvesting. The squash harvest is always one of my favourite days in the garden year but this year my expectations are low……it hasn’t been the best year for them. Will I get even half of the harvest I had last year?

It’s time to harvest the chickpeas……on closer inspection it looks like I should have harvested a couple of weeks ago! I also check in on my dried beans….those I am saving for seed and the ones for eating over the winter.