October, Squash Harvest and More

'Crown Prince' squash, cut and windrowed, ready to pick up.

We've harvested all our pumpkins and squash now, not such a big job this year as we lost a lot of plants after transplanting, in the cool June weather. But the amazingly sunny September and October ripened those that survived.

'Hokkaido', probably the tastiest squash we grow, but doesn't store long, so taste it while you can.

Pumpkins in the field, cut and ready to pick up



Crown Prince, a very tasty squash that can store until April/May



Pumpkins in store, still ripening (they all start off green and ripen to orange just in time for Halloween, hopefully)



'Habanero' chillies



'Green-in-Snow' - a winter hardy mustard salad leaf, growing inside our Victorian walled garden

Autumn planted garlic, just emerging.
 It's a very difficult crop to weed, which is why we use this biodegradable plastic mulch.

So pretty, I had to take a picture! Rainbow chard harvested and bunched Monday, to be delivered into London shops early Tuesday morning.

Spartan Apples Harvest October 2011

We have a small area od Spartan apple orchard, planted when the field was part of Wye Collgee, and very neglected over the years. Left un-pruned for a long time and un-weeded, many of the trees are covered in 'old man's beard' and crowded by Alder. But we have done some pruning and tidying since renting this field, and this year we have been rewarded with a bumper crop. It has generally been a good year for apples, and these are no exception. They are ready earlier than usual too, so on Tuesday we harvested the lot (we leart our lesson after last year, when we harvested a couple of boxes each week for the markets for a few weeks, and then found empty trees - some-one had been more than scrumping!

Here's a couple of pics to whet your appetite, they will be sale at Stoke Newington and Whitstable Farmers Markets this Saturday, and then every week until they're gone.

Also available to order as extras with our box scheme.