Autumn veg

This autumnal weather seems to herald the end of the sowing season. I managed to sow the overwintering onions this week (Tosca, Stuttgarter Riesen and Ramata Rosso di Milano), some more rocket, winter spinach and mixed radishes, but that's probably going to be all for this year. I'll try to keep the salad leaves going in the greenhouse over the winter.

Bountiful harvest

The harvest is so bountiful at the moment that I've run out of jam jars for preserving. Pickled chillies, pickled cauliflower and some more beetroot and green tomato chutney used up the last of them.

Out in the veg plot it is now the back end that is the busiest, with a forest of squash, leeks and onions and mixed brassica.

Squash, kohlrabi, onions, leeks and mixed brassica

The front end still looks very nice, but the courgettes are definitely slowing down. The mangetout are finito, the cauliflowers, romanescos and broad beans as good as gone.

Gaps are appearing in the beds

Spring cabbages

 I harvested my first Swede Marian today since it felt so autumnal. They're pretty large already so I thought I might as well make a start. The next excitement on the agenda will be the first squash harvest. The pumpkins are doing very well, as is the one Uchiki Kuri plant, but the butternuts (Gourd Metro) have hardly any fruit at all. The six plants are lush, but there is only one butternut of decent size so far. Is this a bad choice of butternut or are they temperamental? I was given a 'pumpkin' plant by one of my neighbours, but it turned out to be some kind of oblong green squash. Any help in identification most welcome!

The only butternut of note

Uchiki Kuri

Pumpkin Jack be little

Mystery squash

Leeks Musselburgh

My one aubergine plant got white fly or some such. Despite spraying the leaves with washing-up liquid mixture, it doesn't look like there will be any aubergines this year. What a pity after the promising start and dozens of flowers! The melons are still continuing to swell, but will they ripen?

Watermelon update

I've also put some black fish boxes over my chicory and endive plants to blanch them. They were terribly bitter beforehand; I hope this will make them edible. However, it seems a lot of faff when there are other tasty salad leaves (like Salad Bowl Red and Tatsoi) that are not fussy. Not sure I'll bother next year.

OK, now to prepare for the onslaught of guests over the Bank Holiday weekend. A lot of produce will be consumed!