Late October colours on the plot

I've been doing an Autumn tidy up ,clearing the spent bean and sweetcorn plants and putting a layer of horse manure on any freed up areas that will have brassica,beans and potatoes on them next year.Today's warm ,dry and windless weather was perfect for completing the T shaped membrane path on the lower half of the plot. I'm quite pleased with this simple path system as it gives good access to the plot without sacrificing too much of the growing area.

There's still a colourful display of seasonal veg including : scarlet ,red ursa and cavolo nero kales; radicchio; gold, pink ,rhubarb and green chards ; parsnips and leeks.

Radicchio

 

New asparagus bed

The leeks look bigger now that I've weeded them

Mallorca October 2013

Port de Pollenca

I went to Mallorca for the first eleven days of October during a very warm spell of weather,with the daytime temperatures 25c+ and pleasant warm evenings where you could eat outside comfortably. 

Link to photo album https://photos.app.goo.gl/W1pCKV6i1gH1NA5p6

The usual mix of mountains,food,drink,flowers and some colourful shots of Palma market just before I left for the airport for my return flight.

Above Cuber lake looking east from Puig Sa Rateta

On the first three nights I stayed in the capital Palma for easy access by bus to the north west coast and mountains beyond Esporles,then the next three nights at Lluc where the mountains are accessible from the doorstep and the last four nights in Port de Soller which has good bus and foot access to both coastal and mountain walks.

Cala de Deia

Palma market

Quite a few of the mountain shots appear to show someone following me in a balloon! Very annoying as I thought it was caused by dirt on the lens but it seems to be something inside the camera itself. I'll have to resurrect my old camera or buy a new one.

October harvest

I've just returned to a good harvest from the plot having been to Mallorca for eleven days.

The Trombone courgettes have done well ,especially where they can scramble up the fence or bean supports and they've been cropping all summer.I cut most of the remaining ones and also collected more of the garlic and shallots that I've been drying off in our communal greenhouse.

Some of the chard is now bolting but at this stage it produces lots of tender leaves and florets that can be used in salads or cooked like spinach.The row of peppery leaves that I sowed in April is still cropping with various types of rocket,red dandelion and coriander and I also found some spring onions and late sown radish to add to the salad bowl.

This year I grew Cherokee beans for the first time.Earlier in the summer I was picking a few as tender young beans but found the texture and flavour improved as they "beaned up" a little but were still all green coloured. I then left the rest to grow on as shell beans but before I went away had my doubts on whether they'd do this before Autumn fully took hold. Before I flew home on Friday I saw dried borlotti beans on the vegetable stalls in Palma market and when I got back was pleased to find that my beans were at a similar stage drying on their vines.A six foot long double row has produced half a carrier full bag of beans.                                

There should be some colourful shots of market displays at the end of my Mallorca trip photos which I'll link into my blog after editing.