JonH wrote

Today there was a desultory attempt at rain to the west of London, it
didn't justify resorting to a hat. I did a bit of digging afterwards
but an inch or so into the soil it is still as dry as dust. Part of
me wants the full 40 days and 40 nights job.

On the up side, I now have a new and rather larger shed so I can have
my garage/workshop back.

A row of Broad Beans has been planted. The Chillies in the greenhouse
are still ripening. The foxes are staying away from my overwintering
onion patch. After a good haircut the outdoor Coriander has produced
another flush of growth; I will harvest it for the freezer next week.
Two French Bean plants (out of our) have so far survived the predation
of the slugs and snails. Not sure if they will produce anything. The
germination rate (or the atttrition rate) has not been good. I will
buy new seed next year.

The Root Ginger experiment has produced about a foot of foliage. The
Rhubard (Timperley Early planted in a large clay pot) didn't
appreciate the frost a few nights ago and has gone into hibernation.

The Raspberries keep on coming - increasingly small and getting a bit
manky but nevertheless till worth harvesting. They weren't supposed
to be Autumn fruiting but the variability of their spininess suggests
that we may have a mix of strains.

I have acquired a largish electrically heated propagator so that I can
get the plants started off earlier next year.


I'm also West of London and up until now have been constantly watering all
except the brassicas which seem to cope. Even the cherry trees we planted
this year and last have asked for water. Our chillies out on the allotment
are under one of those large cloches (£19.99 special offer at Wyvales) and
are continuing to go red (already had over 4lbs). Tomatoes were still
cropping at the beginning of the week but this rain might just bring too
much blight upon them for them to cope. Late October and still cropping
outside Toms isn't bad.
Self sown coriander is germinating in a large patch so will let that do it's
own thing.
Don't do Broad Beans any more and certainly not autumn planted as we always
lost too many over winter, found it better to plant them in Feb.
I grew Ginger some years ago, it grew to about 4ft tall but never looked
robustly healthy, when I tipped it out of it's pot there was not much growth
to the root so never bothered again. It needs heat in the winter BTW, won't
take frost.
Rhubarb is better if it's frosted, says the old wisdom. I left a root on top
of the soil right through a winter, by mistake, and when I planted it come
spring it showed no damage.
Don't grow raspberries, damn things are like couch grass and take over.
Boysenberry is flowering!


--
Regards Bob Hobden
Posting to this Newsgroup from the W. of London UK