Equinox signal

Sowing and planting jobs now carry an urgency. Every day we lose 3.5 minutes of daylight, around equinox which is the time of most rapid transition. That's why, at the beginning of September it still feels like summer, by 12th October, it definitely does not!

By 20th September, we shall have sown many more which are for growing in an unheated polytunnel and greenhouse, all through winter for fresh leaves in the darkest, coldest months. Lowest temperatures here are -5 to -10°C, not too cold, and it freezes in the polytunnel and greenhouse, but a little less than outside.

Sow now

For what to sow now, see September details in my sowing timeline. Most of these sowings are for growing undercover, but there's a few still to grow outside, and recently we have been sowing mizuna and lambs lettuce. into holes quickly made with my long-handled dibber.

Squash harvest in a trial

Before it freezes, we need to harvest frost tender vegetables, such as squash. These Crown Prince are in the three strip trial and the three beds each grew 2 plants, set in the ground 8th May.

The nearest bed with 17 kg squash has soil that is forked once a year, with the same compost as the second bed, which grew 26 kg squash. In 10 years of this trial, the forked beds have yielded 7% less food.

The furthest bed received compost from the garden toilet, 18 months old, and sweet smelling. It grew 55 kg squash.

Since 2022, I'm noticing extra growth when using compost from the garden toilet. See a one minute summary of how it works in the short video.

Over the next, 2.5 months, the beds in this trial area and most beds in the garden will come clear of final harvest, allowing us to prep them for spring. With no dig, this is rapid and easy.

• No soil disturbance, simply spread 2 to 3 cm or around 1 inch of new compost, of any kind, on all beds.
• The compost can be quite lumpy, because lumps will break down in frost before spring.
• See this new video, where I address questions relating to the practice of no dig.

HARVESTS

The header image for this post is salad rocket under a biodegradable mesh, which I'm finding extremely effective against flea beetles. The rocket was sown 12th August and transplanted 28th, with decent harvests already.

For dry bean harvests, it works in my climate to grow borlottis and runner beans. The latter are a super tasty, white seeded variety, Czar. They mature more slowly, and we've harvested only a quarter of them, as the pods turn yellow. 

Compared to 90% of the borlotti beans, which you see above. I dry them to a point where we can walk on the pods outside, on a sheet on concrete, a quick way to shell them.

There can be a lovely glut of tomatoes in September. Above are Sungold and Sakura, cherry tomatoes in the polytunnel, and as long as the temperature stays mostly above 10°C, they continue to ripen steadily.

Especially because I am not watering them any more, since early September. Dry soil at the roots hastens ripening, through decreasing the possibility of new growth. Even so, you need to continue removing all sideshoots / suckers on cordon tomatoes, both inside and outside.

We can't stop it raining on outside tomato plants, and I'm just noticing some late blight on their leaves, after recent wet and humid weather. That means I need to harvest the tomatoes on those plants before they become infected.

Interplanting / Growing Together

In my 25 m² small garden, the tomatoes have grown so tall that you can hardly see the fruits, right at the top of this photo. I'm looking to show the spinach planted underneath them on 19th August, from a swing in CD 60 module trays in early August. The seed is homesaved Medania, a brilliant variety with dark green leaves.

I hope that you have plenty to eat from your garden, at this time. I feel completely spoilt for choice, and love trying new things. I was given seed of the strawberry corn and it's for popping. I don't normally make popcorn but it works really well, and it's a fun way of adding value to the garden harvests.

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