October was heralded by fierce winds that has either stripped most leaves from bushes and fruit trees or reduced them to tatters. The large felty leaves of the kiwi are now brown and shrivelled and the banana plants in the garden are completely tattered and sorry looking.

One positive is that the strong winds have at least kept any signs of frost at bay. Strawberry plants are still producing flower and a steady supply of fresh fruit from both large and alpine strawberry plants. The netting which was removed from the plants whilst I weeded the beds and cut back the old leaves was never put back in place but it seems that the birds have lost interest and have left the berries untouched. The dry weather has also reduced any slug damage. A top tip that I read somewhere was to resist removing any slug damaged berries as the slugs will go back to these during their nightly visits and leave other fruits alone. Amazingly this has worked – I guess they follow the previous night’s trail and if the source of their snack has been removed go on to look for another berry. The first frost will blacken the centres of the flowers and curtail any chance of fresh strawberries until next June.

Spent crops are gradually being cleared and beds tidied but it is still too dry to dig over the soil. Some beds are still active, housing autumn and winter crops so gale force winds which have a desiccating effect and a serious lack of rain mean that the watering can is still in the thick of the action.

The remaining border in the plot greenhouse has been cleared. All the tomato plants have been removed but the cucumber plants which are still producing fruits have been allowed to remain. A couple of troughs have been planted up with garlic, Solent White and Solent Purple. A bulb of the white variety that was grown last year has been split and planted. The chrysanthemums which were moved in last week are now beginning to supply cut flowers.

All the squashes and pumpkins have been gathered in and are now being hardened off in the garden greenhouse. Not only was there the danger that frosts could turn them to mush but last year at this time vandals stole all the pumpkins and squash growing on site and used them as footballs. The lack of cover at this time of year means that they stand out like a sore thumb and obviously proved too tempting.

You can’t beat eating an apple freshly picked from the tree. Golden Delicious really lives up to its name when enjoyed this way. This week, however, we removed all the remaining apples from the trees so no more mid afternoon ultra fresh treats.

Harvested this week:
Vegetables:
• Calabrese – Green Magic
• Red Cabbage – Kalibos
• Carrots – Ideal Red
• Lettuce – Iceberg 2
• Cabbage – Picador
• Sweet Corn – Honey Bantam
• Tomatoes – Amish Paste,
• Squash – Crown Prince & Turk’s Turban
• Pumpkin
• Cucumber – Burpless Tasty Green
Fruit:
• Grape – Himrod
• Strawberry – Flamenco & one or two Florence
• Alpine Strawberries – Mignonette & Alexandria
• Raspberries – Autumn Gold & Joan J
• Apple – Golden Delicious, Discovery & an unknown variety