This week in Stephanie’s Kitchen Garden we have sown our autumn planting garlic gloves and onions sets into modules in the greenhouse. They can be planted straight into the ground if required, but our resident pigeon population would soon have them ‘unplanted’ again! We have put ours into trays to start them off, then pop them into the cold frame for a week or two before finally planting them under fleece at the end of October. This also gives us extra time to prepare the soil where they are to be grown. We have a compost bin bursting with lovely crumbly compost waiting to be dug into the soil.
We will also be staking our brussel sprouts and broccoli, before the autumn winds do their worst. The plants were staked on bamboo canes earlier in the season, but have now outgrown these and become too heavy for them. We will replace these with longer aluminium poles which will provide much better support for this time of year.
This week we will be harvesting the last of our pears. These are best picked when they are still unripe and then taken indoors to ripen in a fruit bowl. We will also be using some of ours to make delicious organic pear juice in our traditional fruit press. Tastes absolutely delicious and a real treat!
