This week In Stephanie’s Kitchen Garden we will be pruning our blackcurrant bushes. The plants are now beginning to shed their leaves and have begun dormancy so it is an ideal time to give them their annual haircut. The new growth from this year will bear next year’s fruit so we will leave the new stems and remove some of the older stems. The rule of thumb is to cut out a third of the old wood down to the ground and remove any weak stems, crossing branches and branches growing along the ground. The plants will then have a good mulch of compost to see them through the winter.
Normally at this time of year we would also be pruning our blackberry bushes, however these are still providing us with big juicy fruits so we will be delaying this until they finish fruiting.
Sadly the leaves have begun to rain down on the Kitchen Garden from the surrounding trees so the rakes and leaf collectors are out of the shed and the annual sweep up has begun. Not my favourite job, but at least it keeps me warm on the cold autumn mornings.
We have kept our bird feeders topped up with bird food over the summer, but have noticed that the birds have been feeding from them more over the past week or two. This week we will give the feeders a good clean and start topping them up more regularly.
This week we will be continuing to harvest French beans, runner beans, spinach, salads, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, blackberries, raspberries, celery and kale.
