THOUGH IT’S RAINING as I write this and though temperatures have been dropping dramatically by night I thoroughly enjoyed the recent spell of dry, sunny, wonderful weather.

Let’s say this: we really deserved it. As you know it was a terrible summer of weather and as a result, generally speaking, a frustrating one in the veg patch.

Growth was slow and I spent most of the summer wondering whether the abundance of produce that is usually a characteristic of that time of year would ever materialise. The only things that seemed to be abundant, in fact, were the weeds.

Reaping what you sow 

By August I was nearly ready to write the year off altogether and prematurely turn my thoughts to 2016’s GIYing. But in September things finally cranked up a gear and we had proper gluts of courgettes, cucumbers and tomatoes to join the peas, beans, carrots, spuds, onions and beet-root.

It was the first time all year that I was able to walk around the veg patch and feel that the place looked the part. The arrival of the good weather from mid September was a bonus on top of a growing sense of satisfaction that the year was finally coming in to its own.

Undoubtedly I have had some epic fails this year, some of which can be attributed to the weather and some can’t. My celery bolted (too dry?); parsnips never germinated (bad seed or slugs?); French beans never made it beyond seedling stage (eaten by rabbits); I had smaller than normal squashes and pumpkins (lack of sun?).

Winter cooking

Since all of these are eminently storable vegetables, these growing issues will have a knock on effect in the winter kitchen.

But all in all, it didn’t shape up too badly. As I said, tomatoes recovered and if anything, were in the end a little better than last year (though as much as six weeks slower).

I’ve had a great crop of onions, garlic and celeriac and I’m really pleased with my potatoes this year (including the main crop spud variety Cara which is the best spud I’ve ever grown).

I’m particularly proud of some remedial work on the fence around the veg patch which finally managed to keep the rabbits out after weeks of summer carnage!

Shutterstock / D7INAMI7S Shutterstock / D7INAMI7S / D7INAMI7S

Things to Do this Week – Top 10 Veg To Sow in October

Think the growing year is over?

1. BROAD BEANS – autumn sown broad beans are ready a good month before spring-sown and they don’t get black fly. Try variety Aquadulce or Supersimonia.
2. PEAS – Ditto for autumn sown peas – try variety Meteor.
3. SUGARSNAP PEAS – you might be able to get early varieties of sugar snaps such as Snow Pea Gigante Svizzero – growth will be slow but you will get small pods early next year.
4. GARLIC – plant cloves one inch below the surface.
5. ONIONS – Autumn sown onions will be harvested earlier than spring-sown.
6. SPRING ONIONS – Sow some spring onions too – White Lisbon is a good option..
7. SPRING CABBAGE – if you can get your hands on some cabbage plants from your local garden centre, plant them 12 inches apart and earth up the soil around the base of the stem.
8. WINTER LETTUCE – you can still sow some really hardy varieties of winter lettuce – cover with fleece in cold weather. Try Winter Gem.
9. LAMBS LETTUCE – easy to grow and undemanding. It’s not the greatest taste but will bulk out the salad bowl in lean winter months.
10. SPINACH – the beauty of sowing spinach at this time of the year is that it won’t bolt (which is the great blight of growing spinach earlier in the year). Young leaves are great for salads.
11. ASPARAGUS – sow autumn-planting varieties.

Shutterstock / Fanfo Shutterstock / Fanfo / Fanfo

Recipe of the Week – Porotos Granados

This is a cracking Chilean Squash and Bean stew from River Cottage Veg Everyday.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp rapeseeds or olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
• a handful or oregano or marjoram, chopped
• 100g small dried beans, such as pinto, navy or cannellini beans, soaked overnight in cold water, OR 400g tin beans, drained and well rinsed
• 1 litre vegetable stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 750g squash, such as butternut, Crown Prince or onion, peeled deseeded and cut into 2cm chunks
• 200g French beans, trimmed and cut into 2cm pieces
• kernels cut from 2 cobs of corn
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Heat the oil in a large saucepan or casserole over a medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute gently for about 10 minutes. Add the paprika and 1 tbsp of the oregano. Cook for another minute.

If using dried beans, drain them after soaking and add to the pan, with the stock and bay leaf. Bring to the boil, then reduce and heat and simmer for about 45 minutes, or until the beans are completely tender (dried beans vary, and sometimes this may take over an hour). Add the squash, stir well and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the squash is just tender, then add the French Beans and corn kernels and simmer for another 5 minutes.

If using tinned beans, add the drained, rinsed beans, the squash, bay leaf and stock at the same tie, and simmer until the squash is just tender, 10-15 minutes.

Then add the French beans and corn kernels and simmer for a further 5 minutes. To finish, season well – using about 1 tsp of salt and a good pinch of pepper. Stir in the remaining oregano, leave to settle for a couple of minutes, then serve.

In the movie, The Martian, Matt Damon uses manure to grow plants on Mars. The Martian trailer / YouTube The Martian trailer / YouTube / YouTube

Tip of the Week – Farmyard Manure

Every winter I put a good layer of either home-made compost, farmyard manure or seaweed on my veg beds, which rots down over the winter months, returning fertility to the soil. I aim for a 3-4 inch layer on all the beds.

If you don’t have access to seaweed or have your own compost, try and find a good source of well-rotted farmyard manure – cow, horse, pig, sheep and chicken manure are all great sources of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, and will dramatically improve soil structure.

If you are going to cover empty beds down with manure for the winter, the earlier you do it the better, as it gives it more time to rot down. October or early November is ideal.

Michael Kelly is a freelance journalist, author and founder of GIY.

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