10.10.2011
What’s happening in the Potager and beyond for October
I love this time of the year! Beginning of Autumn just smells like Autumn! Don’t you think? The squashes have started appearing in our gardens and I have already made a few delectable dishes such as soup and roasted root veg. This time of the year is perfect to dive into cook books and see what delicious “eats” you can cook up!
We are really busy here in our garden as we are in the throws of re-designing it for our workshops next year with a model Potager for you to enjoy and try out planting seeds, techniques etc... so we are very excited but there is lots to do! We will be sharing some of the work we are doing over the winter with you.
Whilst researching the history of vegetables and fruit I have become rather obsessed! So I thought I would share some interesting tit bits about our venerable foods with you in our “History of our venerable fruit & vegetable” corner. This month it’s the “Devil’s Apple”! This fruit is a staple of any Mediterranean cooking but in the old days it did suffer from what today we would call an identity crisis!
I also decided to start a seasonal fish, meat & game calendar for you. It’s important to keep to seasonal foods and buy local – as a foreigner I see the potential in all the local producers right here in the UK and I never ever buy if it’s not in season or not from local producers. ( meet Dolly - our favourite sheep on the right)
In these hard times it’s very important to keep our British businesses alive and support them as much as we can – ok soap box rant over! See below for our seasonal foodie treats to go with these wonderful fruit and vegetables. General Jobs - a few things to do
- Remove the little figs that will never ripen from your tree- energy will just be wasted trying to keep them on the tree and growing. Put them on your compost heap.
- If you had raspberries, you might still be able to harvest the last few. Leave the fruiting canes in place until next year. This is a good time to prepare the ground for new plantings of fruit bushes – dig in manure that has been well rotted (at least 9 months) or good compost, plant up in a few weeks.
- Harvest and store all your apples – slated trays are great and do not keep fruit that is blemished or rotten. Also try to keep fruit that still has its stalk – it keeps better.
- Keep pears and fruit in a dark, cool place if you can. A cellar is perfect of course, or a shed too.
- Lift all the potato tubers, try not to leave any in.
- Clear up the Potager of old branches, dead leaves etc and put on the compost heap.
- This time of the year is perfect to tidy up and prepare for next year’s gardening.Collect leaves and make sure if you have the space to put them into wire cages as these can be used for leaf mould next year, a perfect mulch and full of goodness too.
- We are in the process of re-sowing a rough lawn but the weather is so windy and dry – it’s going to have to wait but next time we will show you how to go about it. This time of the year is a good time to do that and also it’s a good time to give them an Autumn feed after scarification.
- Plant bare rooted roses, hedges and plant tulip bulbs too.
Tip from my Grandma: for all those nuts and filberts that might have gone a tad dry in storage? Bring them back to life by leaving them all night in a bowl of milk in the fridge!
Did I say there was a lot to do???!!Seeds
I have collected a lot of seeds from our poppies, and any herbaceous that have gone to seed already. Keep them in little brown envelopes and don’t forget to name them!
I am already starting to plan for next year’s planting, so have started collecting seeds and buying new ones.
What can you harvest and eat in the Potager
List of what is available fruit & veg to munch on at this time of the year- it’s a really bountiful time in the garden still.
 - Apples
- Pears!
- Figs
- Quince – see our next feature on this venerable fruit next time
- Celery
- Artichoke
- Spring Onions
- Beetroot
- Broccoli
- Brussel Sprouts
- Cabbages – in all their forms, Red, Savoy, Spring Green, etc...
- Carrots
- Cauliflower
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- Endives
- Fennel
- Kohlrabi
- Mushrooms
- Kale
- Leeks
- Squashes and Pumpkins
- Parsnips
- Potatoes(maincrop)
- Swede
- Sweetcorn
- Turnip
I did say there was a lot to eat! Sowing & planting fruit & veg
You can make an early sowing of Broad Beans & Peas now for a very early crop next year (May/early June). But protect from our pesky winged friends!
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Cover with fleece or see the nifty trick I use down below. Protect with cloche if it’s cold.
So this is what you can plant:
- Broad bean early varieties
- Peas early varieties
- Spring cabbages
- Winter lettuce
- Rhubarb
- Onion sets
- Garlic sets
Tip: for fine salad seeds, mix them with fine sand and put them in an old salt cellar. You can see what you are doing and it won't all clump together. In the greenhouse
Clean the glass to ensure maximum light gets into the space. Tidy up and you can also plant winter lettuces here if you have the space.
On a windowsill you can keep planting herbs of course but remember that nights get cold now and there is usually a draft there, so move them away at night.
Pesky pests
Wood pigeons are a real problem for us in the countryside but int he cities too. Anywhere where food is grown actually! So either net your goodies or put up some deterrents like fake birds dotted around on fences or trees.
Tip: I use fake snakes on the ground, and move them around the plot at regular intervals.
What can you eat from seasonal Meat & Game?
‘Tis the season to try out new game recipes, check out your local farmer or farmer’s market for locally shot or reared meat.
- Beef
- Lamb
- Goose
- Guinea Fowl
- Rabbit
- Venison
What can you eat on the Fish & Shellfish front?
I decided to include this for you after being riveted by the Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Fish Fight campaign on eating sustainably sourced fish from our shores and eat a wider range. And we are an island after all so let's make the most of it! See the Marine Conservation's Fish Guide if you want to know more HERE they have a good fish guide, great information about the fish from our waters and what fish to avoid so as not to deplete our stocks.
This is what is in season now: 
- Sole - otter trawled, net caught
- Black Bream
- Red Mullet - from North East Atlantic
- Mackerel - handline, drift net caught and North Sea
- Herring - Celtic Sea, North Sea
- Turbot – Farmed onshore open circuit system
- Brown Crab - spider, pot caught
- Native Oysters - farmed native flat and Pacific
- Cuttlefish & Squid - European and jig caught
- Whelks
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