Indian Summer? I sure hope so!

So, the saga continues. Just spent a few hours at the allotment this afternoon (after running 5K for charity, mind), and well, the lateness of my planting worries me, though things seem to be gradually coming along as the weather seems to be holding it's own (please God, Indian Summer, please!). My time at the plot today was originally meant to be a time for leeks but sadly, they are still in their tray, albeit fairly happy for the time being just with a bit of water. I'm thankful for their resilience, though it's dire that they are planted within the next week without fail (been saying that for a while now, sigh, I'll get them sorted eventually - next weekend!).

Brassicas are thriving well, though I've no idea what is what, as I managed to get the seedlings mixed up again. My labelling skills need to improve if I'm to know what's where as memory gets all muddled up, lol! Same goes for the tomatoes. Which are blight stricken though the fruits seem to be ripening slowly but surely. Seems to me like the progression of the blight fungus ( Phytophthora infestans) on the tomatoes has slowed down and well, so far so good, and fingers crossed, it stays steady for the next week or three, when I believe I'll be ready to pick the first crop of ripe tomatoes. I'll keep a close eye on them though and will harvest fruit as soon as I see them getting affected. I'd rather green tomatoes for a chutney rather that see them all go to waste, consumed by the nasty fungus!

Potatoes have been my resounding success this year. I chose some Heritage Cultivars and I'm glad I did as they did well for me. The First Earlies - Red Duke of York and White Sharpe's express were fabulous and sadly are all gone now (only tried out a few tubers and I loved them!). Didn't quite get round to planting the rest of the earlies (Swift and Maris Peer), and they are still stranded in the shed getting all straggly, sigh - compost or hang on and hope they last the next few months for an early planting? I'm sorry to say I played around, with the 'lack of time'..... next time I'll do it after work, come rain or shine! Worked too hard on the day job this year, sigh. The Maincrop successes include Highland Burgundy Red, Mr Little's Yeltholm Gypsy and Pink Fir Apple. All have done marvellously. I thought the PFAs were a waste of time and just as I was giving up on them and cursing that I'll never grow them again, I started getting tubers poking through the ground! Not only dir I earth them up again fast, I also sampled a few poking through for a salad (cutting off the green bits of course!) and well, I quickly took back what I said about them as they were just divine! Instead, I offered thanks and asked for forgiveness at being so rude and vowed to plant them again which I will, as they are my new signature salad potato. And I just LOVE how knobbly they are! Maincrop cultivar that never made it to the ground was Cara. My last year's success. Again, I hope they can hang on to life till the next planting season, sigh, otherwise they'll be composted, double sigh! Yup, GYO is a definite lifetime habit - where else would I have tried the HBR? Next year, I'll try some blues and some blacks....

Sweetcorn - still holding on. They were also late going into the ground but I'm quietly positive they'll be okay if the next 2-3 weeks hold on to some decent weather. Fingers crossed. All they need to do now is ripen up so a bit of sunshine for till end of September please God. We'll see... Cucurbits are on the same boat as the sweetcorn and tomatoes. Just a few more weeks, just so I can get a mini glut of cucumbers. I've given up on pumpkin and butternut squash as well, all fruits seem to be devoured by slugs, and it's a bit too late now. For some bizzare reason, I don't have any courgette plant either - weird! Must be the labelling again. Oh, wait, the plants I thought were courgettes turned out to be globe artichokes. Lord only knows how I managed to get these mixed up, but hey ho! It'd been an uber disorganised gardening year, but like Soilman says, 'there's always next year', so all is not lost! If anything, I've learnt my lesson and will start sowing tomatoes, peppers, aubergines and okra this coming December/January. Everything else will be sowed between February and April. I'd love to experience the pain involved with early plantings too, now I've experienced the disappointment of late plantings. At least if done too early, there's a chance to re-sow later and still have a crop...