The autumn potager

Isn’t that fab? I haven’t had so much broccoli all season. Actually it’s Brokali Apollo, a cross between normal broccoli and a Chinese variety that creates these longer stems. And as they are so springy and juicy, it’s much more fun to stir fry. You get more heft with the stems. They will be on my order next year list. And the leaves have been great to mix up the endless kale we eat.

Yep, the gift that keeps on giving.

Ugh, a shot showing all the munched bits. This year everyone is sharing their harvest with slugs. I’ve never seen such an abundance of the critters.

That’s better I swivelled the veg around. Cavolo Nero, of course. And the newcomers which will be permanent fixtures now, the Russian Kale (‘Red Russian’) with the pale crimson stalks. And the two you can’t see as they are buried underneath ‘Redbor’ and ‘Hungry Gap’. Four will do. Actually the Hungry Gap will only feature until the seeds run out. Three kale in one’s gardening life suffice.

The Redbor works well all year as it’s actually a great salad kale. Lighter and gentler on the gnashers. But it has withstood the endless rain (early season) and endless drought (summer until now). And if I am organised I can even pick the slugs off in time.

My main crop in the potager after the kale and the last sungold tomatoes are flowers. But I’ll save that for another post. It’s positively burgeoning with blooms.

For now, have some lovely heather which grows on the southern slopes of our mountain. It has never been this good.