What are you growing right now?

[Penny Lane]

I realise it's a bit late in the year for this sort of post but I'm curious to see what my fellow Ishers are growing and harvesting now.
In my tiny garden right now is a huge archway of runner beans that are finally cropping well now it's cooled down, some big swiss chards, Welsh onions, a few random beetroots that probably aren't going to get much bigger than a ping pong ball, various herbs, two cucumber plants that have been fantastic and are still going, autumn raspberries, a really big rhubarb that I'm not harvesting but watching with wonder and some brussels sprouts that are being attacked by caterpillars so aren't going to come to much but are helping to protect my precious solo dino kale plant that is still very tiny thanks to an earlier caterpillar attack. Oh, and a fresh sowing of rocket in the greenhouse.
The allotment is new (well, a fresh start after 5 years struggling on another plot) so currently only has my two apple trees... Actually, I'm supposed to be giving up the allotment because of a lack of time but I'm finding it hard to let go! That is for another post!

Anyway. What are you growing???

[Green Aura]

Erm, pretty much everything has finished up here but we had tomatoes, cucumbers, chillies, herbs, berries and apples - oh and two small pears (but that's a huge improvement on the none we've harvested before ). We're not eating spuds or many root veg so there's no point in growing them.

The herbs are still going strong as they're sheltered but we'll need to cover them soon and bring in the tender ones - pineapple sage and lemon verbena.

The only things that are still happily producing are the chillies - they've definitely been our most successful crop for years now, although we've got the hang of growing tomatoes up here at last!

[sleepyowl]

I've got herbs, chillies, ginger and potatoes at the moment, everything else has finished

[Brewtrog]

Herbs, the last few chillies, and liquorice. The liqourice is getting eyed up for being harvested this season, with the intention being not to re-plant it, it's gotten a bit big for the patch this year.

[ina]

Onions, onions, onions... Well, they are not growing any more, but they haven't been harvested yet. Courgette and patty pan are still going - I have a few runner beans that are not looking too happy with the weather... Shame. Radishes. Brambles. In a fit of optimism I've sown a few seeds under cover (lettuce and more radishes and other stuff that's a few years out of date already, so if it doesn't grow I can blame it on that!).

[Weedo]

Some onions, leeks and garlic that the galahs did not get to (under mesh) Last of the cauli and cabbage (under mesh) starting to form heads now. First flowers on the new strawberry plants and Rhubarb, silverbeet and chinese cabbage growing madly. Starting to work beds for late spring / early planting - I missed early spring opportunities due to busy-ness elsewhere.

[Penny Lane]

It's been a good year for chillies hasn't it?! I saw some growing in a patch along the side of a car park this summer, outside! The adjacent restaurant used them, and other veg grown there, on their menu.

Weedo, I had to read twice before realising where you are based!

[Flo]

Brussels, late salad stuff, some Swiss chard, a few dwarf beans that survived the wind, one or two beetroot and salad turnips, sprouting broccoli for later, a few leeks as I forgot to put them out till too late on still in the ground. The potatoes have been put in store two days ago, the apples and pears were cleared from the trees just before the hooligan winds came. There's the last few tomatoes. Pumpkins are in store. It's now time to start the onion and garlic beds for next year.

[Odsox]

Just got back from 10 days away and found a glut of tomatoes that need bottling today.
Apart from that the usual, 2 varieties of Brussels sprouts, PSB, Savoy cabbages, calabrese, cauliflowers, carrots, parsnips, leeks, runner beans still producing in the tunnel and squash still maturing.
In the greenhouse still getting ripe strawberries and a few remaining bunches of grapes, plus dwarf French beans in the hydro pipe.
BUT .. to do this weekend, planting overwintering onion sets, planting garlic, sowing overwintering broad beans and a long row of peas and sowing a short row of turnip greens

[Penny Lane]

... It's now time to start the onion and garlic beds for next year.

I've just gotten started on clearing some space for autumn planting garlic... I usually grow them in modules before planting out in spring but this year I'm putting them straight in to the ground. A bit unsure about this but worth trying both ways I guess?!

[Flo]

Well I've been putting mine straight in the ground for years Penny and always been well rewarded. Until this year when I found that allotment number 2 has onion white rot on it and that affected onions, garlic, shallots .. and apparently leeks may be affected too.

[Penny Lane]

Thanks Flo, that's good to know! Sorry allotment 2 has white rot I guess that means using allotment 1 for the onion family only?

[Penny Lane]

Thanks Flo, that's good to know! Sorry allotment 2 has white rot I guess that means using allotment 1 for the onion family only?

[Flo]

You got it right in one Penny. Am hoping that more lime and compost and muck will improve the soil enough on plot 2 to take some of the brassica family. The kale will be OK. The Swiss chard doesn't look too happy but it went in late. But anther winter another period of soil care.

[Weedo]

Yes Penny, almost exactly opposite seasons which is a "cheat" for me because I can check what you folks are planting and plan ahead (I am a newbie at Ishing). I spent a day in the veg garden on Sunday (a rare event for me) getting my blood pressure under control after dealing with people whose attitudes do not even have a word to describe them yet. So, more strawbs in, started a new herb garden in an old tractor tyre, put capsicum and zuchinni (corgette) seed in - I sow direct and thin out rather than raise seedlings in pots - and started laying down straw for a no-dig potato bed to be sown in a couple of weeks.

Fig cuttings struck last year will be planted out soon, probably as espalier on wires.

Unlike the corgette glut in the North, I have my annual orange, lemon and grapefruit glut but have found couple more volunteers to help with that; one of who has returned with the best ever lemon butter and 3 fruits marmalade.

Everything is under netting to keep the birds off - the drought here is worsening so they are really scrounging for anything edible.