Caped crusader is not French

As there is a high risk of this post's title sounding suspiciously like a cryptic crossword clue, I thought I'd better start by explaining the story behind it. Don't worry, it's not a long one.

Basically, I was experimenting with a three sisters bed, which was the subject of a post a while back, and involved planting sweetcorn, squash and beans together. It was an abject failure, mainly due to the damp summer we've had that's been pure heaven on earth for the local snail and slug population.

Before this short story goes off on a tangent, I'll get on with it. I don't think this had any bearing on the outcome of the bed, as it was doomed from the start, but what I thought was a French bean plant (mix up on the labels there) that I'd grown from seed was in fact a cape gooseberry.

Lovely plant, just in the wrong place, and I only realised last week when I spotted the distinctive physallis that surrounds the gorgeous sweet orange fruit, that it should be undercover now that the weather has turned much cooler. Despite being left out in the cold, it has galloped on and put on a lot of growth.

So, the plants were dug up yesterday, with a bit of help from the after school club, and moved to the polytunnel where they may or may not reach their full potential.


We get most of our milk in bottles from a local supplier, which isn't so easy these days, but more often than not we have to resort to a plastic container. It seems this is a universal problem, if the donations of plastic milk cartons to the garden are anything to go by.

But, if your local authority doesn't recycle plastic, the humble milk carton can be recycled in the garden instead. We're currently using the cut off tops as mini cloches for the kale which has only just come out of the polytunnel where it was being grown on past the slugs and needs to harden off a bit before being exposed to the elements.

Next summer, these will be used again, buried next to the tomato plants in the polytunnel to take the water from the can closer to the roots. And the bottom halves aren't wasted either - a perfect beer trap!


Onions stored on the rack in the polytunnel.


The spaghetti squash was a bit slow to get going (it really does deserve its name and tastes lovely too) so it's now had a good dose of rotted organic matter to keep it warm and a cold frame over the top, so hopefully we might get a decent sized fruit off the plant yet.

Talking of slow to get going, we managed to complete many of the day's tasks on the allotment today, after Paul arrived on cue as soon as I had the kettle in my hand.

Between me, Paul, Peter and David we did a major weed, planted out the kale, tied in the jerusalem artichokes once again, covered the brassica bed with mulch and took down the remains of the peas, saving as many seed pods as possible for next year.