Top tip: Avoid picking from the direct roadside and low down on bushes to avoid traffic fumes and dog wee.
Don't assume that you have to grow your own. If you look around where you live there are all sorts of foods you can use. And autumn is a great time to collect them.
Of course, everybody knows about blackberries and they can often be found in hedges in parks - in fact my friend, Joy, collected them by the bag load last year from Brockley and Ladywell Cemetery. As we are still without an oven and the freezers are still full, I won't be collecting berries this year and making jam.
Other less well known berries that you can easily find in the wild (and in wild parts of town) are elderberries and sloes. Both are tart in flavour but elderberries mix well with apples in a jam and apparently you can also make liqueurs and wines out of it. Sloes, found on blackthorn bushes, give flavour and colour to gins and vodkas. They are better after a frost to develop the sugars.
Prick them all over, put 460g of sloes into 1 litre of vodka divided between two empty 75cl vodka bottles. Using a funnel divide 112g of white granulated sugar into each bottle. Shake the bottles every day until the sugar is dissolved. Store into a cool, dark place. Leave for at least 3 months.
Also look out for unwanted fruit on trees in public places - plums, cherries and apples are often planted with nobody to pick the fruit. A local Transition Town initiative in Brockley is to match unharvested trees in public places and gardens with a team who will pick away and give away the fruit to passers-by.
Saturday brought us a rare gap in bad weather. The fluffy clouds in the blue sky and being surrounded by green and productive plants just makes makes you happy. Perhaps having had almost 3 weeks of constant rain make you appreciate things all the more. All that rain has also meant that crops are swelling almost as you look at them - runner beans are growing prolifically, tomatoes are splitting with juices and courgettes are turning into marrows if you don't spot them early enough. I discovered this monster when clearing the mildew-y courgette leaves. It weighed a massive 3.2 kilos. Luckily I bought "What will I do with all those courgettes?" by Elaine Borish which should help me find some recipe ideas on how to use the beast.
It is hard to believe on days like this but winter is coming - the mornings are getting chilly and in Scotland they are being threatened with light frosts. At this time of year it is important to keep harvesting but start to clear plants that are past their best. I have already cleared the last of the tumbling cherry tomatoes and pulled up a courgette plant that was suffering from mildew. When clearing the worst of the leaves on the other plants I had to debate with myself whether to compost leaves or to burn them as recommended by some. In the end I compromise by piling them up around the corner and wait to see if it rots down without contaminating the rest of the compost.
I have also started to plan ahead for next year. I already ordered in vast quantities of seed (despite having loads left over from my binge buying in Spring). I have also planted a soft fruit collection which includes a thornless blackberry, an autumn fruiting raspberry and a red gooseberry. As the gooseberry is spiky and grows vigorously I need to allow space. Unfortunately this is something that is running out on the plot. Maybe I can consider training it like they do at West Dean Gardens in West Sussex - amazing kitchen gardens that put my humble allotment to shame.
I also bought some scaffolding planks from the allotment organisers to make raised beds. This will make access easier and the marginally warmer atmosphere might make plants grow earlier. The only downside, apart from having to build them, is that I will lose a bit of space as I sacrifice space for paths. I did apply for another plot that has been overgrown on the allotment but it's a strictly one plot per person policy. I am still considering applying for one on another plot for my soft fruit (which are less trouble than vegetables I think)but I'm not sure if I can wait another 5 years.
In areas I have cleared I have sowed green manures which can be used to block out weeds and enrich the soil when they are dug into the soil. I started with Phacelia which is a quick growing hardy annual green manure that germinates at low temperatures and is ideal for sowing from March until September. Now all I need is on that is suitable for overwintering - mustard is a strong candidate.
