AUTUMN ALLOTMENT GARDEN HARVEST! / OCTOBER 2022 / EMMA'S ALLOTMENT DIARIES

Morning everyone, welcome back to my allotment diaries. My name is Emma, these are my allotment diaries, they're happening right now. If you're enjoying my videos I'd love you to subscribe to my YouTube channel, I've also got an Instagram, a Facebook page, a vlog, a blog, this is the vlog, lots of other ways of following me and they are all just linked down below so do go and check them out. It's raining today, welcome to my allotment in the rain. I don't normally come down here in the rain just because it's quite away from my house and I kind of get stuck in the rain and I have to sit in my shed for hours with the spiders and the mice but I really really really just felt like getting out the house this morning and just getting some fresh air and I wanted to check on a few of my crops because accidentally I realised last night when I was thinking about what's growing here I've actually grown myself a Christmas dinner and I didn't even realise. So I've got sprouts, I've got the Romanesco cauliflower slash broccoli, I've got parsnips and I planted my potatoes and I've just put out a row of carrots as well and leeks and things like that which could possibly be ready for Christmas so I've sort of grown myself a Christmas dinner and I wanted to go and check on it all. I haven't checked on crops for a while so let's just go and do a bit of a check really. I do love being here in the rain, it's just so calm and peaceful and beautiful and everything looks more green in the rain don't you think? Like all the green just seems to pop out so much more, it looks like so much more is growing, love it. So everyone welcome to sprout bed, these are my sprouts. I don't think I've shown you my sprouts for a little while, I don't really know why, I think I just sort of forgot about them but if we look under here we can see sprouts, actual living sprouts. So some of you might have been here last year with the sprout drama and basically I planted a load of sprout plants and they decided not to grow and they gave me like the teeniest tiniest little sprouts in the world. Well this year, this year I left them alone, I didn't fiddle with them, I didn't touch them, I basically forgot about them, I forgot I planted sprouts at all and they've just done incredibly. I cannot believe how well they've done but I've got one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight living sprout plants. Operative word there being living because they are all looking so healthy and alive and I know that you can eat the leaves as well which looks so vibrant and healthy and look I've even got little snails, little snail friends on it and they're just not affecting the plant so I'm just gonna leave them, they can have it. I love how sprouts grow and I never used to know how sprouts grew, I literally didn't know where they were on the plant because I just used to buy them in little bags but this is where they grow basically. Just in case you're like me, they sort of appear on the stems like that and I just think that's so beautiful but this year they're actually getting really big. I can't believe how big, I mean if I just reach out, there's my finger see, it's almost a full sprout size. Yeah I'm really happy with sprouts, sprouts are great so I'm gonna get sprouts. So that's that sprout bed, oh yeah I was just gonna say just in front of sprout bed I've just noticed a load of my onions starting to grow which is random, I put these in ages ago. It's always so strange when plants don't do anything for ages, you think they're dead and all of a sudden look at this, all these vibrant green shoots coming up at the front here, just really randomly onions and then I think these ones here I think that is a pickable onion, I mean it's tiny but it's an onion, an onion is an onion. There we go, there's another one there, I think these were like a Japanesey one or something, it was supposed to be like long and thin but there we are, a couple of onions, I'll have those. So next to sprout bed we've got this bed here, it's another no dig bed by the way and I'll just show you, look hardly any weeds coming up and how healthy does the soil still look. Down here I've got pak choi which probably needs picking like today, really really beautiful, look how they sort of grow multi stems when you leave them and forget to pick them, sort of like start another pack, a new pack choi sort of starting there, does that make sense? But lovely and vibrant and green, another little one next to him as well and then in here this is my third Romanesco which have just done beautifully this year, the birds do not seem interested in them at all, maybe they've never seen one before but they just, look how beautiful, just lovely and I've got another one just over there as well, so surprised but so happy at how well they've done, again didn't do anything to him, just whacked him out, I think the universe or the plot is trying to send me a sign here that I need to leave my plants alone. Right as we come down here, so that's all Christmas dinnery stuff as you can see, accidentally grew and then this bed here is supposed to have potatoes in it, what we've actually got is a sea of nasturtiums, some runner beans that are starting to get going now randomly and radishes, oh and this might possibly be a carrot, that could be it, yeah possibly a carrot, basically got everything growing in there except blooming potatoes which is what I planted in there so don't really know what's going on with that, I think what I'm going to do is have a dig and see what's going on under there because if there's no potatoes what I'm going to do is sow them at home in pots I think because I want some Christmas potatoes, that's the one Christmas veg I actually wanted to grow, right when in doubt have a dig, that's what I say but don't copy that advice because that's very bad advice. Did I even plant these? Did this happen? Did I dream it? What is that? Is that a gigantic radish I forgot to pick? Look at the size of it, where did you come from? Can I even eat that? I didn't even know a radish could grow that big, is that edible? Is it even a radish? I don't know I cannot believe the size of that radish, I didn't even know they were in here considering I forgot I planted them, I mean that's insane isn't it, that's insane, the only thing is I can't find any blooming potatoes, I literally can't find any potatoes in here and I remember planting about 16 of them, where are they? This is either a little piece of horse poo or one of my potatoes, I think it's horse poo, yep I think it's horse poo, I think this might be a potato, I think that's one of my potatoes, so what happened? Did it rot or something? Were they just not good potatoes? Oh shoot, that's the inside of a potato, you know what if that was like anywhere else it looks a little bit like a chocolate biscuit with cream in the middle but it's not, it's a dirt covered potato of maggots in, that is disgusting, I can't eat that, literally not clue what happened to those potatoes then, I don't know, I whacked them in, I did everything right and they've all just died and rotted, maybe the bag was bad, maybe the batch of potatoes was bad or something, I don't know, what I do know is I now have to re-sow a load of potatoes, I'm gonna have a look for any more radishes in here, that's quite exciting wasn't it, the radishes, right let's see if we can find some more, I don't know what radish looks like though, okay right so radish sort of looks like that, let's go find that again, oh my goodness look at that, that's a different radish isn't it, that's a red radish, I've never grown a radish before, I've never grown a radish before and now I've grown two different types and I mean like whoppers and look at that, that is like, okay it's tiny but look how red it is and then look at that one, I can't believe it, I've never grown radishes before, I didn't even know they were there, okay right we need to pull them all up now, it's more exciting that you have to find them and look for them, it's like a challenge, let's spot the radish, where's the radish, where's the radish, if you'd have told me that I'd have had so much fun pulling out radishes a few years ago, I would have called you nuts but, okay right okay, ignore that one, start that again shall I, oh wow, look at him, he's massive, another beaut, another beaut, oh I see another one, why are they done so well, oh that one's a bit rotted I think, oh we'll leave him in there, that's okay, that's okay guys, we've got loads, you're doing so well, oh the baby one, give me another radish, give me another radish, considering I wasn't expecting to get any kind of radish harvest today or any kind of harvest really, that is pretty incredible, look at all my radishes, so exciting, this one in particular I think is just an absolute beaut, they are massive, this is what happens when you forget about your vegetables and then you come back, you just get massive ones, how incredible is that, right we're just coming into the polytunnel for a minute because it's getting quite rainy out there, I'm very excited for these radishes in here now, I actually, what was that, I hate when bugs make weird little noises and then they just go quiet, what was that, hello, is there a creepy bug here, it's like they do it on purpose to annoy me, everything in here looks very much alive, very very happy with it, I do need to thin the back row of cabbages and what are they, cauliflowers, cabbages and cauliflowers, so I'm going to thin them a little bit now or attempt to, I don't really like doing this because I feel like I'm going to kill them but I'm feeling a little bit overconfident now with the whole radish thing, I really don't want to like do it, you know what I mean, they're all growing so beautifully, I just really just want to leave them all, oh why did I sow so many, it's like I get, I have to choose who lives and who dies, I'm gonna come and I'm gonna just do it, if I just thin them like, oh no oh god that was a lot, oh I don't like it, it's my poor little plants, I'm just killing them all, oh guys why did I sow so many, why have I sown so many cabbages and cauliflower, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm getting into it now, this is this is how it goes with a serial killer I think, this is how they feel, it's like one time they're like oh that was awful and then they're like well actually it wasn't that bad, I think I'll do that again, we'll just keep going, till everybody's dead, it's not a nice job doing that because you just feel like a plant killer and I panic about the ones that I'm leaving because I think were they really the strongest, but if you don't thin them then you don't get good crops, so it's sort of like a catch 22 really isn't it, I really want these radishes to be ready now because I really want to keep picking radishes, that is so fun picking radishes, I've never had so much fun at the plot, I don't think they're anywhere near done, no you're not, you're not, you're not ready yet, definitely not, are they even radishes or are they beetroot, I wish they could talk and tell me, what are you, these are definitely leeks and then I've got the carrots at the back which I remember planting and then I think these are more radishes and there's something else, a lot of people get annoyed at me for not labelling my seeds, so do I, I get annoyed at myself guys, but I mean did you see the joy on my face when I accidentally pulled up a radish, it's just priceless, it's so much fun doing that, so if you do have a bed, you know what, make a miscellaneous seed scattering crazy bed and just throw whatever you can at the bed and then forget about it, don't label it, come back a few months later and it's just like, just invite your friends around and have a party, a harvesting party, it's like a pick a mix party and whatever you get to pull up, you get to keep, it's like a lucky dip, there you go, there's a free party idea for someone's 40th or something, I'd come. Right so, oh god, where were we, we were, we were on a tour of the Christmas veg in the garden, right so we discovered there's no potatoes but we've got cauliflowery broccoli thing, kohlrabi, not that that's a traditional veg but you know it could be, could be, brussels sprouts and loads of radishes, again not traditional but who, who, who likes traditional, so next thing, parsnips, absolutely insane parsnip bed and this is the first thing I whacked in, so this is a proper no-dig bed, it's layered up with about 15 layers of different organic materials like manure, wood chip, compost, leaf mold, it's got, it's got it all basically and I whacked in the parsnips, it's the first thing I whacked in at the beginning of the year and well they've done fantastic, I mean they're massive, let's try and get one out to show you, I might just try and get one out and see what they're like, now parsnips actually taste better when they've been through cold weather so they need the frost and the freezing cold because it makes them sweeter and everyone likes a sweet parsnip and if you don't, pull them out now, but I like them sweet but I'm going to pull one out, choose my victim, I'm going to choose you, you're going to be my victim, all right parsnip, we are moving the parsnip, I repeat the parsnip is on the move, oh my goodness, it's two together, oh my goodness, oh look at that, they're in love, they're in love, so it's just very clear that my, my parsnips have fallen in love, I'm not sure what kind of trauma they've gone through under the ground but they've definitely been gravitating towards each other, I've never pulled up vegetables like this before, I always see it on Instagram like the really funny ones but that is probably, that's the best thing I've ever grown, they really look like they're just hugging, so funny, luckily they do just sort of come apart quite easily, so we've got a really squiggly one and a really straight one, I can't believe it, something else is growing, this day is just like full of surprise harvests that I just didn't know I was going to get, but my belotti beans have turned into belotti beans, I feel like someone's been here in the night and replaced all my crops with like ones that are actually alive, look, look at that, that's a belotti bean that is, and that one is too, and that one is, I know they're little but oh my goodness, I didn't, oh there's another one here, I didn't think I was going to get any, these have done nothing, nothing for like months and all of a sudden they give me a belotti bean, why, what kind of game are you playing, those are blooming belotti beans, I don't know if any of these are edible to be honest, I don't even know what they're supposed to look like inside, but the fact is that I grew something that looks, that resembles a belotti bean, I can't believe it, I can't believe they disappeared, like where were they, where have they been, what's happened, well there's beans in them, so I mean there's two, there's two beans in them, is that a belotti bean, I don't know, I don't know, are they supposed to be pink or something, I mean they are beans of some sort, they are beans, I feel like jacking jacking the beanstalk with these magic beans, I'm just, I don't know if we can eat them, I don't know if we can plant them again, I don't know what that, what's happening, but the fact is I grew that, I grew it all, I mean I didn't even bring a bag, I've got tinsel in here, um every plot needs some, needs some Christmas tinsel, I didn't even bring a bag to bring anything home in, I didn't even, I've got one there, Tesco to the rescue, I didn't even, didn't even come prepared with a bag to bring anything home in, because I didn't think I'd be picking anything, so I'm absolutely made up with that, I hope you enjoyed the vlog today, I hope it's given you some motivation and inspiration, maybe put a smile on your face, it definitely put a smile on my face, so I'm happy, um if you did enjoy it do subscribe to my channel, I'll see you again in my next vlog, thank you for watching, bye!