End of the garden 

Does that sound a bit downbeat? Must be the weather.

Not the end of the garden as such, but approaching the end of the growing season in our veg patch. My first ever crop of potatoes is almost fully harvested - just one plant of a lovely pink-tinged variety is left to pull up. The sweetcorn has finally ripened, and only two plants remain with cobs. The runner beans have been slow, but are now productive, despite housing an impressive vertical population of snails.

The only thing yet to crop is the butternut squash. This is the first time I’ve grown one and I have a horrible feeling I’ve messed up. It was in a small pot for longer than it ought to have been, and has only recently become a sprawling monster in the raised bed (as pictured below). The fruits are still only a couple of inches long - and going slow.

Meanwhile, I seem to have planted nothing that will crop later on and into 2009. The brussel sprouts, which were the only thing that I managed to get in during mid-summer, have almost all been munched into skeletal shells. I don’t think I’m mean enough to caterpillars.

Now, I fear, it’s too late. Mr Dowding reckons September’s mainly good for sowing autumn salad leaves - but with my slug-population-from-hell I’m not sure this is a goer.

Maybe the wintry months will be best devoted to planning next year’s crop, not growing it. And - who knows? - enjoying some better weather than summer 2008.

Image by Flickr user Hamid Saber