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PROPERTY<br />
She<br />
Grows<br />
Veg<br />
<strong>Autumn</strong>; season of<br />
abundance for us<br />
gardeners!<br />
Lucy’s page www.instagram.com/shegrowsveg<br />
covers all aspects of edible growing, kitchen &<br />
allotment gardening, garden hacks and rare and<br />
heirloom edibles.<br />
Follow Lucy on YouTube at<br />
https://bit.ly/311e2p0<br />
She’ll be discussing garden design, growing micro<br />
greens, prepping for winter and more.<br />
For me, so much of the practice of gardening is the unbridled joy of<br />
harvesting the fruits of my labour and savouring every basket of produce.<br />
Especially as they gradually dwindle as winter approaches.<br />
We are lucky, here in East Anglia. We live in a warm, mild corner of the<br />
country and often find ourselves enjoying balmy days well past the end of<br />
summer.<br />
This season is about lots of time outside, the harvest basket growing heavy<br />
on my arm as I work my way along my tomatoes, peppers and aubergines<br />
and my fingers sticky with juice from over ripe fruit. My daughters steal<br />
goodies from the basket when I’m not looking or just straight off the plant if<br />
they can.<br />
Then it’s into the kitchen to process all the goodies. Do you preserve your<br />
produce? I’m always in awe of those that can whip up sumptuous jams<br />
and chutneys. However, if like me you are low on time or not gifted in this<br />
particular area, there are still many low maintenance, fast ways to preserve<br />
your goodies. I am a particular fan of freezing, its fast and effective and with<br />
crops such as tomatoes and courgettes that don’t retain their original texture<br />
when thawed, they can be added to soups and casserole directly from the<br />
freezer. What could be easier than that?<br />
As the season moves forward and the weather starts to cool down we<br />
find ourselves with increasing amounts of bare earth in our gardens and<br />
plots as crops finish and are cleared. My suggestion is to consider sowing<br />
a green manure cover crop such as red clover. This will suppress weeds<br />
and fix nitrogen into the soil over the winter months. Early next year this can<br />
be chopped up and dug in, creating a nutrient rich soil with an excellent<br />
structure, ready for the new season. Top tip, never let a green manure flower<br />
or it will become next seasons uncontrollable weed.<br />
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