Streamside News…Autumn ‘20
2020 has been quite a remarkable year to date...and the weather too has been newsworthy with some of the hottest days ever recorded in the UK, and some very long spells of fine weather, which has mostly had an extremely positive effect on our gardens and outside spaces, during a time when we valued them more than ever before. We are pleased to forward your autumn newsletter from Streamside Horticultural Association, which we hope will give you help and advice for the season ahead.
STREAMSIDE OPENS AGAIN AND GEARING UP FOR THE MONTHS AHEAD…
A huge thank you to our dedicated team of volunteers who worked hard together to introduce safety measures with appropriate social distancing to ensure that Streamside could provide service as usual from July. Particular thanks must go to Anne, Kay and Stephen who gave so much of their time to the association during this period.
We are delighted to confirm that as a result we have attracted a number of new members and have seen some record-breaking days in the amount of sales transactions done. If you know of someone who is a keen gardener – whether new or a seasoned one – please do mention Streamside to them. We offer fantastic value on most products that we sell, and in most cases the cost of your annual membership (£2.00) will be returned in the savings you will receive on your first purchase!
AUTUMN BULBS FOR SALE AND OTHER PRODUCTS IN STORE ...
Autumn bulbs are now on sale, so do come along and see our extensive range of reasonably priced bulbs to ensure that your garden looks good next year. Bulbs on sale will include narcissi, tulips, alliums, hyacinths and many more. Planting now will ensure your garden has a boost of colour next spring – and with a bit of planning you can ensure that there’s something beautiful to look at in your garden every month.
Autumn is also a good time to boost your soil by adding manure, compost or other fertilisers, this will give you a head start for next year’s planting in your garden or allotment. We have a wide range of soil improvers available – if you’re not sure what is best for your requirements, then just ask one of our team who will be pleased to help you.
SEASONAL RECIPES USING PRODUCE FROM YOUR GARDEN…
Butternut Squash Soup with Chilli and Creme Fraiche – Serves 4
Ingredients
1 butternut squash about 1kg, peeled and deseeded
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
2 onions diced
1 garlic clove thinly sliced
2 mild red chillies deseeded and finely chopped
850ml hot vegetable stock
4 tbsp crème fraiche plus more to serve
Method
Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.
Cut 1 peeled and deseeded butternut squash into large cubes, about 4cm/1½in across, then toss in a large roasting tin with 1 tbsp of the olive oil.
Roast for 30 mins, turning once during cooking, until golden and soft.
While the butternut squash cooks, melt 1 tbsp butter with the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil in a large saucepan, then add 2 diced onions, 1 thinly sliced garlic clove and ¾ of the 2 deseeded and finely chopped red chillies.
Cover and cook on a very low heat for 15-20 mins until the onions are completely soft.
Tip the butternut squash into the pan, add 850ml hot vegetable stock and 4 tbsp crème fraîche, then whizz with a stick blender until smooth. For a really silky soup, put the soup into a liquidiser and blitz it in batches.
Return to the pan, gently reheat, then season to taste.
Serve the soup in bowls with swirls of crème fraîche and a scattering of the remaining chopped chilli.
Dorset Apple Cake – serves 8
Ingredients
115g unsalted butter diced and chilled, plus extra for the tin
225g self-raising flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
115g light brown sugar
1 large egg, beaten
6-8 tbsp milk
225g Bramley or Granny Smith applese peeled, cored and diced
100g sultanas
2 tbsp demerara sugar (optional)
Method
Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Butter and line a deep 20cm cake tin with baking parchment.
Mix the flour and cinnamon together in a large bowl. Add the butter and rub into the flour using your fingers, until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the light brown sugar. Beat in the egg followed by 6-8 tbsp of milk – add it gradually until you have a smooth, thick batter.
Add the apples and sultanas and mix to combine. Scrape the batter into the prepared tin and gently level out. Sprinkle over the demerara sugar, if using, and bake for 30-40 mins or until golden and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Allow to cool in the tin for 15 mins and then carefully turn out onto a wire rack to cool further. Best served still warm with a little custard.
SOME THINGS TO DO IN YOUR GARDEN THIS SEASON……
The following lists are just some of the seasonal tasks that you may like to consider to ensure that your garden or allotment continues to look good, and produce a good level of crops -:
September
Fruit and Veg
Look out for rotten apples and pears, and remove them from trees.
Make more gooseberry and redcurrant plants with hardwood cuttings.
Keep successionally sowing spinach for harvesting next spring.
Order bare root fruit trees and bushes to plant out now.
Prune blackberries and hybrid berries.
Life chicory for forcing, plant in a container under cover and keep in the dark.
Harvest squash and pumpkins now to ripen them somewhere dry and warm.
Plant seedlings of spring cabbages into the ground now.
Cut foliage from blight-infected potatoes with secateurs.
Start picking autumn brassicas such as broccoli, cabbages, cauliflower and kale.
Sow oriental salad leaves for harvesting through winter.
Plant hardy varieties of onion sets and shallots.
Sow green manure crops to cover any bare soil.
Cut back fruited canes of autumn raspberries to ground level.
Leave a few plants of salad crops such as rocket and watercress to flower and set seed, which will provide free seed for next year.
Any flowers that form on outdoor tomatoes are unlikely to turn into ripe fruits, so remove the top of each plant so that it puts its energy into producing ripe fruit rather than unwanted leaves and flowers.
Flowers
Plant spring bulbs in pots, keeping them warm under cover over winter means they will flower early.
Check stored bulbs and tubers and throw away imperfect ones.
Sow hardy annuals into pots, harden them off and plant out next spring.
Prune summer flowering jasmine once it has finished blooming.
Move small shrubs and trees if they need repositioning.
Plant bulbs beneath trees after loosening the soil and working in some organic fertiliser.
Start planting winter bedding in gaps as you cut back summer flowers.
Look out for roses that have nice hips and avoid deadheading those.
Stake tall blooms with canes so you can enjoy them for longer.
Make support for asters to keep them upright as they get taller.
Take softwood lavender cuttings.
Prune rambling roses, taking out old stems and tying in new ones.
Bring tender perennials inside.
Keep camellia plants well watered, otherwise their flowering performance next spring may be stunted.
Keep deadheading roses, penstemons and dahlias to extend their display.
Lawns
Sow new lawns or repair patches now while it’s still warm..
Raise height of mower blades to protect from frost.
October
Fruit and Veg
Sow hardy veg under cloches – carrots, peas and early summer cauliflowers will survive in warm areas.
Remove dead leaves from strawberry plants.
Collect and store pumpkins.
Plant autumn onion sets
Sow hardy broad beans and peas under cloches
Cut asparagus foliage at soil level then mulch.
Sow green manures over bare soil for enrichment
Cover endives in order to blanch their leaves
Wrap bands around fruit tree stems to catch winter moths
Cop Jerusalem artichokes down and harvest roots
Flowers
Make more flowering shrubs with hardwood cuttings.
Plant lily bulbs 15cm deep in large containers.
Plant perennials while the soil is still warm, they will continue to grow roots over winter.
Save seeds from your favourite flowers by collecting and drying them to store and sow
Plant spring bedding such as primroses, pansies and wallflowers.
Take off any leaves that have fallen on your evergreen plants to keep them healthy for the winter.
Prepare for frosty weather by bringing tender plants indoors before it strikes.
Lift and store gladioli corms
Cut back plants hanging over paths and fences
Life and divide congested clumps of perennials
Remove diseased foliage from roses and burn it
Empty spent hanging baskets
Check pansies for greenfly attack
Leave lowers on hydrangeas to provide winter protection.
Wrap up tree ferns to insulate and protect the crown from getting wet.
Miscellaneous
Ventilate your greenhouse on warm days
Build log and leaf piles out of prunings and other clippings at the back of borders – to provide shelter for frogs, beetles, hedgehogs and other creatures for protection and hibernation
Scrub clean all the dirty pots and seed trays that have accumulated during the year with soapy water to kill fungal spores
Empty and clean water butts, before putting them back in place ready to collect rainwater over the winter
Treat decking and timber structures with preservative.
November
Fruit and veg
Harvest beetroot as needed.
Keep stored apples frost free, insulating them with a blanket if needed.
Clear old crops now adding them to the compost heap
Bring any marrows or pumpkins under cover
Pick late-ripening apples and pears
Order fruit trees for winter planting
Tidy strawberry rows, removing old runners and weeds
Prune blackberry canes that bore fruit this year, and train in the new canes ti horizontal wires or supports
Stake tall Brussels sprout plants.
Cut down and remaining stems of asparagus and Jerusalem artichokes.
Add straw mulch to the crowns of globe artichokes to protect them from frost.
Plant garlic cloves now in the sunniest part of your veg plot.
Flowers
Plant hyacinths for blooms in the spring.
Rejuvenate perennials by lifting and dividing them.
Life dahlias tubers to store them under cover over winter.
Remove any soggy leaves covering the crowns of plants.
Order barerooted roses for planting during the winter
Clear top growth of annual climbers
Move wrongly positioned shrubs
Plant bulbs in empty pots
Plant winter and spring bedding using wallflowers, forget-me-nots, pansies, violas and polyanthus
Cut back clematis viticella and texensis to ground level, removing all their top growth completely
Bring in succulents to protect over the winter
Plant indoor narcissus now for scented flowers in the New Year
Miscellaneous
Repair broken panes, doors and vents in your greenhouse
Fix wobbly fences and posts
Clear out bird nest boxes
Protect outside taps and hoses over winter to prevent damage from freezing weather.
The next Newsletter will be winter 2020, and will be emailed to members end of November/ beginning of December 2020.
Don’t forget we will be closing for our winter break on 25th of October so stock up on all your gardening requirements before then.
We will re-open for business 7th February 2021 – if there is any change to this we will email members and put information on the website – https://www.streamside.store/