Home and garden

Bracknell Horticultural Assoiation member Trevor Oakley readys his pumpkin for the Marrow-thon event on October 22
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Marrow-thon event showcases vegtables at the best

By Andy Maxwell
October 10, 2011

Bracknell Horticultural Society will be display its members’ best produce at a Marrow-thon event on Saturday, October 22.

The group will be at the town’s bandstand from 10.30am, showcasing vegetables, with prizes on offer for the heaviest marrow, squash, or pumpkin.

Ahead of the Marrow-thon, society member Andy Maxwell offers advice on what gardeners can do with their plots during October.

With the equinox now past, and the slow wind down in the garden under way, the one area in need of attention this time of year is the vegetable plot. A quick round-up from our allotment members yielded the following tips:

Choices of green manure begin to dwindle, but you can still consider Hungarian grazing rye and field beans. The former can suppress weeds and provide bulk, and the latter is used as a nitrogen fixer.

Plant shallots, garlic, and overwintering onions such Senshyu Yellow. Start off broad beans in pots, and not open ground, to avoid rodents helping themselves.

Keep picking runner and climbing beans until the first frosts – but let some pods mature and save them as seed for next year.

Continue to sow salad – use blue mushroom trays lined with newspaper and filled with multi-purpose compost. Sow mixed salad seeds and keep somewhere warm and light.

Allotment holders, particularly, will begin to think of manuring plots over the winter. But be sure to check what is in the manure with your supplier, as the threat of contamination is a serious issue. Aminopyralid is the culprit – a selective herbicide used to control weeds that are harmful to livestock.

Those of you unfortunate enough to have been caught out will recognise the distorted growth of crops like potatoes and beans when Aminopyralid is present.

Visit www.digforbracknell.org.uk for more information about the association.