Allotment views and signs of spring

Not much happening at the allotment at the moment though we did do weeding across the plot and also caught up with the composting. I thought you might like to see some views of the allotment in autumn so here they are:

The fruit cage is also looking quite nice:

And the blueberry looks particularly stunning in its autumn colours:

The Brussels sprouts are also coming along and so nearly ready for a first harvest now:

The first Brussels sprout bed is certainly looking good on the whole:

Though the one we planted up later has a fair amount of catching up to do!

And in stunningly good news, we have the first of our daffodil shoots now! So wonderful to see these early signs of the spring to come:

In non-allotment news, I’m pleased to say I have a new 5 star review of my latest novel, An Unexpected Haunting, which you can read here:

An Unexpected Haunting at Goodreads

I rather like being described as “unusual, unconventional, alternative and singular” – that’s certainly made my day!

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!

Anne Brooke Books at Amazon UK
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Frost disasters

This week, we had a snap frost on Sunday night/Monday morning which has, sadly, resulted in a dahlia disaster at the allotment …

…. and a courgette crisis, sob! –

So we have had to cut down the dahlias and take out the courgettes and have added them to our composting bin. To cheer ourselves up, we have planted the rest of the daffodils for spring:

In better news, the asparagus forest is looking pretty with its berries, but we’re not cutting those down yet until they go brown:

So, due to the frost, we have the world’s smallest harvest consisting of three roses, three mangetouts and the rest of the beetroot:

At least the roses look pretty at home – though apologies for the poor quality here!

Have a lovely Sunday, everyone.

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Adieu to the French climbing beans

What with the chillier weather over the last few days, our French climbing beans are now definitely over so we’ve harvested a handful and then put the rest into compost. They’ve had a brilliant year though and will see us through winter for sure. We still have a few mangetouts, however, so have left those plants in for now. And there are courgettes too:

The perennial flower bed is doing well which has surprised me. There are more alstroemerias in bloom:

And a plethora of pink dahlias as well!

So we have a harvest today of French climbing beans, mangetouts, courgettes, one beetroot, alstroemerias and dahlias:

And here are the vases at home:

Have a lovely Sunday, everyone!

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Communal dahlias and the rose revival

We arrived at the allotment this morning to discover that some lovely person had left a vase of dahlias on the new communal table, which I thought was a fabulous idea.

Later on, I added a couple of yellow ones to the display and gave it a quick water – so hope they last a few days at least. Talking of flowers, the roses in the perennial bed are doing well.

And the dahlias and alstroemerias are still looking good too.

This week, we have a harvest of beetroot, French climbing beans, mangetouts, alstroemerias, dahlias and roses, plus some soft fruit – including autumn raspberries, which we thought we’d got rid of last year! Nature obviously had other ideas …

Here are the flowers at home – as ever, roses do better if they aren’t mixed with other flowers, hence the fact they’re on their own.

Have a lovely weekend, everyone – looks set to be a sunny one here!

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French beans and autumn flowers

Still loads of French climbing beans on the allotment today, even though the plants themselves are slowly dying off. A lesson for us all, LOL!

The courgettes are also in abundance:

And there are still a handful of mangetouts on offer:

I was planning to plant the last of the daffodils today, but I’ll wait until we take the mangetouts out later this month and then put them in the space there.

The oldest of our Brussels sprout beds is coming on nicely too:

Meanwhile, the alstroemerias are still blooming:

And just look at this lovely dahlia:

So, today, we have a harvest of dahlias, alstroemerias, one freesia, plus French climbing beans, mangetouts, beetroots and the courgettes:

And here is the vase at home:

Have a lovely Sunday, everyone, and of course Happy October to you!

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Anne Brooke Books at Amazon US