It was definitely time to thin out those sunflowers today before they start exploding! Here is the ‘before’ shot:
And here is the ‘after’ shot – I think I’ve done a pretty good job with them too:
K and I also put the netting up for the soft fruit – we’d ordered a new net and pins to hold it down, but the new net still wasn’t big enough! So we’ve had to add an old piece to one end of it and we’re hoping for the best. We’re also hoping the structure will stay upright as it’s been pretty windy today …
While I was doing a fairly serious weed, K also added the netting to the peas so they can get going:
The Brussels sprouts are also doing okay, which is good news, though I added more slug pellets to them just in case:
Plus we’ve given everything a bit of a water as – in spite of the rain yesterday and today – the soil is still terribly dry …
Here is the harvest of verbascums, carnations, asparagus and rhubarb:
We used some of our home-made allotment compost today, and cut up a few old raspberry branches to add back into the mix. Also trimmed the edges of the plot, and planted a couple more rows of gladioli.
The lilies continue to grow well, but no buds yet!
There was enough rhubarb to add to my apple crumble:
And, of course, asparagus for lunch – from the plot to the plate in just a few hours!
Here is the harvest of verbascum, rhubarb and asparagus:
We are bamboozled by how yellow and sad our allotment sweet peas are in both areas where we have planted them …
I’m really not sure what is going on – we protect them against slugs and we certainly mulched before we planted – but the colour of these is totally different from the lovely lush green ones we have at home. It’s a mystery, hey ho …
In better news, however, more gladioli shoots are coming up and I planted two more rows today as well.
The lilies are also strutting their stuff:
I’m also happy to say that the autumn raspberry bed is looking very good indeed (see below pic), so here’s hoping we get a good crop. (In other news, the gooseberry cage is doing a great job at keeping the birds away, so we actually still have gooseberries this week!).
And there’s enough asparagus on the plot to last us several meals:
Today’s harvest is a couple of spare tulips, the first of the verbascum (hurrah!), two alliums, and the asparagus:
Goodness, but the asparagus is now in full flood and there was loads for Sunday lunch today:
Not only that, but it’s decided the bed isn’t big enough for its needs and is now sprouting on the pathway too!
The autumn raspberries now have a nice ground cover so it’s getting trickier to do the weeding between them. We’ll keep weeding them for as long as possible though as it saves so much time later in the season.
The lilies are growing very well:
And I’ve planted another couple of rows of gladioli bulbs:
Here is today’s harvest of the asparagus and just a few tulips:
Had a quick tidy up at the allotment today – and found that we have some daffodil shoots on their way but NOT in the bed where I planted them, LOL. Nature does its own thing once again!…
The leeks are still hanging on too – I don’t think they’ll get much larger but there’s no need to harvest them yet as we still have a couple of cabbages in hand:
Last week, K cut down half of the autumn raspberries ready for next year’s new growth – we need to do the other half too at some point but there’s no rush:
The main focus today has been composting – I added the last of the old cabbage leaves and then mixed it in with the fork as best I could – but I suspect K will do it better next week!
The harvest today is the last remaining cabbages which are really small now but we’ll use what we can of them:
I’m very sorry to have to tell you that our allotments suffered a break-in this week, with the perimeter fence broken in a couple of places, the main gate damaged, and thefts carried out at several sheds. Such an awful thing to happen. Our own shed was broken into, but nothing taken as we don’t have anything worth stealing.
K mended the shed today – amazingly our now curved padlock still works as it’s actually much tougher than the shed itself!
In happier news, we still have an alstroemeria in bloom:
However, most of the rest of the flowers are now over, so I spent some time cutting back and composting while K was mending the shed. I did feel a lot better after the tidy up as it feels I’ve done something positive to prepare for next season after the communal break-in.
On similar lines, K has dug out the potato bed, rescuing the last of the potatoes – and it’s now ready for us to plant daffodils next time we’re there, hurrah!
I’m also happy to say that our chrysanthemums are on the way though not quite there yet:
Meanwhile we know it’s a very rainy autumn due to the sheer amount of mushrooms everywhere!
Our cabbages are doing well:
And we’ve rediscovered the leeks which have been lurking under the runner beans for ages, quietly waiting to see the sun again …
Sadly though, our Brussels sprouts are experiencing their second year of failure (sob!) – maybe next time we should plant them out in May rather than waiting for them to get bigger at home … Oh well.
Here is the week’s harvest, which includes alstroemeria, a few pelargoniums, a handful of autumn raspberries (though I ditched them at home due to the amount of insects in them, yuk!) one cabbage, the potatoes, beetroot and a couple of stray runner beans:
There are loads of shallots on the allotment at the moment – which is the first year we’ve grown them. The strange thing is they just sit on the top of the soil, seemingly attached to nothing at all, and you pick up the ones you like the look of. All very strange.
The cabbages are also doing well – the joy of them is that they last such a long time once you harvest them – with us, one lasts all week!
The lettuces are getting past their best though – K harvested one and by the time he picked off the slimy outer leaves, it was tiny!
Meanwhile, the autumn asters continue to shine and keep our vases going. They are just amazing – I think these blue ones are Little Harlow Carr, but I’m not sure.
Here is today’s harvest, which consists of asters, some sunflowers, a few sweet peas and pelargoniums, one alstroemeria, that little lettuce, one beetroot, runner beans, those shallots (just below the trug handle) and a bowl of gorgeous autumn raspberries – which are truly the gift that keeps on giving and which I shall add to this weekend’s apple crumble, yum!
Here are the vases at home:
Have a lovely Sunday, everyone – stay out of the rain!
It’s the turn of the asters to shine today on the autumn allotment – we really know summer is over now as they’re such an autumn flower! K has dug up the last of the potatoes (tatties), so we have an empty bed to do something with:
It’s been a hot week so the allotment is very dry and we’ve given it a good water today – the rubbish bin water butt is proving very useful indeed. Here are the beans looking very dry and definitely past their best:
And even the currant bushes and autumn raspberries are struggling in the heat:
Here is today’s harvest which consists of beans, potatoes, one beetroot, the asters, a few sad-looking gladioli, one or two sunflowers, the autumn raspberries and a scattering of sweet peas, pelargoniums and carnations.
We have also taken the tulip bulbs (in the round, green basket) so I can plant these at home in November (when the threat of tulip rot will have passed). We will get fresh ones for the allotment as usual.
Perfect weather for the allotment working party & BBQ today – though maybe a little too hot when it came to moving the hedge cuttings to a bonfire area, LOL! Still, after a good two hours’ slog, the joy comes with a lovely BBQ and beer, hurrah!
Seriously though, we had a fabulous time and many thanks to the allotment committee for organising us all. Meanwhile, back on our own allotment, we have the first of the asters:
And the sunflowers look amazing – particularly when a gorgeous yellow butterfly landed on one of them:
The one pink dahlia in bloom this week also looks quite cute:
The lettuces are doing well and – so far! – aren’t getting eaten by the slugs which is great news. I’m not even putting slug doom pellets on them any more and still they survive …
However, the news with the sweetcorn isn’t so good, I’m afraid – even though we’ve netted them and they should be ready to harvest, some evil creature has still eaten the lot. Oh well …
Today’s harvest is potatoes, beetroot, a lettuce, a cabbage, French beans and runner beans, gladioli, sunflowers, the asters, a few sweet peas, carnations and pelargoniums, plus the autumn raspberries:
Here are the flowers at home. I think the asters really make a difference to a vase, and I’ve put the sunflowers in with those from last week, which are still going strong!
