[New shoot]

I was up at the plot at the weekend and have now cleared all my old courgette, squash, sweetcorn and tomato plants.  I still have the beans to do.

I have a few areas dug over and/or a thick layer of compost spread on them.  The emptied bins are filling up nicely with all the crops I am clearing.

It feels like the plot is well underway to being tucked up for winter.  I have leeks, cabbage. swede and various greens still standing, but the sea of green is retreating and returning to bare earth.  There is an odd satisfaction in it all though 

[Vagabond]

Yes, I quite enjoy this time of year. I cleared the greenhouse last week and I've been slowly closing down the raised beds by clearing and covering with compostable greens with cardboard weighted down on top.
Like you, the overwinter veggies are still there and I planted out the garlic yesterday, but the other stuff is slowly diminishing. There is something weirdly satisfying about a clean looking cardboard covered bed!

[mumofstig]

I cleared and dug a few beds over the last week, while the weather was kind, and sowed some of them with green manures. The first bed sown is showing signs of germination already

[bayleaf]

What green manure did you plant mum?

[rowlandwells]

like the rest we are doing our bit to get ready for the winter rest still have leeks savoy cabbage swede and brussels and spring cabbage in raised beds the larger areas are waiting to be ploughed up but one plot has got very wet and may have to plough the plots in  spring

I've been digging and spreading a bank of soil that built up near a hedge that  i cut back there is around 2 meters of ground to add to the plot that has been left for around 40 years till i decided to tackle it could have done with a JCB the wife has been digging over the empty raised beds

don't think we will be planting anything in the allotments now till spring have onion seed and sets potted on in the greenhouses and some spring cabbage in pots outside also have some sweet William plants in pots to plant out but it looks like they to will be staying there pots till spring because as i said its far to wet to get the ground ready for planting down the allotments  have just sowed some cauliflower [Boris] seed to overwinter in the poly tunnel to plant out come spring

[Christine]

It sure is wet underfoot. And over foot today. Have been clearing like everyone else but also doing a lot of "infrastructure" on the original plot what I've had for many years. Bought cheat's raised beds from one of the forum support firms which have now have strawberries where the compost heap used to reside (none of this collect wood and tools business, just open box and slot together and move in future years if wanted elsewhere). Having invested in lots of compost bins which are in sheltered spaces where growing ain't going to happen but where the sun goes of an afternoon there is now extra space to be filled. Also put some smaller matching raised beds under the fruit trees where space was little used. Mind you, that was jungle warfare earlier on - no idea where all the foxgloves came from but come they did in height and quantity. Am also clearing the second plot back - this is being returned to the committee for someone else to rent once all the last vegetables are removed. Am doing the annual liming there before handing over.

Plenty to keep me busy for the next month at least.

[mumofstig]

What green manure did you plant mum?

Mostly Phacelia but I ran out of seed so the last bed has half mustard and half spinach sown on it, all old seed - so have to wait to see if those germinate 

[al78]

I sowed some green manure about three or four weeks ago and it has romped away. I had to chop the mustard down as it was starting to flower. I have autumn/winter mix in a couple of other beds. Need to sow the field beans and grazing rye soon. I've cleared the squash and am collecting and spreading manure. I mostly need to clear weeds around the edges of the plot.

[snowdrops]

Well I scarifies the lawn 2weeks ago & again on Sunday, I then used up the bag of grass seed we found in the garage in the summer from a few years ago  , I then raked a bag of compost over it all, if nothing else that might do some good. Today we moved all the patio pots up to near the greenhouse, moved the garden furniture & swept all the debris up from the patio before I sprayed it all with a strong solution of Wet & Forget as so much of it was covered with green algae. We don’t normally get it so bad so early at the end of the summer. Tomorrow I’m going to attack the Lottie all being well.

[Growster...]

It seems only a few weeks ago, that we were sowing all sorts of seeds, nurturing every radish and rocket seedling and counting tomato plants, and now they're all either finished, or looking so miserable, they need to be hoiked out and the place made respectable again!

I rather like the 'big tidy-up', and it's a ritual here, that the geraniums, fuchsias etc. get put away in the GH, around now, so that's done! I still need to give the hedge a last trim, but it's an easier task now, as it has started to stop growing! I had a good mow-and-edge on Sunday, and finished a nano-second before it rained so that went well for once! We never know if we'll need another cut, so the mower is still in summer mode (the coal-shed)!

Mrs Growster insists on as much colour as we can get over winter, so thank goodness for pansies and 'Sugar Rush' wallflowers, which are just fantastic and last forever, often another season!

[Aled]

Last lap of growing i've got a few corn on the cobs to harvest then the plot will (if it ever dries up) get a good manuring and dig over!
Cheers
Aled

[rowlandwells]

as i said in my previous reply it was looking doubtful i mite not be able to plough the allotment plots till spring however  the weather changed and the ground dried up enough for me to plough all the plots and another friends plot

so everything is looking good the land ploughed still have a few veg to pick overwinter and a couple of raised beds to dig

[jambop]

I have all my courgette, butternut, potimarron, tomato, peppers and  beans cleared and have just planted out my cabbage, broccoli and sprouts. We went from very dry to quite wet very quickly this year so lots to do. Still have leeks, parsnips, carrots and some beets in the ground just finished the aubergines. The new big raised beds I made have been spread with compost so things are going well; We are coming into a spell of nice weather so hope to get more done in the veg plot then. I hate when the ground goes cold and wet

[Christine]

Rain stopped play. It's sodden underfoot and there are lots of odd jobs I'd like to finish. Want to get on and clear back the grass paths on plot one to where they should be - they got away last year when I was off training a new knee over winter. Rain stops play on that at the moment.

[al78]

Haven't done much on the allotment this month because it has been rain rain rain (like last year), now on the third consecutive wet weekend.