[grendel]

I did come across this little chappie while digging for potatoes.

[kirpi]

Watered (yes, its raining down here) my squashes, outdoor tomatoes and beans with comfrey tea and my sweetcorn and brassicae with nettle tea. Picked up a beetroot for roasting later and left the allotment because my plot now stinks like silage!

Time for some home cooking - Oversized courgette to be stuffed with a bean mix, homegrown pale yellow carrots (the original colour), green cabbage and garden peas. Followed up with soya yogurt and raspberries. That allotment is a gold mine. 

[Snoop]

That allotment is a gold mine. 

Isn't it great when it all comes good?

[yorkiegal]

dug a nice deep hole in the part of the plot which tends to flood, so I can guage how bad the drainage situation is after tomorrow's predicted bad weather.

Sprayed bordeaux on two rows of my spuds with little hope of it working as the two plants i dug up at the end of the row had mushy tubers. Think I'm going to just lift them all next week and put it down to experience.

Came home and checked the weather forecast which says there might be frost up here tonight. Fingers crossed that my butternut squash survive.

[annieanne49]

Yesterday picked my first harvest of runner beans, just enough for todays dinner.  Today dug over the bed where my dwarf beans are supposed to be but didn't grow.  Well one did lol out of 60. Then planted some green manure, winter tares, first time using it so don't know what to expect.  Picked a load of blackberries and some rhubarb.  Made a blackberry and rhubarb crumble for after tea.  Was lovely but strange at the same time. Going back tomorrow if it doesn't rain.

[AnneB]

Spent longer at the plot than intended yesterday.   Had to get OH to bring a cat basket.   Very friendly and hungry stray cat on site, others said it had been there for a few days, we'd had visitors so I'd not been since Thurs am for 5 minutes.   Took it to local cat rescue place. It was microchipped and had been missing for 3 days, now reunited with owner.    Also harvested beans, beetroot, carrots and blackberries, weeded and watered in the polytunnel.

[beesrus]

Well done AnneB, the owner must have been delighted ... and cat. 
The rain stopped at 1pm so I tiptoed around the plot pulling all those deep rooted thistles, docks etc. Came up real easy with the rain we've had. Had a go at de-turfing part of a grass path.
Collected more tomatoes and a couple of fresnos for my now famous soup. Netted the grape vines against birds as the red vine is turning colour.

[Aled]

Got potatoes sadly had to dig up most of the crop, blight has arrived. Tomatoes, Runner beans, carrots and beetroot all available.
Cheers
Aled

[Snoop]

Watered with the help of visiting kids and planted out the last of the savoy cabbages.

Everything is looking fantastic, but it is all going to take a lot longer to water now. Of all the plants I've put in in the last few days (32 autumn and winter caulis, 9 romanescu, 21 broccolis, 18 cabbages, 60 leeks and 43 assorted lettuce, 50 garlic cloves for eating at the young garlic stage and 30 dwarf French bean plants), it looks like just one broccoli might not make it and even that one has nice firm leaves, just tipped over to one side. Not bad considering how hot it is at the moment.

Will be planting calçot bulbs tomorrow... Better get up a lot earlier for watering duties once they're in.

[snowdrops]

Watered with the help of visiting kids and planted out the last of the savoy cabbages.

Everything is looking fantastic, but it is all going to take a lot longer to water now. Of all the plants I've put in in the last few days (32 autumn and winter caulis, 9 romanescu, 21 broccolis, 18 cabbages, 60 leeks and 43 assorted lettuce, 50 garlic cloves for eating at the young garlic stage and 30 dwarf French bean plants), it looks like just one broccoli might not make it and even that one has nice firm leaves, just tipped over to one side. Not bad considering how hot it is at the moment.

Will be planting calçot bulbs tomorrow... Better get up a lot earlier for watering duties once they're in.

Can you set up a leeky hose system or do like I do sink bottles/plant pots in at the side of plants so you water direct to the roots?

[chillimummy]

Managed to spend couple of hours weeding and digging over area from digging up last of red onions and some more beetroot. Plot looking bit tidier! Dug up row of broad beans as have another newer row. Last of little gem lettuce looking a bit tatty so will dig them all up next visit. Couple of weeks hols and week of flu and plot goes a bit wild. Couple more visits and will be managable.

[Annen]

Dug up the Desiree potatoes. There were quite a few soft ones and quite a few with holes in, but there are quite a lot of shiny pink ones. I don't know if the soft ones were blight, but I'm not putting them on the compost heap just in case.
Dug up and have since pickled all the small beetroots from that succession.  Pulled up a couple of parsnips to have a see what they were like and they look promising.

[Snoop]

Watered with the help of visiting kids and planted out the last of the savoy cabbages.

Everything is looking fantastic, but it is all going to take a lot longer to water now. Of all the plants I've put in in the last few days (32 autumn and winter caulis, 9 romanescu, 21 broccolis, 18 cabbages, 60 leeks and 43 assorted lettuce, 50 garlic cloves for eating at the young garlic stage and 30 dwarf French bean plants), it looks like just one broccoli might not make it and even that one has nice firm leaves, just tipped over to one side. Not bad considering how hot it is at the moment.

Will be planting calçot bulbs tomorrow... Better get up a lot earlier for watering duties once they're in.

Can you set up a leeky hose system or do like I do sink bottles/plant pots in at the side of plants so you water direct to the roots?

I've tried both these in the past without much success. I need to get a lot of hay I think for the leaky hose system to work as the water never seems to get down deep enough - just moistens the surface. The bottles seem to get a hard plug of clay that doesn't drain through very well, so again the plants get parched.

The leaky hose system is the way forward, but at the moment I don't mind watering by hand. Gives me a chance to inspect everything and gets me out of bed early before the bees have taken over the water butts.

[miggs]

Just got back in from the plot. Picked some more Runner Beans, Tomato's and some Potato's. Can't for the life of me remember what Potato's they are, but they are a reddy colour. A cross between Red and Pink, if that makes sense.

[snowdrops]

Weeded the parsnips, harvested stuff , had a solitary cuppa, chatted & put the world to rights about children & schools