October 2017 at the allotment

Autumn has come upon the allotment with full force. The ground is wet, crops are looking battered and the weeds are having a field day. Some plot owners at this time of year desert the allotment until spring comes but we still have a few winter crops to keep an eye on and the remaining produce from this year to gather in.

We primarily paid visit to pick the last of the red tomatoes. This year we have had a great yield which I think is due to the fact that the plants were germinated by our plot neighbours! Any remaining tomatoes probably won't ripen now but there aren't enough left to make anything out of them.

After we had picked the tomatoes we filled the rest of the trug with raspberries. I don't know how long these will go on for this this year but last year I picked the last of them in early November. The Junior JibberJabbers will certainly miss their soft fruit treats until next year when the strawberries start to ripen.

Will the courgettes ever end?! Not only do we have a good selection of large courgettes cum marrows but there are still some small ones on the patch. The ones which have gone to rot we will dig into the soil for extra nutrients.

Our winter crops of leeks and Brussel sprouts are coming along nicely. Hopefully like last year we will be able to have them with our Christmas dinner. Only someone who grows sprouts could hope for a good frost before Christmas!

The last of our produce is our onions and potatoes. We've been keeping the onions on their makeshift racks in the greenhouse. It seems to be helping them keep dry and the skins have crisped up nicely. In the dark section of the shed is a large sack of Desiree potatoes I dug up last month. I had a check on them and the darkness is keeping them firm without any eyes coming through. By next month we may actually need to start on this batch to eat!