Autumn has now set in, so plenty work to do...

It's frustrating that as soon as I go back to work at the start of September everything else just seems to be put on the back burner. Work exhausts me so by the time I get home on an evening I just want to sleep! 

Little bits have been happening at the allotment over the last few weeks, though not as much as I would have liked. 

I had a lovely brown and red onion harvest earlier in September. They're all sitting at home drying out to store- had the first one last night with our dinner and it was delicious. I'm just trying to think of a sensible way to store them when I've dried their skins out. 

My Sarah Raven order came in the post the other day too- so I've now got plenty tulip, alium and crocus bulbs waiting to go in!

This was my rather pathetic little greenhouse harvest the other day. The tomatoes have been an absolute disaster. There are still a few ripening on the plants at the moment but it really hasn't been worth it. They were given to me by an allotment neighbour at the beginning of summer, so might be more selective next year and grow my own. 

The cucumbers have been a success all summer though so can't complain there!

Last night my husband and I spent a fair bit of time on the allotment. After an insanely busy week at work I initially couldn't be bothered, but when we got there I really enjoyed it. It was a lovely evening, frogs were constantly appearing and I had to refill all the bird feeders- they've clearly been spotted now!! The mealworms are a clear favourite!

My husband began pulling back the tarp on the right hand side of the allotment- I wanted to get started on that sooner rather than later - basically before all the frogs move in to hibernate! Though as we started to lift it back there were already 3 frogs warming themselves at the edge. 

I had fun taking all the dead leaves from the bottom of the brussel sprout plants and collecting a few of the bottom sprouts to test those out.

I had heard mixed things- some people saying wait until the first frost, some saying it makes no difference. So I've taken this pile and I've just popped them straight into the freezer so I guess that will have to do! Will probably try and test them out on Sunday dinner this week. 

Next job is to keep working on the tarp area of the allotment, clearing that back and then starting to make raised beds over the Autumn/winter.

I also need to get some compost and gravel so I can sow my crocus and alium bulbs. The tulip bulbs will need to wait until the frost starts to plant though. 

I also need to start making my way around the pond pulling out the dandelion leaves and other weed like plants I don't want around there. Then I will be cutting it all back a bit waiting for the spring time when I can scatter new wildflower seeds and let Spring do it's job! 

The perfect summers day...

Today was the perfect summers day. A leasurly morning with the sun shining down. It was about 20 degrees here today so I got the bike out and headed up to the allotment. 

I was happy to see my aubergine and in fact all the greenhouse plants are looking happy. There's plenty peppers and jalapeños now, and even though I thought I wasn't going to get any tomatoes this year (plants given my a neighbouring allotment) they've finally decided to produce tomatoes; until now it was just the flowers!

I harvested a cucumber 2 days ago. I wasn't really sure when was best to harvest. But it seemed to have stopped growing and I was worried that it was going to go yellow and over ripen so I took the plunge. 

Perfect timing as well I think! It was perfect inside, so today I had some of it with my lunch which is always nice to do. 

I have been disappointed my the butternut squash on the plot. I have 2 in large bucket style pots which seem to be doing really well! Leaves are still green, they're flowering nicely and there's a few baby squash on each plant. I wish I had planted all five in the pots now (as I was originally going to do) but instead I put three of them in ground where the strawberries once were (though not for long) I'd been giving them plenty of water, as well as the rain we'd had, I'd also fed them a bit as I wasn't sure how much nutrients were in the ground. They seemed like they were going to do really well! Suddenly plenty of flowers appeared and a couple of baby fruits appeared but then over the space of a few days the leaves all turned yellow and today they pretty much looked dead. So really sad about that; but it is all a learning curve!! Just need to try and figure out why they died. Will give them a good look over next time I go- It may be a bug. 

I did enjoy spending time watching the pond today. There were frogs everywhere. I crouched down on the pebbly beach section for a while, and it almost seemed to become a game of 'Where's Wally?' It's sometimes quite hard to spot them hiding in the pond plants and in the grasses around the outside but it was really fun trying to spot them all. This little guy on the white pebbles underneath was hiding in the grass just before the pebbles, so he quickly hopped off when I arrived, though seemed to enjoy sitting on the pebbles for a little while; or as I call it, the beach!

 There were some quite sizeable frogs sitting around the outside of the pond. I feel really happy that I've been able to create a suitable habitat for a range of creatures.

Two days ago we also took an old rotting log along to put behind the pond under the bamboo plant. It has been sitting in my concreted back yard for about 2 years now and plenty things had already moved in due to the north facing but sheltered and damp environment it lived in. But I figured it can continue to rot down behind the pond and it can become a home for plenty insects.

 I'm also looking forward to creating an insect hotel. I've gotten inspiration from Pinterest for some really cute but rustic ones just made from things collected. So I will try and make one before the summer holidays are out. Only 3 more weeks left unfortunately.