Fri 1 Aug 2008
Weather : Sunny with showers and strong wind.
Progress : Did my work in two trips today. Originally I just went up to do some picking which included the first Calibrese. I did a bit of watering also. I fancied going back later so I did some watering as the forecast heavy rain did not materialise yesterday. Picked all remaining Broad Beans then dug up and composted the remains of the plants from plot 2d and cleared the weeds. Cut down the stems in plot 2b and bagged them as they were severley rusted. Took out the bamboo cane supports. My sister called in whilst I was there so I gave her a picking of Spinach Beet. Checked the Blueberry bushes which now have virtually no fruit at all.

Sat 2 Aug 2008
Weather : Sunny spells and showers.
Progress : A short trip for some picking this afternoon. Took the remaining Onions from plot 3c. They seem to be lasting longe than I expected after being blighted. Found and destroyed some butterfly eggs from the underside of Brassica leaves.

Sun 3 Aug 2008
Weather : Overcast with showers.
Progress : Watered the Legumes and Tomatoes. The little rain we have had over the past three weeks has not made any real impression on the ground. Today's picking produced another cuddly carrot.

Mon 4 Aug 2008
Weather : Sunny spells with showers.
Progress : Cropped the Onions from plot 1 then weeded the area. Also weeded where I had cropped all the other Onions. Weeded and trimmed the edge of plot 1. Put lawn weedkiller on the grass path around plot 1 to get rid of the copious amount of Dandelions which had spread from the adjacent neglected allotment. Gathered veg for dinner. I took a video of the allotment as it is today but the last section did not save so I will probably do it again later in the week, and hopefully better!

Tue 5 Aug 2008
Weather : Overcast with rain.
Progress : A short picking session today. Picked the first of the Dwarf French Beans.

Wed 6 Aug 2008
Weather : Overcast.
Progress : A picking session today. Whilst there I weeded through the Leeks in plot 1. I also cut down and composted some of the Spinach that had bolted on plot 2c. Found a couple of caterpillars on the Brassicas on plot 3b. Tied up the Tomatoes and Cucumbers.

Thu 7 Aug 2008
Weather : Sunny spells. Warm.
Progress : Delivered a carload of fresh horse dung onto the allotment for topping up the compost bins. Dug a row of Desiree Potatoes and composted the foliage. Some nice big ones amongst them. Got about ¼cwt from the row, including those from the plants which may have been sprayed with weedkiller which I have kept as they may well be OK to eat, having developed at a later stage. Remade some of the video which I started on Monday. Found some caterpillars on the Sprouts on plot 3b. Picked some extra veg to take to my sister in exchange for Tomatoes.

Fri 8 Aug 2008
Weather : Sunny spells. Warm.
Progress : Dug the remainder of the desiree Potatoes. The total crop from 30 plants is 103lbs which equates to 3½lbs per plant. Weeded where the potatoes had been dug. Dealt with some more caterpillars.

Sat 9 Aug 2008
Weather : Wet and windy.
Progress : Walked up in the rain to get a picking. Most days that I go up to the allotment to pick I seem to forget something. Today it was the Lettuce so we had Spinach leaves in our salad sandwiches.

Sun 10 Aug 2008
Weather : Sunny spells and showers.
Progress : Signs of nightime visitors with beer cans next to one of the seats. Daily picking just after our daughter-in-law had made her visit. Took the last Cauliflower and Calibrese. Tried a couple of small Turnips but they turned out to be rotten inside. The Apple tree is being pulled over by the weight of the fruit and assisted by the strong wind. Although the apples are not fully ripe yet, I picked a few to relieve the tree and they are going to be delicious.

Mon 11 Aug 2008
Weather : Sunny spells. Windy.
Progress : Mowed the grass then lent my mower to a colleague allotmenteer. Found some more caterpillars. Brought back a barrowload of vegetables.

Tue 12 Aug 2008
Weather : Overnight rain. Sunny spells. Windy..
Progress : Took a sackful of fallen Apples from home for composting. Weeded through most of the root crops in plot 3d. Sowed three rows of Carrot (Eskimo) which should overwinter. Planted some French Parsley into spaces in plot 4 where germination had not taken place. Weeded plot 4 then topped up the slug traps in that area. The Brussels Sprouts have some sort of disease or infestation which is causing the lower leaves to discolour and die so I picked off the affected areas then took the bag of leaves away for disposal.

Wed 13 Aug 2008
Weather : Showers. Very windy.
Progress : Called in late in the day to pick veg for dinner. Noticed that the Potatoes next to the Tomatoes were showing signs of blight which was starting on the Tomatoes.

Thu 14 Aug 2008
Weather : Sunny spells.
Progress : Took the car onto the allotments to deliver some sacks of fresh horse dung. Cut down the foliage of the Pink Fir Apple Potatoes which were blighted. Also cut off all affected leaves on the Tomatoes. Lifted the crop od Picasso Potatoes which yielded ¾ cwt. Many of the tubers were split as last year also there was quite a bit of slug damage. I laid the tubers out on the ground to dry before taking them home. My sister called in whilst I was there so I gave her one of the Apples to try.

Fri 15 Aug 2008
Weather : Sunny spells
Progress : Met one of the allotment reps in town this morning and he told me there had been a meeting yesterday. The pump washers have arrived at last and will be fitted soon. Some pig-wire is to be put along the road side fence to keep dogs out. Also the temporary toilet is to be replaced with a permanent structure. Removed the remnants of the Cauliflower and Calibrese plants, composting the leaves and stems but disposing of the roots to prevent the possibility of spreading any latent clubroot. Removed the netting from the Winter Cabbage plants in plot 1 then weeded through. Weeded where the Radishes had been finished in plot 1. Tied up and watered the Cucumbers which have fruit set. Picked the handful of Blueberries which represents the remaining half of this years crop. Found more caterpillars, especially newly emerged on the Kale. Cropped the first Sweet Pepper which was undersized but there are plenty coming on. Cut away some more blighted leaves on the Tomatoes. Cut down the old canes of the Raspberries. Sprayed weedkiller where required on the central paths. Put some mothballs into the Mole runs. Popped in later to pick some Spinach Beet to take to my sister when I went to mow her grass.

Sat 16 Aug 2008
Weather : Sunny spells.
Progress : Cut away some more blighted Tomatoe leaves. Loosened some areas of compacted soil with the cultivator which will also keep the weeds down.

Sun 17 Aug 2008
Weather : Sunny spells. Some overnight rain.
Progress : Cut away some more blighted Tomatoe leaves. Disposed of plenty more carterpillars. Dug out the remains of the Cauliflowers in plot 3b and weeded through. Did some hoeing. Pulled the remainder of the first sowing of Carrots.

Mon 18 Aug 2008
Weather : Wet and windy.
Progress : Pulled the first of the second sowing of Carrots and they are a really good size. Destroyed more caterpillars.

Tue 19 Aug 2008
Weather : Sunny spells and showers.
Progress : Picked the first of the Climbing Beans. Destroyed more caterpillars.

Wed 20 Aug 2008
Weather : Sunny spells and showers.
Progress : Destroyed more caterpillars. Weeded then dragged the cultivator through the areas where Potatoes had been cropped. Cut down and composted the Spinach from plot 2c. Had to pick all the Tomatoes as all the plants have taken the blight very quickly. Disposed of all the foliage. Planted a couple of Parsley seedlings into spaces in the row in area 4. Weeded and hoed in plot 1. Back at home I sowed a tray of Lettuce (All the Year Round) and a tray of Cauliflower (All the Year Round).

Thu 21 Aug 2008
Weather : Sunny spells.
Progress : Destroyed more caterpillars. Dug up and composted the Spinach roots from plot 2c. Weeded part of fruit area 2. Sowed a late row of Spinach (Perpetual) next to the other Spinach in plot 3a.

Fri 22 Aug 2008
Weather : Sunny.
Progress : Took down a bag of wood chippings made from the prunings of our Apple tree earlier in the year. Covered the wood chippings with fresh horse dung in compost area 2. Cut the grass. Destroyed more caterpillars. Did some hoeing. Managed to get out of the allotment despite someone having parked tightly across the gate.

Sat 23 Aug 2008
Weather : Sunny.
Progress : More caterpillar slaughter. There has been a real plague of Cabbage White butterflies over tha past week or so. Clipped the vegetation along the bank also cut the residual long tufts of grass that the mower could not reach along the paths. Did some hoeing. Weeded through where I had cleared the Spinach in plot 2c and found a couple of kilos of Potatoes which had grown from last years crop. Our daughter-in-law called in for veg supplies. The veg I picked for ourselves today was unusually tender and delicious - Cabbage, Runner Beans and Carrots..

Sun 24 Aug 2008
Weather : Overnight rain. Sunny.
Progress : Destroyed more caterpillars then did the daily pick.

Mon 25 Aug 2008
Weather : Sunny spells.
Progress : Destroyed more caterpillars then did the daily pick. Cut the first of the Cucumbers. Back at home I had to dispose of the Tomatoes that I had picked as they all were starting to rot from the blight, so we have not had a single one from this years crop. We had garlic Kiev for dinneCauliflower, French Beans, Spinach and mashed Potatoe - all stupendously tender.

Tue 26 Aug 2008
Weather : Overcast.
Progress : Destroyed more caterpillars. Trimmed the edges of the grass paths. Hoed a bit then weeded through the early sowings of Schorzonera. Had to pick some of the early Purple Sprouting Brocolli which should not be ready until January but is coming on fast. Found a chunky carrot amongst my crop today. Was told that vandals had been onto the allotments over the weekend and pushed over the chemical toilet. I noticed that they had also been in last night and taken some carrots also put some watering cans etc into a water tank.

Wed 27 Aug 2008
Weather : Mostly overcast.
Progress : Destroyed some more caterpillars. Cleared and weeded the area where the Peas and Broad Beans had been on plot 2a, cleaned the pea nets and stroed them away. The groundsman came in and mowed the grass whilst I was there. Talking to one of the other allotmenteers, he told me the vandals had also broken some bean sticks last weekend. It seems clear that the perpetrators are known. However, the report of stolen potatoes turned out to be a false alarm as the owner had left them out and invited another allotmenteer to help himself. He did just that but the owner had forgotten that her had offered them!

Thu 28 Aug 2008
Weather : Generally overcast.
Progress : Mowed the grass. Found a few more caterpillars.

Fri 29 Aug 2008
Weather : Generally overcast.
Progress : Hoed some of the open areas to keep the weeds down. Weeded through the Leeks on plot 1. Had another go at the caterpillars. Picked enough veg to today and tomorrow.

Sat 30 Aug 2008
Weather : Sunny.
Progress : No work today.

Sun 31 Aug 2008
Weather : Sunny spells with rain.
Progress : Noticed immediately that someone had been into my shed but nothing seems to be out of place. Caught up with the caterpillars after a day off yesterday. Picked veg for dinner today plus any Runner Beans that were getting too big. Had a couple of odd Carrots with todays crop, a pair of Siamese twins and a rude one.