Thu 1 Oct 2009
Weather : Sunny
Progress : No work today - gone to collect an unwanted relative from Wiltshire.

Fri 2 Oct 2009
Weather : Sunny spells
Progress : Took our grandson to the allotment today so that he could help to gather the harvest. He did very well, and after loading up his lorry, he did some watering which is his passion.

Sat 3 Oct 2009
Weather : Damp overnight. Sunny spells
Progress : Met our sons and their families on the allotment in order to let them select some produce for themselves. Our grandson excelled in helping gather the produce then fetch water to top up the tanks.

Sun 4 Oct 2009
Weather : Sunny spells. Damp evening
Progress : Went up to get veg for a family dinner. Went back a bit later for some additional goodies for our son from London. Dug up a few large weeds.

Mon 5 Oct 2009
Weather : Wet day
Progress : Picked a few veg to supplement that which was left over from yesterday. Cut down and composted a few Sweetcorn stems. Also cut off decaying and sorry-looking leaves on the Swiss Chard. Topped up the compost enclosure in area 2 with fresh horse dung.

Tue 6 Oct 2009
Weather : Wet day
Progress : A quick trip to the allotment to get some items for our son and his family.

Wed 7 Oct 2009
Weather : Wet day
Progress : A late trip to pick veg for this evening.

Thu 8 Oct 2009
Weather : Sunny spells
Progress : Delivered some bags of fresh horse dung. Topped up the compost enclosure in area 2. Picked veg suitable for a stir-fry this evening. Found a giant Courgette which I took for a friend who likes them. Was asked by a fellow allotmenteer to look after his coldframe whilst he is away. Gave him some Poppy seeds to scatter on his embankment.

Fri 9 Oct 2009
Weather : Dull and damp
Progress : Went up in the morning with our grandson. The first thing he did was to put his arm into the water butt and get the sleeve of his coat wet. He helped me pull some Carrots and then carried a couple of Courgettes that I had cut. I dug some Leeks but they are rotting on the outer layers and smell awful.

Sat 10 Oct 2009
Weather : Sunny
Progress : No work today as we were staying on the Isle of Wight.

Sun 11 Oct 2009
Weather : Dull with showers
Progress : No work today as we were staying on the Isle of Wight.

Mon 12 Oct 2009
Weather : Sunny spells
Progress : No work today as we were staying on the Isle of Wight.

Tue 13 Oct 2009
Weather : Overnight air frost. Sunny
Progress : No work today as we were staying on the Isle of Wight.

Wed 14 Oct 2009
Weather : Sunny
Progress : Hoed then weeded throughout. Had a good picking of veg. A supervisor and the groundsman came on site whilst I was there to measure up a plot as a dispute has broken out over a boundary! A full length plot was split in two after the previous tenant gave up, but the boundary has been disputed by one of the new tenants as there is a nice row of Raspberries along the border which they want. Glad to report that upon remeasurement, the Raspberries stay with the original owner.

Thu 15 Oct 2009
Weather : Heavily overcast
Progress : Had a good picking to include ourselves and also our son and his family. Cut down and composted some more Sweetcorn stems. The remaining Sweetcorn has shrivelled and is no good. Noticed that the recent frost has scroched some of the Sweet Potatoe foliage.

Fri 16 Oct 2009
Weather : Damp start, sunny spells later
Progress : On arrival I was quizzed by a new allotmenteer about the cultivation and cooking of Butternut Squashes. Besides telling him what I knew, I also gave him a fruit to try. Did my daily cropping then had a tidy-up of marker canes then removed Cabbage stumps for disposal. Went back later to gather all the Butternut Squashes as frost is forecast for tonight.

Sat 17 Oct 2009
Weather : Sunny spells
Progress : Cleared the foliage from the Squash plants and composted it. Whilst I was doing that, two young lads came onto the allotments so I challenged them. They said they were going to their mother's allotment which is a typical excuse used by kids. However, I did establish that they were genuine without intimidating them. Picked a nice range of veg for dinner.

Sun 18 Oct 2009
Weather : Sunny spells
Progress : No work today as we were visiting a relative in Wiltshire

Mon 19 Oct 2009
Weather : Very dull start.
Progress : Cleared and composted the foliage from the Courgette and Cucumber plants then weede through the area. Topped up the compost enclosure with horse dung. Stripped the Climbing French Bean stems to take the drying pods under cover.

Tue 20 Oct 2009
Weather : Wet all day
Progress : A brief visit to gather veg for a fancy meal I am going to attempt tonight.

Wed 21 Oct 2009
Weather : Some sunny spells
Progress : I have found a new source of free horse manure so I filled a few bags and brought them to the allotment today. It seems that the main content is sawdust so I need to find out if this will make the soil too acid. Picked some Cabbage and Sweet Peppers and a Turnip that weighed 4lbs and looked like a 400 year old oak tree. Unfortunately, the inside was no different..

Thu 22 Oct 2009
Weather : Heavy showers
Progress : Took some fresh horse dung to site today. I am probably going to have to use this for the surface dressing over winter as my research into the sawdust based manure tells me that it will be counter-productive.

Fri 23 Oct 2009
Weather : Damp and overcast
Progress : Dug the entire crop of Sweet Potatoe as the frost has finished the foliage. The tubers were not as good as I had hoped as they were not very big and were interwoven with each other. There was also worm damage to which they are supposed to be resitant so I will report my findings to the supplier.

Sat 24 Oct 2009
Weather : Variable
Progress : Didn't spend too long on the allotment today as I am preparing the kitchen to replace the units and worktops.

Sun 25 Oct 2009
Weather : Mostly sunny
Progress : Didn't go to the allotment today as I am still working on the new kitchen.

Mon 26 Oct 2009
Weather : Dull and wet.
Progress : Busy on the kitchen today so I only called in to the allotment briefly to get the daily veg.

Tue 27 Oct 2009
Weather : Overcast and dull
Progress : Still working on the kitchen but did manage to gather some additional veg for our son and his family.

Wed 28 Oct 2009
Weather : Dull start. Sunny spells later
Progress : Took a trip to London on the coach to do some family history research.

Thu 29 Oct 2009
Weather : Some sunny spells
Progress : Delivered a few bags of fresh horse dung. Did the daily pick of veg.

Fri 30 Oct 2009
Weather : Sunny spells
Progress : Pottered down to gather the usual selection of veg for this time of year - Carrots, Cabbage, Leeks and a Swede.

Sat 31 Oct 2009
Weather : Sunny
Progress : Busy finishing the kitchen units today so I did not spend long on the allotment. Whilst there I picked for two days as tomorrow is due to be wet and we have the family coming to dinner.