It,s Brass Monkey Weather

The clocks have gone back a hour and we have had a few really hard frosts. the marigolds went from this

to this overnight

I hadn,t got around to insulating the greenhouse and it needed doing fast as I like to overwinter the pelargonium (zonal Geranium)and had just bought eight more at the B+Q sale for 50p each! couldn,t face doing the full job so put some shelving in there and made a bubble wrap "tent" around it

every evening I close it up with a curtain,pegging it together with clothspegs! so far it has stopped it going below freezing.I,m hoping it will save on energy bills

I have managed to get the overwintering onions in,last years were a disaster as most of them were ate by creatures unknown,this year I have covered them with very fine net. I,m hoping they will be safe and warm in there

this is the only harvest this week although the sprouts are coming on

Managed to get a pic of this frog just before the temperatures fell I do hope he is all right

we did see 2 hedgehogsone very small the other wet night I fear for them. also we have seen a very healthy fox around our housing estate. I put out uneaten cat food and leftover scraps so think perhaps he might be calling in my front garden on his travels

Hell Hath No Fury

Like a Allotmenteer scorned!!! Someone with a plot near mine has been told to vacate
and they were not happy! Here is a very trashed plot.Pity they didn,t spend as much energy before lol

The french beans were still trying to produce but the stiff wind tried harder. this is what I found

the lidl blackberry/raspberries are still going great guns! I intend getting more blackberries,digging out some weaker ones in the raspberry bed and replacing them with these when they die back

I think I have found a place for the overwintering onions unfortunately it,s just been dug over and is very clumpy so these will have to wait a little bit longer

The spring cabbage is still in the greenhouse and will have to "harden off" before starting off 09,s cabbage patch. they will go where the french beans have been

Here is the latest harvest

And this is how the front garden is looking. I,m happy that one michaelmas daisy survived

my tree is begining to change to it,s autumn colours I think it,s called a Stags Horn Sumach mmmm have to check up on that

Oh Dear ,We are Back to Bare Earth Pics

Yes the big Autumn dig is underway!There is a reason why I take pics of bare earth apart from feeling pleased with myself!it is a before the weather breaks the lumpy clay soil up. I hope we will have a few frosts this year, not that I like cold weather but it does kill some pests (slugs please) and well, it seems so normal unlike the last 2 winters

Think the leeks have had it this year, my fault for not keeping them covered in fleece

The runner beans have run out (ooo that was bad sorry)but the climbing french beans are still going strong,funny it,s usually the other way round

Here is yesterdays harvest. it was quite fine then but today the wind and rain is back again1 I,m afraid it is goodbye summer

Don,t Know What To Think Of Sarpo Potatoes

Well despite all the wet they are all dug up,maybe a bit later then they should have been! the Sarpo Mira died back earlier then Sarpo Axona perhaps this was caused by all the slug damage and perhaps it was this caused some to be rotten. I shall know whether it was blight or not if the good stored potatoes also go rotten
Sarpo Axona were slightly smaller. they stayed green and had much less slug damage with only one or two mushy ones again I will keep watch on the stored tubers
I would grow both again but dig them out earlier,if it does turn out that they suffered blight I would spray them as well as I think this is the only way to grow maincrop potatoes on our site which suffers blight even on good years
these are a few of the affected potatoes,not a pretty sight

It has not,for me been a good year for carrots as the first row sown got nibbled!! I think also that I planted them in the wrong place. I thought next year I would dig some bags of compost in the clay soil to lighten it up a bit. These are very small but the best I will be getting this year

Still picking raspberries, runner and french beans.not quite so many but plenty for a meal

Have done two winter hanging baskets for outside the back door.I grew some pansies from seed but they are still a bit small I bought the cyclamen at Chedder car boot last week

Ruby Wedding (40 Years) 21st September

This has nothing to do with my garden apart from the fact we are sat in it lol
but it is a once in a lifetime thing so here is OH and me with our cake

Is This What They Call A Indian Summer

It hasn,t rained here for 4 days!!!Think Scotland might be getting it at the moment.
It is so good to have a bit of sunshine! Last week I thought the climbing French beans had finished,the canes are leaning and they the leaves are turning brown

But today there are a fresh crop and plenty of small ones coming on

have been picking ½ punnet of autumn raspberries every visit but didn,t expect them on some blackberry plants bought from Lidl back in the spring! boxes are are long gone too late to complain :o) they are lovely raspberries though

Have planted my chewed up winter brassicas out, they look so pathetic I am ashamed of thembut the middles seem to be OK and they have 2 chances.Must remember to net them at home next year! some people just need to learn the hard way :o)

The marigolds are still looking good. they should last until the first frost

and beleive it or not this is the compost bin on the ½ plot!! guess what I,v been chucking on there :o)

My front garden looks a bit dull this time of year.the Michaelmas Daisies have not come up this year :o( am looking around for something that gives a bit of Autumn colour. managed to catch these sparrows haveing a drink at the pond

Where is All of This Rain Coming From?

It,s wet,very very wet and thank heaven I,v got the greenhouse1 It is quite a good feeling working in the dry when the rain is swilling down, of course you have to go out in it to fill the watering can up from the ful to the brim butt. thats a funny feeling having to water in the pouring rain. Did I mention that it,s raining?
Anyway today I tidied the greenhouse some of the tomatoe plants which I cut back have recovered thanks to opening the door a lot more,some of them had just rotted with the high humidity

Because there are soo many slugs around lettuce planted on the allotment get eaten so I have grown lettuce in hanging baskets and different salad leaves in pots.


I am picking these now the following ones are growing fast

these are the growing salads in pots

And some just coming up. they will be ready in a few weeks

I have also been potting on the spring greens I,m afraid they got a bit straggly so I planted them deep 2/3 to a pot I will keep the strongest one

The winter cabbage is still waiting for a place they have been "got at" by Cabbage White caterpillars which I try to keep taking off. they should be alright as the centre is still there

Managed to get up to the lotty the other day and picked plenty of beans and raspberries. these are my sunflowers trying to find some sun lol