Allotment Autumn update

What a boring picture I hear you saying!!! You're right. But I took it to show that the field beans green manure crop has come through well as promised by Melanie on the 3rd November. They look healthy. The ones in the garden at home are smaller but they don't get the sun like the plot does.

The bed behind is where I sowed broad beans on the 1st November. I think they are coming up, but so are dozens of nasturtiums!

I dug some spuds this morning and the last of the carrots. The spuds were very good still, although one was heavily scabbed. Another had sprouted and had quite a good plant on top. I pulled it out, but Malcolm thinks I should have left it to produce a second crop. I will if another does it too.

The carrots had all got the fly....the "Flyaway" to a lesser extent than the "Red Chantenay". My earlier carrots didn't get it at all so I thought perhaps it wasn't worth doing a screen. I know better now! I've ordered some environmesh for next year's crop.

When I did my seed order for next year I didn't go to the extra expense of getting "Flyaway" again as they were more than three times the price of the others. As they don't seem to be totally resistant to the fly then I think they are a waste of money, and a barrier will be the best remedy in future.

I spent an hour this afternoon weeding the paths and then hoeing them. I don't like weeds to get a hold on the paths as they are a pig to remove from the hard-trodden soil, whereas the weeds that come up in the untrodden beds are a breeze to pull out. There were lots of baby docks, which I am happy to have caught young.

There is still an awful lot to do before I am winter ready at the plot, but I have an operation pending so small trips to do not very onerous jobs will be all I can manage for a while. The big jobs will be in limbo during the winter anyway......weeds don't come back in profusion now until spring, when I should be fit and well again. (It is not a big op. I have a stone in my salivary gland which has now blocked the duct. It is very swollen and tender. I am scheduled for the op in January, but I hope I don't have to wait that long as I hate taking painkillers!)