Autumn has definitely arrived...

...we had the first pumpkin soup of the year tonight. I was a bit heavy-handed with the fennel seeds but it tasted pretty good! There's enough left-overs for tea tomorrow too which is always a bonus.

Last night we had the first sprouts and also a few leaves of kale - yum! The weather was quite good yesterday too (makes a change) so I made a start on proper raised bed edging for the asparagus bed. The bed has been in place since we got the plot but I haven't looked after it very well and most of the crowns died in the first year as it was so dry. Three survived and were quite healthy-looking this summer (despite all the weeds), so can probably be harvested next year. Last year a fellow-allotmenteer gave me some replacements which I potted on, so this spring I'll plant them out. The bed had a lot of couch grass winding it's way in from the sides, so I'm hoping the proper edging will help prevent it happening again.

Well although it's been a long time since the last blog, I have been down the plot quite a lot - mainly harvesting - I think the biggest success this year was the cucumbers (outdoor ridge variety) which did amazingly well. I think they liked the horse poo. The sweetcorn was pretty good too, which again had horse poo to help it along.

I've made a start on clearing the beds though there's a lot more to go. The summer raspberry beds look much better after a spot of weeding and I've replaced the wire supports. There's still a few autumn raspberries slowly ripening, good for a nibble or two when working on the plot.

I still haven't put up the greenhouse though. The way things're going it may have to wait til spring!