A 'fine fat leek' to quote Jane Grigson.I have at last managed to spend a few minutes at the allotment today. 

All the onions seem to have germinated, but there was no sign of the garlic or broad beans yet. (I dug for a clove to check though and it did have firm roots and a tiny shoot.) 

At last the maple is beginning to show its Autumn colours. 

The 'usual' view is changing a little now as the Autumn progresses. 

You can see in the distance where the sweetcorn and crystal apple cucumbers were until very recently. Things are in danger of looking a bit sorted in this part of the allotment! I also took out the not very productive gooseberry bush which was in the corner of this bed (out of picture.) 

I put three rows of broad beans in the bed where the courgettes & squashes were growing. First time I've used rows in raised beds but i thought I'd give it a go using strings either side if the beans need supporting. 

Here are the onions & shallots I put in last week partially protected against birds. 

This is the area where the new beds should be going - a good Autumn job if we get some reasonably dry weather for a day or two! 

There are still some raspberries which I should be picking. Actually I have been ill in bed all this week so haven't been down at all - should be feeling more like it tomorrow though as I have been able to get a couple of things done at home today. 

What a strange thing a neglected seed potato can become!!! 

This is where I am intending to plant an apple tree this Autumn. 

Here are forty garlic cloves waiting to be planted.... 

...and here they are in situ in the sandpit bed at the end of the newly-cleared tomato patch (and a right messy job that was!) 

This bed (which had the tulips in it last Winter) is now ready for some overwintering red onion sets. 

The broccoli seem to be doing Ok, along with the chard and some leeks in the seedbed frame. There are still one or two courgettes left in the foreground. The raspberries behind need picking badly but I did a few jobs instead today and didn't have time. 

The carpet is keeping the weeds down on the two bottom beds until they are needed. One of these is the lamb's lettuce bed but I should get enough from the uncovered area at the end. This and ther next few pictures are all fron yesterday, Friday 13th October. I am having trouble posting as blogger is leaving blank spaces at the bottom of a lot of the pics - very frustrating!

The chard in the seedbed frame is flourishing. 

These courgettes look a bit past it but we are still getting some from them. 

All the following posts are using pictures from the 29th Sept as I try and catch up a little. The sky was striking later as we took the dog for a walk. Sue is enjoying a quiet moment waiting for me to get my boots on etc... (not for the first time)

The sky is constantly changing and on the right evening seems to get more and more breathtaking, even when the sun has disappeared. 

This is one of the enterprising Crown Prince that I picked earlier this week - it fell off the hedge in the end and the slugs were taking an interest!

The tomatoes have finished now and are awaiting the Autumn tidy... ...and some of them look distinctly iffy!

These courgettes (Romanescu) have had it now. They took off straight away when I put them in. The white ones that went in before them and struggled started a lot later and are still producing courgettes, so it worked out OK! 

The sweetcorn flourished this year in the end and we are still getting plenty from them. I love the patterns the darker grains make in this variety.

So...back to the allotment!...this is the most recent photo of the 'usual' view, taken on the 29th September, I'm afraid!
I did go down yesterday and picked some sweetcorn & weeded the sandpit bed where the onions had been but I forgot my camera.Everything is looking a bit overgrown at the moment. I picked 3 of the crown Prince squash yesterday but if you want to see a really fine collection of squashes follow the link on the right to Dave's Allotment - they're brilliant
.I need a good couple of days down the lottie over half term to sort things out a bit - here's hoping!

At last I am posting some France pics (in the light of my new-found enthusiasm on realising that people are still visiting me! (See below!)
 

The garlic was wonderful. I brought a load back because I thought mine from the allotment hadn't separated into individual cloves but as it turned out it was fine so it's a bumper garlic year one way or another... 

...and the onions are just as impressive! 

These little Mirabelle plums were delicious - and so pretty as well.

It makes me smile when I see these as we have picked a hundred pounds or so of greengages (well Cambridge Gages to be precise) from the tree in the back garden I planted a few years after we moved in. Every now and then it has a 'mad year' and then goes quiet for a year or two. Just as well really as it's a full time job sorting that lot out. We are glad to give them to anyone who will take them!

...and these peppers formed wonderful shapes in their green basket. 

DUH!!!

Hello again! I somehow turned on moderate comments without realising it so I haven't seen a comment for months. Have just realised this and am feeling a proper plonker!!! (Hangs head in shame) I'm so pleased to see all your comments as I was getting a bit lonely! Will read them now and get going again!!! :)