Cracking Cosmos!!!

For the past few years we have been growing Cosmos "Candy Stripe" in the garden and at the lottie as we love the colours and the variety of the flowers They can be anything to all white all scarlet and countless beautiful variations in between...

...no two are ever quite alike.

Planting Garlic...

This week I planted the garlic and onions to overwinter in keeping with my new philosophy of keeping on top of things and especially getting stuff sown/planted whenever possible. It has really paid off with the salad stuff I planted late summer and that has encouraged me to keep it going as long as possible...

The protection is really against cats at this stage although I will probably modify it wjhen the shoots appear to keep the birds away as well - this mesh is very low so they might be able to reach through it:-(

Planting onion sets...

Same story with the onions as with the garlic really...

Recent pics iii

This is the sort of harvest we have been getting on a regular basis recently - we love it!!!

The turnips are getting to quite a good size in parts but I overcrowded all these little rows and will be a lot more careful with future sowings. I need to sow more thinly and not be frightened of doing a bit of thinning out!

This is possibly the last (or maybe the last but one) alpple from the James Grieve tree. There was one last apple left on the tree which had to be picked and was thus not a windfall. Triumph!

Recent pics ii

I have been quite diligent this year in removing mildewed or otherwise diseased leaves from the courgettes and squashes...

...and have been rewarded with lovely fresh new growth and a supply of small succulent fruit.

The winter squashes have been gioing mad taking over the place as they are wont to do in a good year when they ae thriving in the sunshine...

...and this one is crawling away even though you can't tell from the size of the fruit that the variety is 'Atlantic Giant'!

Recent pics i

One of the real pleasures of the allotment at the moment is the harvesting of the salad crops I sowed in the late summer - something I have never done before. I have several types of leaf anfd flower to choose from including Mizuna, Green and Purple Pac Choi, Nasturtian leaves and flowers, the corn salad (aka Lamb's lettuce) which self -seeds every year around where the cherry tree now grows, and baby chard leaves. i have been forgetting the borage flowers but will remember next time with a bit of luck...

Here is partof the salad bed...

...and another picking. I have started filling a tupperware or two when I get the chance - so much better than the bags on offer in supermarkets!

Here is some more produce - I have picked 19 sweetcorn and counting this year and they are beautifully sweet and tender The grains almost literally burst in the mouth with a freshness and sparkle unheard of in shop-bought produce which is picked too late and stored too long.

Sue is 50!!!

Sue turned 50 yesterday and naturally allotment produce played a fairly large part in the festivities...only the best for me darlin'...etc...etc

We harvested the first of the baby chard for a creamy tagletelli sauce, and although no pics I added the first two ripe sweetcorn to Colin Spencer's 'Celestial Soup'.

The posts supporting the artichokes have snapped on one side and must be replaced...

The harvested chard looked fresh and pretty as it waited to be chopped and wilted.