Wednesday 18th August
I've been worrying about the butternut squashes lately as they've been producing lots of flowers but no sign of any fruit. They are all grown from seed kept from one of my own squashes, and I was afraid
they might all be male plants, or all female plants, and that that might prevent them from producing fruit. However, when I looked today I found five tiny baby squashes! Hooray! They are so interesting to grow, as they ramble all over the allotment, without any regard to the weeds, the paths or the other vegetables. Then, just when you're about to give up on them, there are all the baby fruit. The two courgette plants have started producing again. I've given some to Mark who gave me plants, and also made some courgette muffins. The pumpkin is still growing fast and must be approaching two 
feet across. It looks like it will make a fine Halloween lantern. There are also smaller pumpkins on some of the other plants. I have one growing in the compost bin and one in the manure pile. Peter took Betty for a walk round the allotment site the other day and spoke to a chap who told him that 'they do pinch pumpkins around here.' One of his was found smashed in the road. We have taken the trouble to hide ours from being seen from the lane, although anyone walking round the plot will see it easily.
The French beans continue to be a great success and I'm picking them about every other day. We've picked four corn cobs so far which were delicious, but compared to size of other corn plants around the site, they're disappointingly small. The rows of carrots, fennel and parsnips are at last starting to grow, and I've covered them all with small wire cloches, to keep the nibbling rabbits away. I've also planted some oriental leaves.
The blueberries are all picked now and have been amazingly successful. Most are now safely tucked away in the freezer, although I have used some for making a batch of Rosalee's blueberry muffins. Delicious!
I've dug and raked the ground where the onions were, as I intend extending the grassed area in the coming weeks. There's a lot more ground than I need to use for planting, and that will make for one less area to weed.
I have at last got to grips with the weeds on the asparagus patch, keeeping them hoed down throughout the summer. I've boarded the edge of the asparagus plot with plastic covered boards to prevent the grass from creeping in.
The tomatoes have been successful grown next to the asparagus and we've started picking them this week. We've also dug up most of the maincrop potatoes. Many of them are a good size with very little slug damage.
Kevin's been down on his plot recently and done a bit of tidying up, digging over etc. Don't know if he took any produce away though?
I've been worrying about the butternut squashes lately as they've been producing lots of flowers but no sign of any fruit. They are all grown from seed kept from one of my own squashes, and I was afraid
they might all be male plants, or all female plants, and that that might prevent them from producing fruit. However, when I looked today I found five tiny baby squashes! Hooray! They are so interesting to grow, as they ramble all over the allotment, without any regard to the weeds, the paths or the other vegetables. Then, just when you're about to give up on them, there are all the baby fruit. The two courgette plants have started producing again. I've given some to Mark who gave me plants, and also made some courgette muffins. The pumpkin is still growing fast and must be approaching two 
feet across. It looks like it will make a fine Halloween lantern. There are also smaller pumpkins on some of the other plants. I have one growing in the compost bin and one in the manure pile. Peter took Betty for a walk round the allotment site the other day and spoke to a chap who told him that 'they do pinch pumpkins around here.' One of his was found smashed in the road. We have taken the trouble to hide ours from being seen from the lane, although anyone walking round the plot will see it easily. The French beans continue to be a great success and I'm picking them about every other day. We've picked four corn cobs so far which were delicious, but compared to size of other corn plants around the site, they're disappointingly small. The rows of carrots, fennel and parsnips are at last starting to grow, and I've covered them all with small wire cloches, to keep the nibbling rabbits away. I've also planted some oriental leaves.
The blueberries are all picked now and have been amazingly successful. Most are now safely tucked away in the freezer, although I have used some for making a batch of Rosalee's blueberry muffins. Delicious!
I've dug and raked the ground where the onions were, as I intend extending the grassed area in the coming weeks. There's a lot more ground than I need to use for planting, and that will make for one less area to weed.
I have at last got to grips with the weeds on the asparagus patch, keeeping them hoed down throughout the summer. I've boarded the edge of the asparagus plot with plastic covered boards to prevent the grass from creeping in.
The tomatoes have been successful grown next to the asparagus and we've started picking them this week. We've also dug up most of the maincrop potatoes. Many of them are a good size with very little slug damage.
Kevin's been down on his plot recently and done a bit of tidying up, digging over etc. Don't know if he took any produce away though?
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