Friday October 24th
We've had a few days away in Portugal and just came back this morning. As usual, I couldn't wait to get down to the allotment, so as it was such a lovely day, I quickly unpacked, had a cup of tea and set off. I needed a new job, so set about tackling the asparagus bed. I cut down most of the yellowing ferns to about two or three inches from the ground. I've decided to make the bed a bit smaller than it is at present, so I defined one of the edges, by turning over the soil, and yes, pulling out more weeds. It's well overgrown now, even though I pulled many of the weeds out in July. Still the soil was fine and crumbly and the weeds came out easily. However, when I tackled the edge next to the 'path' there were lots of bindweed, buttercups and blackberries, plus many other weeds which I didn't know the names of. Some of the dandelion roots were enormous - they must have been there a very long time. Still lots more to pull out next time.
The garlic and onions seem to have stayed in the ground while I was away, so the sticks must have done their job at keeping the birds off.
I picked a real crop of runner beans today. About a pound and a half. Wow! My first proper picking of something I grew myself. Think I'll have to freeze some of them. Do I still need to blanch them, I wonder? It's a long time since I grew enough crops to freeze. We used to grow corn when we lived in Canada, and broad beans when we lived in Scotland, and I used to blanch then. I'm sure things have changed now, though.