Digging for victory

I just had to go down to the allotment the day I returned from Uganda, to see how things were growing. I was amazed to see how high the beans had grown. And the grass sown in the Spring looks amazing - lush, green, and remarkably weed free. We inspected the corn and tasted some of the sweet kernels - far removed from those bought in the shops. The dahlias are doing well too, although I've planted them a little too close together. We picked some beetroot which has grown very large while I've been away. It seems a relatively easy crop to grow, with not many predators. I dared to pull a parsnip up this week - my first ever, so I wasn't sure when was the right time to pick them However, the tops were very large, and we weren't disappointed with the size of the root either. It measured a massive 16 inches. Of course the weeds are doing well too so I went down a couple of times during the week to wage war on the weeds. There's so much to do that I wasn't able to make much of a difference. I did pull out the old sweet pea plants, keeping a few seed pods back for next year.

It doesn't look as if Kevin has been near his corner for weeks so I pulled out a few of the larger weeds round by his leeks and carrots.

I put in about 60 of my own leek plants, but forgot to protect them. When I next went down they had all had their tops nibbled. Hopefully they'll still make it.

On Saturday Peter came with me and cut all the grass. It's a tiresome job as the lawn mower keeps cutting out and the strimmer won't run at all. I part- weeded the strawberry bed and potted up a few of the runners for next year. We had Katherine's dog Betty for the weekend so she came with us too and enjoyed sniffing around and basking in the sun.

Today I've tackled the jungle at the bottom end . I found the raspberry canes in among the bindweed, grass and nettles and cut down this year's fruiting canes, leaving the new ones for next year. Behind the old fire bin the blackberries had taken over, so I cut down the worst of them and picked a few blackberries to boot.

There are some lovely sunflowers coming out now and although they're not as big as some I've seen they are a very welcome and cheerful sight.

There's been a lot on the news this week about the old 'dig for victory' campaign during the war. They were trying to encourage people to grow their own vegetables. Well with the present recession it has again become very popular to grow your own, and there are huge waiting lists for allotments all across the country. I count myself very fortunate to have got one just in time. The BBC have had a Dig In campaign and have been giving away free seeds.

We went to the local gardening club show at the weekend. My big regret is that we didn't enter Peter's amazing apricot jam. I'm sure he would have won a prize. I'd like to know how they award the prizes. The runner beans seemed to be long and straight but in my estimation the longest ones aren't the best. There weren't many entries in many of the categories, so perhaps next year.....!