Allotment Tales

On Friday, I decided to pay the allotment a long overdue visit as I'd not been for 2 or 3 weeks.  I decided to go in the car this time.  The last couple of visits I've taken the dog and walked there, but I find I don't like to stay too long and do too much when I do this, as I've still got the walk back ahead of me.  In addition, the last time I did this, the dog  refused to walk on the way home and I ended up carrying her most of the way!

I still took the dog with me on this visit, but started off by taking her for a walk in nearby parkland and along the canal, before heading up to the allotment site.  I kept her well within my sights, as we'd had a bit of a fright the night before, when she had run off during a walk with OH and we had all ended up out on the marshes at 8pm looking for her as it got dark.   Luckily, she was eventually found, but we were pretty worried for a while.   She'd been squirreling in the bushes and hadn't answered any of our calls.  OH was not happy, but we were relieved to get her home.  Anyway, I have to tie her up on the allotment site, so she doesn't go rampaging over everyones' plots.  She was pretty well behaved and patient though and sat for a whole two hours, whilst I got on with a bit of clearing and digging over.

I forgot my camera on this occasion, so I can't post any before and after photos, but the plot was a bit over grown and needed a bit of work.  I harvested all the crops that were ready first and then started to cut back some rocket that had flowered and gone to seed, did some weeding of beds and paths, started some general cutting back of overgrown plants and then a bit of digging over.  There was still a lot of work to do by the time I left, but at least I feel like I've made a start. 

I managed to harvest quite a few things - two large courgettes, three small cucumbers, a couple of large chillis, a pepper, some sweetcorn, a couple of odd parsnips,  and lots of runner beans.  There's still a few small beans on the plant, but I suspect this my be my last harvest of this season.  I'm now looking forward to getting it all cleared and ready for the winter.

Here's a picture of all I harvested.  All has now been washed and put in the fridge or freezer ready for use.  It should save me buying a few things this month and keep us going for a little while.

(Please excuse the pizza crust in the food waste bowl to the rear.  Very embarrassing, especially for one who purports not to like waste.  Not guilty in this instance.)