Sunny

Some beautiful warm sunny weather encouraged us to have a cream tea on the plot and look who joined us 🙂 There were also brimstone butterflies, more peacock butterflies and lots of bumblebees - a proper feel of Spring.

We’ve had a productive week. We went shopping and bought lots of seeds for the year - some gifted seeds in there too. We have a few left-overs which we didn’t bother re-buying this year.

They’re all pretty basic, nothing very exciting but hopefully that means they’re easy growers… And we’ve started sowing! There are 3 pepper seeds in each section - two types of pepper which will stay at home at least till they germinate, which may be 3 weeks.

Bequinho Red and California Wonder Peppers

If successful some of these will grow in one of the new raised beds that are now in the polytunnel. It was a lot of work clearing and tidying the polytunnel then filling the beds with layers of rotted wood chip, chicken manure and Apsley mulch - they’ll be topped off with tomato bags when we’re ready to plant.

Good timing for another warm day yesterday - 60 perennial plug plants were delivered in the morning - on sale for £10 from Dobies - they’re so teeny weeny, each seedling + pot measures at most 6cm tall!

We both found it rather therapeutic potting them on sitting in the sunshine. I was careful to label them, but I think a couple of labels got mixed up 🙄 I’m sure it’ll be obvious once they’ve grown a bit…

I don’t expect we’ll keep them all, but I’d like a new flower bed where all those pots are being stored, so will see if that plan works out. 

These are the varieties (pasted from the Dobies site as I’ll need this info later):

• Achillea millefolium 'Cerise Queen' - Easy to grow, even on poor dry soils, and ideal for wildlife gardens where it attracts butterflies and other insects. Height: 60cm (24"). Spread: 60cm (24").
• Aquilegia caerulea ‘Mrs Scott Elliot Mixed' - Nodding spurred blooms, in a range of pretty colours are carried delicately on tall wiry stems. Height: 60cm (24"). Spread: 40cm (16").
• Coreopsis 'Golden Joy' - Easy to grow, low maintenance and will grow in most soil types and environments. Height: 45cm (18"). Spread: 40cm (16").
• Delphinium ‘Dark Blue & White Bee’ - Intense dark blue flowers, each with an unusual white "bee" shape at the centre! Height: 90cm (36"). Spread: 30cm (12").
• Dianthus barbatus ‘Rockin Red’ - This new interspecific hybrid brings the strongest shade of red we’ve seen in a Sweet William. Height: 50cm (20"). Spread: 30cm (12").
• Foxglove ‘Dalmatian Mixed’ - These short lived perennials will happily seed about to create dramatic drifts and attract wildlife to their nectar rich flowers. Height: 50cm (20"). Spread: 40cm (16").
• Geum ‘Mrs J. Bradshaw’ - Well-loved and consistently popular, this variety bears flame-red, semi-double blooms on thin wiry stems. Height and spread: 60cm (24").
• Leucanthemum ‘Crazy Daisy’ - Wonderfully frilly, white, daisy-like blooms with soft buttery yellow centres that perch on upright stems. Height: 60cm (24"). Spread: 45cm (18").
• Lobelia cardinalis ‘Queen Victoria’ - Tall spikes of deep maroon foliage topped by glowing scarlet blooms bring a welcome splash of late summer colour, when many flowers have already faded. Height: 90cm (36"). Spread: 30cm (12").
• Verbena ‘Buenos Aires’ - The long lasting blooms of the stunning variety are guaranteed to attract clouds of bees and butterflies into your garden. Height: 120cm (48"). Spread: 60cm (24").

Feeling rejuvenated by the Sun (but slightly regretting it today!) I also did a bit of digging and a little sowing too; 3 pots of heirloom sweetpeas - taller pots to help with their long tap roots.

And a drainpipe of Snow Wind mangetout - a drainpipe for ease of planting without damaging the roots. These are meant to be self-supporting but I intend to grow them with the sweetpeas.

There was a touch of frost last night but all those should be okay in the polytunnel. We had a little walk this morning, but it’s not as nice as the last couple of days so we didn’t go to the plot. I potted on a couple of little house plants - they’re meant to be ‘very easily maintained’, both want to dry out completely between watering and like a warmer climate (like us).  The Ceropegia Woodii aka String of Hearts should fill out and can be a lovely looking plant. Hmm, I wonder …

That’s all for now. Enjoy the lovely song by Bobby Hebb - can’t believe I’ve not used this before!

What a Difference a Day Makes

Saturday’s warm sunshine encouraged us to have a few hours on the plot. The ladybirds and bumblebees were out in number along with this lone peacock butterfly which was sunbathing on the grape hyacinths.

The little flowers provide a nice patch of colour and spread like crazy so there are small bunches in various places around the site where I’ve re-planted bulbs over the years.  The nectar lovers are mainly seeking out blues and yellows at the moment. The yellows are provided by daffodils and dandelions on our plots and the paths.

These two tiny tête-à-tête narcissi sneaked onto the pile of wood chips which have been left in the communal area - they’re so sweet!

Look at that lovely blue sky over the blackthorn blossom - what a welcome sight!

Our little fruit trees have all budded - I wonder if this will be our first year for fruit … I think this is the pear, it needs a trim - I’ll leave it to late-Autumn now.

We managed a bit of clearing and even a bit of digging where the potatoes will be planted. There’s an area where I pulled the leeks, due to leek moth damage, where we’ll probably put a few more potatoes too. (As I write this, I remember that’s where the mangetout was going 🤔 I need a better plan) The onions look pretty awful but the garlic still seems to be growing ok so far.

But nothing is growing as fast as the grass, so I strimmed all the edges on Sunday as fellow plotholder Clint kindly mowed the paths for us.

Sunday morning arrived with a beautiful sunrise and from our window I could hear a Great spotted woodpecker tapping away somewhere nearby.

We bought a couple of raised beds for the polytunnel so put one of them together in the afternoon; need to do a bit more tidying before we can fit the other one plus chairs and seed racks (and all the other bits and bobs) in. The rain was torrential so I was getting a drenching due to leaky polytunnel seams, but Jamie was helping from the director’s chair - even after it split 🤭

No sign of frogs or spawn in the tiny pond which was also getting a hammering from the rain.

I also managed some meagre pickings of purple sprouting broccoli - mostly picked from second year plants which was a little bonus. Hardly a feast, but enough to cheer up a rather boring pizza!

It was so nice to get back to a bit of plotting, but my legs and back are feeling it today. A few more sunny days would be welcomed to progress a bit more - we have a lot to do over the next couple of months but feeling positive. I told Jamie that my retirement plan involves achieving one thing every day - don’t want to overdo it 😃 - turns out that’s an actual strategy; I thought I’d made it up! Also it seems I may actually receive some pension income this month, after my original form was ‘lost in the post’ hmmm…

Song title provided by Dinah Washington - an oldie, but sums up the weekend’s weather. Now try to get that song out of your head!

Jigsaw

We still haven’t visited the plot yet this year. The weather has been so dire that we haven’t felt the least bit inclined. 

Hellebore

To be honest, I’m mostly thinking ‘Oh, I can sort that out once I’ve retired’ and ‘I’ll start after our holiday’ and ‘I must re-decorate the bathroom door now the shower is complete’. I really have mastered the art of procrastination. Today give me the benefit of the doubt, the ground will be sodden though, after such a damp Winter so far. So it’s fine that I’ve wasted hours on this on-line puzzle page and you can too 😃 - a little reminder of how beautiful Summer on the allotment can be and why a bit of preparation goes a long way!

99Echinacea Corner 

Anyway, just a tiny post to welcome in 2026 and I think you’ll be seeing more jigsaws this year - you have been warned 🤭

Song title provided by Ryan Sheridan - great song, I hadn’t heard it before.

Too Late

Autumn really provides us with some lovely Sunrises and Sunsets. This was the view from our window one morning in September and there have been some excellent pink clouds at both ends of the day. At home we’ve noticed bats flitting about when it’s still quite light before dusk and after dark a hedgehog has been trundling through the courtyard.

The allotment is waiting to be cleared, but my heart’s not in it at the moment. That bed has the parsnips and beetroot but almost everywhere else needs clearing. We want to dig a trench under the old polytunnel frame where the climbing beans will grow next year. All the old foliage can go in there but I need to clear the squashes first - maybe I’ll actually do that today…

I’ve planted some daffodil bulbs around the orchard and in the flower plot and I did get round to planting the garlic at the beginning of the month - about 30 Czechmate Wight. Sprinkled onion fertiliser on the leeks, onions and those garlic cloves.

I pulled the last Pink Fir potato from there. Just enough for a couple of meals from some potatoes left on the allotment spares shelf, with 20cm chits! They were very tasty roasted.

At the end of September I cleared the small raised bed - the pak choi had all bolted and the Chinese cabbage disappeared - but I discovered the seed tray where I’d sown All Year Round cauliflower! I hoed and cleared (not dug, brassica don’t want dug soil - luckily!) an area in the brassica cage and stuck 14 seedlings in, so we’ll see…. I don’t know if the whole country is the same but we have hoards of whitefly - in the town as well as at the allotment.

There are still a few redcurrant tomatoes hanging on, but I’m expecting that this was the last meal that included fresh home-grown toms this year - they’ve certainly served us well!

Talking of food - we visited beautiful Oxford yesterday specifically for the regular street food market at Gloucester Green and to visit a museum. 

Gloucester Green didn’t disappoint - so much choice Nepalese, Thai, Lebanese, Italian, Korean with so many veggie options! I opted for a Persian halloumi bowl - so delicious- and Jamie had Chinese dumplings - yum yum 😋 

We browsed the shops including Blackwells Bookstore and visited The Covered Market for coffee and cake at Browns Cafe - it’s a must.

We wandered along streets - a bit dodgy for Jamie at times - admiring the architecture and considering the history in these cobbled alleyways and walls - so beautiful. And spotting the weird features and gargoyles on many of the buildings.

We heard music and when we turned into Broad Street we stumbled across another street market - what a stroke of luck! Being surrounded by so many different nationalities and languages makes Oxford such an interesting city to sit, watch and listen. Oh, and have a little drink of course ☺️

What a lovely, exhausting day! Now, as we’re well into October and it’s not windy or rainy I really should go to the allotment… Carole King provides the great song because we didn’t make it to the museum on time! That’s ok, we’ll be back.

Hung Up

I finally used the macrame kit my sister gave me a while ago (sorry Carolyn, I think it’s been used as a monitor stand for a few years 🤦‍♀️). I must say it was rather fiddly and I did have to unravel the plant hangers a couple of times. I definitely didn’t follow the instructions properly but they look alright and no-one will look that closely 🙂 Anyway, they’re perfect for that little plant and a re-homed spider-baby plus I bought the white pot for 50p from the Antiques Arcade in Hungerford - bargain!

While I was getting into knots, I grew an affinity with this (not so) little lady Cross Orbweaver spider weaving her web on our window. (I could have done with some extra limbs for the macramé). Sorry for the blurry photo, taken through double-glazing - no way I’m getting close even if we did bond! I’m not a spider fan, but she is fascinating to watch. She sleeps under a leaf and waits for the day to warm up a bit before fixing her web and sitting waiting for anything to cause a vibration, then she’s up and on them. She spent a long time dealing with a leaf; I’m not sure if she ate it or tossed it aside but I did see her deal with a butterfly, which was rather disturbing.

Since my last post the weather has turned dry and cold - especially overnight. I picked all the outdoor melons as the foliage had died back and a frost was threatened - I’m hoping one or two of them will ripen at home. The melon in the trug was from the polytunnel and was so ripe you could smell the sweetness. And it was delicious.

And finally I’ve had some beetroot - so incredibly slow to bulb up this year. I’m trying to blame the weather but I know I should have thinned out the seedlings earlier - along with so many jobs that didn’t get done properly this year, but…. Plot7 did win third prize in the plot judging, I think maybe there wasn’t much competition!

On the last sunny day a week ago I planted 48 Snowball onions - lovely white ones. I put a net over them to deter birds/mice/squirrels from digging them out. The leeks and onions are going to be joined by garlic quite soon and the whole bed is going to be highlighted with salsify judging by the number of seedlings I found. Well, they have a pretty flower, so I don’t mind as long as they don’t get in the way and perhaps I’ll actually get to eat one next year.

I think plot neighbour, Neal’s, busy Lizzie’s are evidence that there was some frost on site, but it’s only hit a few susceptible plants so far.

Our flower plot avoided it and even got some nicotiana which has been attempting to put on a show for months. 

And I do love the Cerinthe Major and the sedum which the bees were enjoying today too.

Our scattered sunflowers have taken advantage of what little Sun they’ve seen over the last week but they didn’t know where to look for it today!

The sunshine and showers earlier in the month have encouraged everything to re-grow - this was a bare patch of earth 4 weeks ago, now it’s a whole bed of nigella, valerian, cranesbill geranium, bindweed and probably a few other things - some welcome, others less so… I’ve been hoeing quite a bit but I think that’s just helping the seedlings, until the weather gets really cold - which I don’t really want!

So from that green foliage to the lovely colourful chard - it seems to have enjoyed the raised bed after a dodgy start. It’s so pretty - I just wish Jamie liked the taste of it 😊

We’ve just passed the Autumn equinox now so the days are getting shorter. Pull those curtains and snuggle in, surely all the fruits and berries mean we’re in for a hard Winter…. Brrr, we’ll see…

Here’s Madonna, it’s a singalong- enjoy!