Thursday 18th October
Having prepared the ground with the cultivator on the last visit I was ready to plant my garlic, shallots and onion sets. Before actually planting I raked the surface flat and trod a narrow path through the centre at right angles to the main path. This leaves two beds 4 foot wide so I could plant in short rows. Planting long rows has just resulted in massive crops that I don't need. At least with short rows it will be easier to sow and plant in succession.

​Following the new pattern, I planted 3 rows of garlic saved from this year's crop (my three best bulbs), 2 rows of Provence Wight bought in, 3 rows of Eschallotte Grise (French for Grey Shallot; excellent when diced over my salad - if it grows well here in the UK), and 16 Jermor (always grows well here - I've won prizes in the past!)

Tuesday 16th October
Arriving quite late in the morning meant I could only do the one top priority task. My garlic and autumn onion and shallot sets arrived in the post yesterday and needed planting out as soon as possible. However they need to go in the old potato patch and that was rough and ridged after digging out the spuds.
I realised this was just the right situation for the cultivator. The patch at about 4 metres square was just big enough, the ground roughly dug over and all the serious weeds had been dug out.

​Being able to step onto the asparagus bed made things a bit easier but it was still hard work manoeuvring the cultivator around but the result was a lovely tilth all over the patch.
I finished off by shovelling a heap of compost onto the strip where I plan to plant the new strawberry bed, though I first had to move a pile of asparagus fern and courgette haulms into a stack next to the compost bins ready for when I rebuild the bin.
It then took me age to clean the machine down before putting it away as it had not been cleaned last time.
Before going home for a very late lunch I hoed the cucumber patch and removed the weeds, finding a couple of cucumbers hiding amongst them. I then harvested a good picking of French beans.

Saturday 13th October
I got down to the plot in the late afternoon to lift the last of my potatoes, a row of Cara.
However, the prolific asparagus fern next door would get in the way. As they have to be cut down soon anyway I decided to do it before lifting the potatoes. Unfortunately my bill hook only served to pull the shoots up from the roots so I had to resort to cutting each stem with secateurs individually. I finished with a great heap of fronds which I added to the heap of courgette/cucumber haulms as there is not yet room in the compost bin for large amounts. I still have to construct the central bin which fell apart when I emptied it.
The asparagus cleared, I started digging out the Cara potatoes. Having two bags nearby, one for potatoes and the other for rubbish (haulms, damaged spuds etc.) made things much easier.

​I also am able to confirm the advice I had been given that the potato skins would have hardened already so they didn't need to be left out in the sun/air before bagging up.
One of the first big tubers showed several slug holes but I was pleased that I saw no more slug damage as I harvested the rest. A check as I store them will hopefully confirm this. (Checked - Very little slug damage - much less than last year!)

Thursday 11th October
With rain forecast I came down to the plot in the morning expecting a curtailed session. It started spotting before I got to the gate but fortunately that was it and I had the whole morning on site.
I can't yet build my new compost bin as I need new pallets so I decided to clear the squashes (that had gone in too late and so produced nothing), the cucumbers (after a tremendous crop they had stopped), the courgettes (after cutting the last small courgettes before they rotted off), and the melons (now they had given me their best).

Looking around, I realised that weeds had proliferated in several places so attacked those growing in the brassica cage. It took a bit of effort to hoe and rake between all the cabbage and cauliflower plants but soon I had raked out all the weeds and everything looked neat and tidy.

​With the compost bin full, the mass of growth had to be left in a heap with the addition of the weeds that had sheltered from the weather and my sight under the leaves. However I was able to hoe off the considerable patches cleared but, with rain forecast, I had to rake all the small weeds off into the heap to stop them being washed back into the soil and rooting again.

​However there was also a heap of cucumber/courgette/squash vines on top of the  heap of compost that was waiting to be spread.

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​There was also a great deal of rubbish, weeds and soil that had spilled onto the path so I spent a few minutes scraping them aside with the shovel and then sweeping everything clean to avoid a slippery mess when the rain came.
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​I finished with a session of harvesting and went home with a good picking of French beans, the last of the courgettes (some very small but tender), a couple of cucumbers I had come across in the debris, a big bag full of the fatter fennel and a small handful of blackberries and raspberries. It started to rain on the way home!

Tuesday 9th October
My wife's recovery requires lots of rest, mainly in the armchair, but today we planned time at the beach hut. This meant I had to get back early for lunch down there so had very limited time on the plot!
Knowing how easy it is to get sidetracked, I chose one simple job - dig up a row of spuds.
The haulms had been removed a couple of weeks ago and the ridge earthed up to cover any exposed spuds and I had a nice large bag for the tubers. Sarpo Mira can give very large potatoes so I needed a big bag. I had a second bag for the remaining haulms and waste spuds.


Digging the potatoes out proved surprisingly easy with the two bags close at hand as I could toss potatoes or rubbish into the appropriate bag with ease.





As in the first row of Sarpo Mira the crop was not huge and there were quite a few tiddlers. However I was pleased to see very little slug damage. This is either as a result of the long hot (and dry) summer or it is a recommendation for my home made nematode mixture. (Will try to find the internet reference or post a set of instructions.) There was also a good sowing of earthworms of various types, always a good sign.
As I had promised to return home early to spend the afternoon on the beach with the weather being so good, I just had time to harvest the remaining blackberries and raspberries, the last two red cabbages and a handful of pea pods (not enough to eat but I'm not going to leave them for the mice!)
I'll give the courgettes a few days more to see if they grow big enough to eat.

Sunday 7th October
Sunday is my normal day to visit the site, have a coffee and cake while meeting up with friends and colleagues - and perhaps doing some work on the plot!
Being busy looking after my wife following her operation, I had not been down to the plot since Monday but planned to dig out another row of potatoes. However stopping off at the Trading Hut to catch up with developments took longer than I expected and when I got to the plot it was already late and I had forgotten to collect the notice for next week's Working Party. So I walked back to the Trading Hut and then started to enjoy my coffee, Welsh cake and sausage roll while exchanging news with some of my friends. Surprisingly the Cabin was not very busy though Kay, our lettings manager, was and I introduced her to another new applicant who had come look round.
By the time I got back to the plot there wasn't time to dig out the spuds as there were lots of raspberries and blackberries needing collecting. Even then I was interrupted to talk to another tenant about the NAS website and how to prepare for winter but I collected about 2 kilos of blackberries and a pioneer of raspberries. I swapped with a neighbour one punnet of blackberries for a huge perfectly clean carrot (no carrot root fly damage!)
I also cut my single marrow, worried that the recent rain might cause it to split. However, the courgette plants all have a few tiny courgettes forming which may, with next week's forecast warm weather, get a tad bigger.




Finally I uprooted a couple of the fatter fennel to take home to eat. The thinner ones I will pull up later to turn into the soup my wife has concocted from the last picking - which was delicious.




A quick check of the dwarf French beans showed that they might just give a crop next week despite the damage from the recent cold nights if, as promised, it returns to summer weather. Checking also revealed a cache of pea pods neatly nibbled open by a mouse! It looks as though I won't get much of a harvest from my last sowing!

​On the other hand I was pleased at how my green manure, Phacaelia, had germinated. The first bed is rather to dense as I struggled to sow thinly enough but the second is coming through reasonably.
I must try to get down on the plot a bit more this week!