MY WEEK : 42 (W/E 21ST OCTOBER)

Welcome to my latest update from my allotments here in Stourbridge.

The first proper taste of Winter has arrived for many this week with frosts arriving over the last few nights, it was time to get the 'Winter Woolies' on and the essential wood fire to keep the old bones warm whilst having coffee breaks and chit chats, just how it should be.

Once the Sun had burnt through it soon warmed everything up and the soil was still workable. My Carrots that had been doing so well haven't liked the frosts and their foliage has wilted and started to yellow slightly, so I decided to dig them all up and sort through them picking the best of them to prepare and freeze. There were signs of Carrot Fly damage to them which is becoming quite a pest with all the mild Winters that we have had in recent years, so next year I will grow them in one of my cages or even under Enviromesh to protect them.

You may remember that recently when I took down my Runner Bean plants that I left the roots/haulms in the ground as they have nodules on their roots, in the picture you can see an example of them attached to the roots, they release Nitrogen into the soil which will benefit a following crop all you need to do is dig them into the soil in the Spring. The same things happens with any of the Bean family Runner , French & Broad also the same happens with the Pea family.

Remarkably the frosts have not finished off my Dhalias yet pictured top-left which normally would have collapsed and blackened after them, the consensus seems to be that they may be becoming hardier in our climate, I don't know if any of you have noticed this or with other plants? The Spray Chrysanthemums which I have covered with the green debris netting that I have used on my Brassica cage are still full of blooms with plenty more buds still to open on them and as you can see top-right they look fabulous.

I had a walk around the site the other day and I thought that you might appreciate these plot signs that fellow plot holders have adorning their entrances, have any of you got something similar on your sites?

It was also nice to see the dramatic improvement around our site of the plots that this time last year when I took on the Chairmanship of our Allotment Site were in a dreadful state of non cultivation, with the help of Pauline our New Lettings Secretary we have tried to enforce the Terms of the Tenancy Agreement that all plot holders have to sign on an Annual basis to renew their lease, although this has ruffled a few feathers especially of those who in the past had got away with not cultivating their plots our action has meant that people who were on our waiting list have had the chance to take a plot on and reap the benefit of home grown Fruit & Vegetables.

A good example of the improvements that have been made are the above plots of Alan and his brother-in-law who inherited plots that had not been cultivated for many years, they have unearthed no end of rubbish that had been dumped on their plots by previous tenants, glass, carpets, metal, rubble & wood all of which had been overgrown by Bindweed, Couch grass, Docks and others, they now have plots that are in pristine condition and ready to cultivate, well done to you both and all the other plot holders who have done the same, long may it continue.

Finally for this week a look at how my plots are gradually being cleared in readiness for repairs to be made to the raised beds and also the addition of any compost or manure to them ahead of next season's growing, it's kind of sad to see them empty but at the same time nice to have a blank canvas on which to plan for next year.

Well that is it for this week, as it is half term this week I will not be going to the plots so my next update will be in 2 weeks time and as the Winter approaches I will continue my updates on a 2 weekly basis until the New Year rather than weekly, this will allow me a bit more time to transfer all of the contents of this site at Blogger to my own, this will hopefully be more reliable with it's service as I'm sure you are aware I have experienced a few problems with Blogger this year. Thanks for following my progress at my allotments and I will speak to you again in 2 weeks regards Steve, take care.