If I feed the soil, the soil feeds me

Despite the growing season winding down, the allotment is still supplying a lot of our fresh vegetable needs.

The patty pan has so far escaped powdery mildew and is producing plenty of fruit. The french beans have been having a second flush and the tomatoes are ripening in spite of the lack of sunshine. I also have a couple of rows of sweet baby carrots left, baby corn, pak choi, spinach beet, spring onions, cucumbers and salads.

Added to the stuff I'm still picking I have stores of onions, shallots, garlic, plenty of potatoes and a drawer full of frozen veg in my freezer.

It's very satisfying knowing I've grown all this food, but there is always room for improvement. Over the summer I noticed that some other plot holders had bigger and better crops than mine and I've been chatting to people and getting advice. I think the main thing I need to work on is soil improvement, adding organic matter and fertilizers.

To this end I've been building up my compost heap all summer and mixing it regularly. A couple of weeks ago I turned it out and found beneath the top layer I had some lovely compost ready to use. I've also got a couple of bin bags full saved from earlier in the year.

And then, while picking blackberries in the car park area last week, I made an exciting discovery - mature manure! (Yes I know most people don't get excited about manure). It was the tramped down remains of the old communal manure heap and seems to have been overlooked in a quiet corner.

I decided I'd better grab some before someone else found it so I abandoned the tasks I'd planned and spent that morning shoveling manure and fetching barrow loads up to my plot instead. It was hard work and the short steep slope up to the plots from the car park area seemed to get longer with every trip.

But it was worth it. I now have another compost bin full of lovely crumbly manure.

In a few weeks time, when I clear my beds, both the compost and manure can be added to the soil to improve it's structure and fertility.

First bonfire of autumn

After a dismal August it's already feeling autumnal down on the plot. I've been clearing my fences of unwanted weeds like bramble and bindweed and had a bonfire today to get rid of them.

The beds are starting to empty as I harvest crops and the summer gluts are over. The courgette and pumpkin foliages are suffering from powdery mildew and looking a bit sad. I haven't had any courgettes for a few days now, although the patty pan is still performing well.

I did get around to trying stuffed patty pan, and some courgettes for comparison.

These are green patty pan, round and Lebanese courgettes, which are club shaped. They're par boiled, scooped out, then stuffed with onions, chopped courgette flesh, breadcrumbs and grated cheese. They are pretty tasty, especially the patty pan.

The pumpkins have stopped growing and are turning orange:

9th August

30th August

I haven't measured this big one yet but it must be around 1.3m (4'3''). The final height of my son's sunflower was 289cm (9'6''). Some of the sunflower heads have ripened and the birds are already feasting on the seeds (this is the sunflower from 11th August post).

If the birds are eating my sunflowers at least I feel less guilty for picking the blackberries around the car park for my blackberry and apple crumbles!

My thoughts are turning to what needs doing over the coming months, preparing the rest of the plot and planning what to grow next year.

I recently found out that I came just in the top half of the points table in the site's best plot awards this year. I thought that was quite good for my first year and out of around 200 plot holders. But next year I want to do better.