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.
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