Sad leeks, happy fennel, shed replacement

My leeks at the allotment don't look so great, so I've begun harvest en masse, to freeze.  I don't know if it's because it's been dry/warm for longer than they like, or if it's something else entirely.  It could be leek rust, though I'm not sure;  it might just be yellowing leaves.  Normally I have leeks standing all winter with no problems.  Maybe it's the bed itself, as I have a small row of leeks elsewhere that look in better shape (though still not perfect);  I grew broad beans in this bed earlier in the year, and now that I think of it, they were a little disappointing too:  while no obvious sign of pest or disease, not a huge yield off them.

In the bed next to them, which had Charlotte potatoes earlier this year, the fennel are fat and happy.  In fact, I hope they can stand a bit longer, as I'm not sure I can process several dozen all at once.  Last year I tried fermenting some with dill, which was unexciting;  then I added some kimchi paste to it and made it much better.  If they start going to seed, or the slugs move in, I'll have to make another big batch of kimchi (and I need to free up some jars first!). 

In the same large bed as the fennel, my winter radishes, pak choi and Chinese cabbage are looking great;  I've already picked some really big black radishes.  I keep meaning to pick a pak choi but there have been little Savoy cabbages elsewhere to get through first;  however I think I finally picked the last one (I think!).  I was going to make kimchi with those Asian greens too, but still have at least 5 L of kimchi left.  They can go to stir fries and the like instead.

The son and I, with the help/direction of an allotment neighbor, removed our old half-broken-down shed and replaced it with a new one.  Both were once large wooden shipping crates, and to be honest, not super sturdy (made of plywood).  However, we got the old one out and ready for the burn pile, and the new one in its place, secured to some heavy wooden railway sleepers as a foundation.  We covered it all over with a large tarp (also old and somewhat holey, though we doubled it up) to keep in dry before we can carry on finishing it.  It will need a larger piece of wood to make an overhanging roof, a door, and a good coat of waterproof paint.  See the photo in this post for what it looked like (the very small blue shed on the right).

While it's still been mostly dry, it's gotten chillier at last;  the warm weather lasted all of September and half way through October, which is very unusual for here.  I've known us to have a few warm days in October, but not such a prolonged warmth.  But I think that's our lot:  it's getting much darker and feeling like we might want to light our wood stove again soon.

Only a few plums, keep on harvesting and preserving veg

After all that hoping and waiting, I just didn't have the physical (or mental, let's be honest) capacity to process our plums.  I gave a sackful to a neighbor and made a batch of unsweetened puree for crumbles (I was able to squeeze most of it into the freezer):  I estimate about 8-10# in total.  I didn't weigh it.  The daughter managed to eat a couple dozen too.  But the rest has gone to the birds/wasps/worms:  maybe about 20-30#.  

I had 2.8 L of kilner jar space to make some cucumber refrigerator pickle slices last week, but I'm really down to the wire for jars now.  A couple small ones, like 250 mL each, and one more 1 L kilner jar.  I mainly use the kilner jars for fermented veg, or fridge pickles.  And did I mention how full my fridge is of pickles and fermented veg?  There isn't a big tradition of canning/bottling in this country so jars and lids aren't easily obtainable.  I have to make do with what I have.  

I managed to clear my kohlrabi bed at the allotment, pulling all the usable kohlrabi and digging lots of grass runners--I have a monster compost pile at the front of my allotment now, next to my five full compost bins.  I've left the bed unmulched for now, as I plan on making one more pass with the garden fork first;  maybe I'll win against the grass one of these years.  After trimming off all the leaves and roots I stacked the kohlrabi in a box (on my kitchen floor!  I have no space!);  I'm trying to use one every day or so:  I like to shred them (peeled first) and marinate for salad.

Still picking toms, cucs, zucs, French beans, onions.  Soon:  lots of squashes, komatsuna (regrowth after flea beetle damage), beets, early leeks.  Maybe in the future (not very close):  carrots, parsnips, Brussels sprouts, pak choi, Chinese cabbage, pak choi, winter radish, cauliflower.  Looking good for a spring harvest:  hardy leeks, purple sprouting broccoli.  

Defeated by fruit, but at least it rained

Elephant hawk moth caterpillar, munching my grape leaves, seen from my kitchen window ("Wow, what is that??"), Aug 2026

My lettuce experiment at the allotment didn't fare quite as well as the pak choi earlier in the season.  The slugs/bugs have pretty much mown them all down, though at least the Chinese cabbages in the same bed are still hanging on, just:  they have some bad flea beetle damage.  In my previously sown beetroot/radish/turnip bed (luckily these look ok, though there were gaps), I've transplanted what remained of my pak choi and spring cabbages, also sad from flea beetles.  Both beds are under insect mesh, but obviously the mesh isn't keeping everything out.

I've had to admit defeat on my figs and grapes:  the birds can have what they want.  I can't preserve them (no jars, no freezer space) and they don't store.  The daughter is eating some every day, but not as many as the tree and vine are producing.  I'm all figged (and graped) out.  And of the apples:  the son picked two large baskets and I keep reminding everyone to eat their apple a day.  But.  It's just too many apples, despite only being two small, espalier-ish trees;  at least these will keep for a couple weeks.  Then there are the plums...

Still bringing in too many tomatoes and cucumbers.  I was wrong about the zucs before, but maybe this time these really are slowing down.  Maybe.  I've made the executive decision to stop picking purple snap peas and save the rest for seed.  These did better than I initially judged:  they started out slow but ended up completely surprising me--I'll definitely want to grow them next year.  

On a more positive note, it rained!  Actually it's still pretty dry, but grass is slightly greener, and some self sown mizuna have spontaneously germinated in my kitchen garden.  My water butts both refilled too, and all my plants look a lot happier having had several good long showers.

I managed to clear away most of the harvested Savoy cabbage plants at the allotment;  they had enormous root systems and were starting to resprout.  I snapped off the new growth for fresh eating/dehydrating and put the huge old outer leaves and stalks to compost;  these had to go in a new pile since all five of my plastic composters are still full to the brim.  I was trying to remember what I filled them with, and I think it was mostly grass (was it really)?  I'm not known for digging grass, but that's certainly the only stuff I can see.  I guess it must have some other weeds and of course the potato tops, but did I really dig up so much grass?  

Still harvesting and preserving, still sowing and planting

I think my allotment has passed peak zuc.  Going from around 5# per day to 1# seems like a downturn, right?  I can handle 1# per day.  I've left one to grow into a marrow to save for seed;  this is one I grew from seed saved last year.  The fruit I saved from was a typical dark green zuc but had obviously crossed with a different variety as its offspring grew fat striped tasty zucs this year.  Since it's been growing amongst several different varieties again I expect it will be something even more fun next year.

In the face of an overload of tomatoes, I decided to try fermenting a large jar, crushed into sauce.  To be on the safe side, I generally go kind of heavy on the salt when I ferment veg, usually 2 T of salt per L;  the tomatoes haven't really gone very active, at least not yet--probably because of that extra salt.  I've made fermented salsa in the past using both red and green tomatoes, so I'm somewhat confident;  I've just never done it with just straight tomatoes.  I have a 1.8 L jar on the go and two more empty jars to try:  one the same size and a 3.3 L.  

I went through the back of my kitchen cupboards and found some jars I'd forgotten about:  a cucumber relish I'd made back in 2021, and a couple jars of dehydrated garlic stems which had no flavor.  Also two jars of caramel and rhubarb jam which were still good but we are a low- to no-sugar family--I decided to make a clean break and compost them (just one little taste!).  Any fruit preserves I make from now on will have no sugar added.  While this liberated a few jars for me, it's not enough to deal with the tomato influx!  Instead they will do for dehydrated veg, and I have a little more room for now.

The son and I have been renovating a couple beds which have just been cleared at the allotment:  the Charlotte potato bed (finally) and the mange tout pea bed.  We've spent a couple hours forking out grass runners and spreading new wood chips on top;  I'm hoping to transplant some quick brassicas and fennel there, but the brassica seedlings have been attacked by flea beetle and look very sorry indeed.  I don't know how the flea beetles got to them so high up on my patio table, draped with insect mesh;  I'm not sure if they'll pull through actually.  At least the fennel and lettuce seedlings (all sown on the same day) look healthy, though small still.  Maybe I'll risk the lettuce at the allotment too, usually a no go because of slugs;  I risked the pak choi earlier this summer and it paid off--the lettuce might pay off too.

Still picking purple snap peas, small aubergines, salad and pickling cucumbers, French beans, a little cabbage, and a beet or two.  Thinking about a couple onions, kohlrabi, komatsuna and fennel.  The last batch of lettuce bolted in the hot/dry, but my newly sown seeds of beets and radishes are sprouting up.

Cucumber woes, rainy veg, digging and cherries

My poor little pickling cucumbers are no more--at least not at the allotment.  I planted out the last batch (the last batch still alive that is) in my kitchen garden at home, in the hopes they might live long enough to produce.  They're all only just growing their first leaf:  still pretty small.  I can only cross my fingers and hope for the best.

However, my four salad cucumbers previously planted (also at home) are still alive and have grown somewhat, despite the rain and somewhat chilly temps this past week;  I  have a last batch of these too, not yet planted out.  The forecast says it'll be a bit warmer this week, which they and many of my other summer plants need.  I say many, because I have some plants quite happy for it to be cool and rainy:  peas, lettuce, onions, beets, cabbage, kohlrabi.  At least something has been flourishing!  

I've begun harvesting the peas (mange tout aka snow peas), lettuce and onions so far.  As my direct sown beets have come up rather sparsely, I've started some more seed in modules to hopefully plant out by the end of the month--though I do have a couple early sown beets I have my eye on.  And the broad beans are so close--all covered in pods, but not quite big enough;  I need to pick these as soon as possible, so I can transplant my leeks in their bed.  Grow!

I spent every day last week digging out grass/weed roots from the allotment bed that I harvested garlic from;  I also mulched it heavily with wood chips and have begun replanting with cauliflowers.  If only I could plant leeks here--but I can't follow alliums with alliums, especially in the face of white rot.  Instead, it has enough space for some pak choi too, but I'm still undecided.  Do I risk it?  I have very little space at home any more, and it's getting a bit big for its little pots--like the leeks it needs transplanting very soon.  One more on the soon list:  fennel.

I netted my Stella cherry tree--though the net didn't quite cover all the branches;  and I covered some ripening fruits of my Kordia cherry tree with cloths like last year.  Kordia was simply dripping in blossom this spring and I had such high hopes, but no.  It's only got a few clusters of cherries here and there.  Stella, still not looking very healthy, also not many cherries.  However, my Morello cherry tree has a good amount of fruit for its size (a mini dwarf) and they are just about ready for picking;  though I netted it I don't think I quite got it bird proof, more like bird resistant--so I need to get in there quick.

Asparagus growing, garlic harvesting, losing more cucumbers, and eating some fruit

 

Asparagus (and a few weeds) to the front, artichoke and raspberry (and a lot of weeds) behind, May 2026

Check out my asparagus!  I'm trying to keep it weeded as well as possible, as that bindweed means business.  At the back are the transplanted artichokes, not expected to produce this year, plus the very weedy raspberry patch (lots of little berries on these).  I've got at least 10 cm of wood chips on this bed.  In fact, every bed that's mulched this way should have a minimum of 10 cm, but I'm trying for even more in places.  I haven't picked any spears this year, in order to let the crowns establish;  I may not pick any next year either, but we'll see.

This weekend my garlic came up somewhat in a rush, because of white rot.  I never had this disease until last year:  the bulbs start to go moldy and if left in storage will just disintegrate.  I won't be able to save any of my own garlic for replanting this year, as it all seems to have it;  instead I'm mincing it all up and freezing it, and will buy new bulbs in the autumn for replanting.  I'm a bit sad about this:  I've been self sufficient in garlic for many years now, but my winning streak is broken.  I'll probably plant the new cloves in planters instead of directly in the ground, in the hopes they'll avoid it next year.  It looks like my overwintered onions grown in containers are free from the infection, so that gives me a little hope.

The son, daughter and I did some work on the now empty garlic bed, digging out grass and weeds and raking out roots.  In fact, we had to stop before the bed was all clear as we completely filled our five composters!  Well, they weren't empty to begin with--most were about half full already, but still:  a lot of compost material.  I was able to spread a few wheelbarrows of wood chips on the edge of the bed, where it meets the next bed (previously mulched and growing peas and beetroot).  I'll carry on clearing the bed this week and will just have to make a pile until some of the older stuff compacts down.  Luckily this time of year that doesn't take long.  I may sow some turnip and beetroot seeds here, or possibly transplant fennel, or even pak choi though that's a risky idea:  slugs love love love pak choi, and it would probably survive better in the kitchen garden (except I don't have any room!).  It's a rather big bed, so I might even have space to do all of the above.

Of my sad cucumbers, all but one of the pickling types have bit the dust:  I think it was slugs.  Of the salad types, four--of five--are still growing.  I have a lot of little seedlings growing in trays from a very late sowing, but none are quite big enough to transplant.  To be honest, four salad cucumber plants is adequate--but I definitely need more pickling cucs.  They need to get a move on!  It seems like the potting compost may have been the culprit in the early demise of all the other cuc plants.

In other news, we've begun picking strawberries, gooseberries and redcurrants!  It seems early?  Maybe not.  We don't have many strawberry plants (all at home), but there are two bushes each of gooseberries and redcurrants, and all four are completely loaded.  I put some wire over the strawberry plants, and also netted my small Morello cherry tree, not quite ripe but close.  What's more, I thinned out the apples on my two trees:  no more than two fruits per cluster.  It hurts, but I did it;  I know from past experience that big clusters have little fruits and little clusters have big fruits.  I want big fruits.  

Flipping the switch for summer; planting everything out, losing cucumbers again

After a somewhat cool spring, we've suddenly flipped the switch for summer.  Last Monday I got completely drenched (and even hailed on) on my bike ride home from work and this Monday I was slathered in sunscreen at the beach.  Throughout spring we've had some dry spells and some rainy spells;  while I welcome some heat, I hope we still get some rain this summer and not a hosepipe ban.

I've got my zucs planted out at the allotment, as well as all my tomatoes (both cherry and plum, in containers).  The tomatoes have a good straw mulch to keep moisture in; whereas the zucs are planted in a new sheet mulch, and they won't have direct root contact with the soil yet--I'm watering both of them twice a day in this heat.  The rest of the plants, whether on top of sheet mulch or not, have been growing long enough not to need such copious watering (potatoes, peas, beets, broad beans, cabbages, kohlrabi, Brussels sprouts, garlic).  Except the overwintered onions, also in containers.  Containers need lots of water, no matter the weather.  

I've had somewhat sparse germination of squashes and cucs, and not only that, a lot of cuc losses.  They have been sprouting, wilting, and then shriveling up.  I might not get any cucumbers this year, but I will try one more batch of seed, despite it being a bit late.  This has happened to me in the past, though usually with older plants just starting to produce fruit.  I'm not sure if it's the potting compost (though everything else has been fine in it), the seed (saved my own from last year's fruits), or a cucumber specific disease.   It looks like the squashes are ok, just not a lot of them.  I'll try starting one more batch of these too.

I've grown some flowers from seed both this and last year:  columbine, lupin, verbena, wallflowers, strawflowers, marigolds.  I have some that self seed every year in my garden too:  poppies, honesty, borage, foxgloves, calendula.  There are a lot of ornamentals in my garden:  many shrubs, some bulbs, as well as some herbaceous perennials.  Spring is particularly pretty out back, but it's also lovely now in early summer.  I used to pick myself homegrown bouquets every week;  I got out of the habit around the time I got my allotment, but I really should pick some again even if only once in a while.

Finally, last week I collected my largest plastic plant pots to transplant my chilis and eggplants.  While I've sometimes succeeded with chilis (though not reliably), I've never got beyond two leaves on eggplants.  Until this year:  most of my little plants have at least four leaves!  Will they carry on?  I half filled the pots with partly composted chicken manure that I dug from the chicken yard, then topped up with commercial potting compost to plant into.  Now 10 eggplant pots are on my patio, in the sunniest most sheltered spot, and all possibly looking to grow a fifth leaf;  they are grouped with 12 pots of chilis, with similar leaf count.

Peas and beans, and warm weather seeds

Seeds sown, seedlings pricked out, transplants into the ground.  I'll be repeating this cycle for the rest of the growing season.  Unlike in recent years, I'm not sowing everything individually in pots--though I am doing many seeds this way--the beans and peas have been pre-sprouted and sown in situ, a big savings on potting compost.  Also a big savings in extra table space on my patio, and on pots and trays which can be used for different, less numerous plants.

Snap peas and broad beans are small but growing well at the allotment.  I put down a short row of dwarf French beans at home too, not shooting up yet.  I tried to pre-sprout some climbing French beans at the same time which did not sprout;  I guess the seed was too old.  I'm trying again with some two year old seed, which also might prove to be too old;  both batches were seed I'd saved myself, but ended up not growing last year as I ran out of space--instead I grew some runner beans which ended up rather disappointing.

And of those runner beans, I tried to regrow some roots/tubers that overwintered, but they don't look like they're going anywhere either.  I'm not planning on sowing new seed in any case;  the harvest was too small to justify wasting precious space on them.  I'd much rather have French beans which have been far more prolific for me over the years.  While I prefer the climbing beans to the dwarf, I could only buy the dwarf beans in the seed sale last year;  therefore I'm hoping my saved seed will pull through (and I'll save some more if it does).

---

Although I was hoping to keep my tomatoes outdoors now that the days are warmer, we're forecast a week or two of near-frost temps overnight.  I can't risk it, even though my sheltered patio microclimate ought to be safe enough.  These have spent some nights outdoors this past week, but I'll have to shuttle them in and out again until it's more like 6C or warmer overnight.  As a precaution, the son and I also mulched over our newly sprouting potatoes at the allotment too:  a couple inches of stable bedding (mostly straw).  The allotment is much more exposed and will probably frost.

Regardless, I've started my next wave of summer crop seeds:  salad cuc, pickling cuc, and zuc.  These have to start indoors, hence the need to move tomatoes outdoors, but until they sprout they can at least stay stacked on each other in one place.  I need to remember to start a second batch of both cucs in mid-May too, as my pickling cucs in particular seemed to run out of steam before the end of summer.  Need more pickles!  

The last summer crop seed yet to sow are my squashes.  I try to start them about six weeks before planting out, generally at the beginning of May.  Last year I could have planted them out earlier had I sown them earlier (it was a very warm, dry year) but in general they get planted in early June.  As I don't have the room for them just now, I'll stick to my usual timing.

The year in fruit

 2025 was an incredible year for growing in my garden and allotment.  As I mentioned before, I almost doubled the amount of veg grown from the previous year, and as for fruit, I've never grown so much in one year.  I can't prove this conclusively, as I've not been consistent about recording my fruit harvest (ever);  I can accurately state however, that it was the best year on record for fruit, at over 42 lbs.

I can hardly believe it, but half of the above total was from figs alone!  My Brown Turkey fig tree grew from just a little cutting which I think I bought off ebay (I can't remember exactly, but I do remember it was a cutting and I bought it online).  It grows in the sunniest, most sheltered spot of my garden, my most favoured tree.  We ate a Lot Of Figs;  I dehydrated some and gave some away too, but mainly we ate them:  so sweet and juicy.

The next best spots in the garden are given to a Morello cherry tree (on a mini dwarf rootstock, only about as tall as me), a Phoenix grapevine, a Czar plum, and a Robijn almond.  I harvested various amounts off all of these, but only recorded cherries and plums.  The grapes were disappointing, some going moldy before ripening;  and the pigeons picked off most of the plum blossom resulting in a sparse harvest (a problem I don't know how to prevent, except maybe with a pellet gun and pigeon pie?).  But I have cherries in the freezer, plums in jars and unshelled almonds in a box.

Moving to my less auspicious garden places, I have two apple trees, two young quinces (from seed, but not produced yet), two sweet cherry trees, and several currant bushes of different colours;  and a small bed of strawberries in the main veg patch.  I got a good amount of most of these, barring the sweet cherries--the pigeons gave them the same treatment as the plum (I think the branches of the Morello tree are too spindly for pigeons to perch on, which is why it was spared).  Unexpectedly, I got an apple harvest in 2025, from my two trees which have produced biennially up until now (though it too went unweighed).  I don't know if this is the new trend, or if they will go back to their old habits and take 2026 off:  I hope not.

Lastly, I have raspberries, gooseberries and redcurrants at the allotment, which is in full sun but exposed to winds, not sheltered by trees, fences and walls like my garden.  Since all of these are pretty hardy, I still got a good harvest, though again unweighed.

Writing a plan and following it

I wrote a growing plan in 2024, to optimize my vegetable harvest;  it was a fairly simple one, with a list of what I wanted my main crops to be (and for the production crops, how many of them), with the following columns:  

Allotment Production crops Broad beans: 150 Snap peas: 350 Squash: 40 Tomatoes: 20 Beets: 150 Corn: 50 Climbing beans: 100	Garden Priority crops Kohlrabi Cabbage Salad cucumber Purple sprouting broccoli Strawberries Cauliflower Parsnips Lettuce Zucchini
Successional/Late Season Pak choi Fennel Chicory Kale Radish Turnip Lettuce	Pots and Planters Chilis Cherry tomatoes Pickling cucumbers Aubergine

I followed this plan pretty closely:  while my numbers weren't exactly on--I think only 20 squash plants survived that year for instance--it really bumped up my overall harvest, making 2024 a record year for me.  I referred to this plan while buying seeds and ticked items off the list as I planted them out.  A few things got crossed off the list for failing to grow;  these were replaced with something from the Successional/Late Season column.

In 2025, I expanded on this plan, doubling the number of both the Allotment Production and Successional/Late Season crops.  Some of these had simply been in different columns in the 2024 plan but many were newly added, such as Brussels sprouts, potatoes, onions, carrots and Chinese cabbage.

Writing a plan (in my own personal notes until now) kept me on track and I believe has made a big difference in my total output.  The newest plan (not shown) was so ambitious this year that I don't plan on expanding it at all for 2026:  it was a lot of work--maybe too much.  However, I while I won't add to it, I also probably won't subtract anything either:  I'll try to follow the same plan as it stands, with minor adjustments, focused mainly on the placement of plants (i.e. from one column to another).  If I add a vegetable, it will replace a different one--for example I won't be growing runner beans in 2026, but climbing beans instead.

I'm still harvesting and documenting for this year so I don't have any conclusive data on whether I'm on track to beat 2024's totals--but I suspect so!  I won't find out if all that work I did paid off, until I add them all up in January.

Still life with fruit and vegetables

 

All homegrown/allotment grown, September 2025

Still eating our apple a day (and salad a day with no end to the lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers yet)--I'm currently experimenting with low carb apple desserts, such as an apple "pie" this weekend with a coconut shortbread top crust (no bottom crust).  We bought a low carb sweetener which is a blend of stevia and erythritol;  I've been using it every Sunday for a special fruit dessert, usually a fruit crumble using ground almonds instead of flour.  The plum crumble was especially good;  though the harvest was small and mostly out of reach, I was able to pick enough to make it on two consecutive Sundays.  No sweetener needed in the fruit, it tasted almost like cherry pie filling:  delicious.  

There are still some Sparta apples left on the tree but the Laxton Fortune is now completely cleared.  It's a surprisingly good harvest this year.  The apples pictured are the very last of the Laxton Fortune.

Not quite so successful for the runner beans though;  I decided to try them again after a hiatus and will probably put them on the back burner again.  Not productive enough:  lots of vines, fairly good flowering, but not enough turned into beans.  I think they need a cooler, wetter summer than we've been getting.  I have French bean seeds which hopefully aren't too old to germinate next year;  these have been much more reliable in a hot summer, and do well in a cool one too.

Although my harvest has been acceptable, it was not a zucchini summer again (though it was a cherry tomato summer!  The son has already made some excellent tomato sauce to go on his homemade pizza).  The above photo shows a massive marrow from someone else's allotment;  the giver said to me, "want a courgette?" and I said, "I never say no," and then he came out with this monstrosity!  I said, "are you sure that's a courgette?" (because in my book that is definitely a marrow).  It's still on my countertop, biding its time.  My own reasonably sized actual zucchinis (aka courgettes) came in at a modest one or two a week from each of about a dozen plants, most of which are now completely finished.  There's still a patty pan making little fruits but I'm going to pull it up anyway, as it's cold and rainy and nearly equinox.  I need a space to plant out my spring cabbages.

And I think we finally got to the end of the season's figs, two of which are pictured with the apples above.  A lot went into the dehydrator, and a lot got eaten.  I don't really know what to do with them otherwise;  I gave some away, but most people around here aren't familiar with figs--I had to teach the recipient how to peel them to eat (but they were well received after tasting). 

Pak choi, cabbage, onions and leeks

I thought I'd be planting out my Chinese cabbages* in the kitchen garden and sheet mulching over the failed beetroot bed;  I changed my mind and instead transplanted the cabbages into that bed at the allotment.  The son helped me re-weed the bed (recall it was matted with couch grass roots after I pulled the new potatoes), digging out grass once again and pulling some small weeds.  It looks like only about a dozen beets actually sprouted--probably old seed after all.

I managed to get a tray of pak choi in the kitchen garden along with six extra Chinese cabbages.  That bed held my very first early leeks which I pulled, washed and put into the fridge last week, and the long green leaves got chopped and frozen for later stews and stir fries.  I let my two ducks have several days of free range in the kitchen garden ("We're Going On a Slug Hunt");  and after planting out my tender little plants, not only did I net them (sorry lettuce, but you are now big and pak choi is small) but I very liberally covered the ground with crushed eggshells.  Here's hoping the slugs are a) not willing to cross, or b) not there at all.

It's about time to empty the pots of cherry tomatoes at the top of my allotment--I may move them back to the bottom (close to the water supply) over winter and replant with onions, now sprouting up in a pot at home.  I've tried growing onions over winter once before, without success--actually onions in generally have never been a winner for me, winter or summer.  Still, I want to be self reliant in all vegetables we eat and onions are a staple:  I'm not giving up just yet.  

Unlike my onions, leeks have always been a reliable crop for winter and spring harvest for me;  this is the first year I've grown an early variety (Lyon) in addition to my usual late one (Musselbrugh);  I started picking them last month.  I expect the earlies to last until winter before I move onto the lates.  I've been using them as an onion substitute with tasty results:  the long white stalks are very similar to onions in taste and the green leaves are mild like spring onion tops, though a different texture.  The only downside (and really only a slight one in my opinion):  they aren't as easy to clean as an onion, with sand and compost trapped in between the outer layers.  

*First it was going to be cauliflowers, then Chinese cabbage--now I'm aiming for spring cabbage!  Something will go there, I promise.

Finishing and starting

Although it was so much work at the time, I'm sorry my cherry tomatoes are just about finished.  My plum tomatoes are also nearing their end, but while the numbers may be few, the sizes are great--at least ten pounds left I would guess.  And while my pickling cucumber vines are nearly all dried out, the very tips of them are still making small cucs--a couple ounces a week (I'm still topping up a 2.2 L jar in the fridge, not quite full).  I think I should make a second sowing of pickling cucs next year:  the first in mid spring and another in late spring/early summer.  I luckily have two overripe ones ready for next year's seed, and am leaving one of my salad cucumbers on the vine for seed too. 

I'm kind of amazed at how quickly my new fennel and kohlrabi are getting on, transplanted at the beginning of August;  these followed on from my spring kohlrabi.  I wasn't sure if this second (small) batch of kohlrabi would succeed as they were a bit spindly when they went in, but like the fennel they're looking very luxurious.  In fact the fennel itself is already swelling into bulbs;  can't wait to start eating it.

However, my newly seed beetroot bed looks mainly grassy--I can't see many beet seedlings and it's getting a bit late now.  Old seed?  Slugs?  Not sure, as the other newly seeded bed of turnips and winter radishes is growing well--all were sown on the same day.  If it turns out to be beet-less I'll sheet mulch it over winter--I might even drag one of my big pieces of old carpet down from the back of the allotment to try and kill off the grass.

I had originally planned on growing my spring cauliflowers in the kitchen garden over winter, but the plants were getting too big in their pots and rather than potting them on yet again, I put them down in gaps at the allotment.  I hope I don't regret this, as the last time I overwintered them at the allotment they were full of slugs--lots of large slugs wedged in between the inner stems of the heads.  I guess they got in there as little slugs and couldn't get out:  I did not enjoy washing those cauliflowers!

Instead of cauliflowers, I'll transplant out my Chinese cabbages and pak choi in the kitchen garden, though these will have to wait a little while longer until the zucs, salad cucs, early leeks and lettuce are finished.  And of course I have some more lettuce to go out too.

Cherries and also not cherries

(The Vegetable Challenge has restarted!  More details next week!) 

It turns out I've not been getting many Kordia cherries or Czar plums off my trees for the past several years because of a pair of pigeons.  They were witnessed in the spring, methodically stripping both buds and young leaves from my trees, meaning hardly any fruits formed at all.  These are wood pigeons (we don't currently have any feral pigeons around);  one of the neighbors has been known to shoot them with an air rifle in his own garden--but in this case I would have been quite happy to shoot them myself!  They're too big for netting:  I don't know if I can protect my trees in the future.

Hiding the few cherries that survived the pigeons, June 2025

Only a few Kordia cherries, but at least they're perfect underneath their cloth napkin, June 2025

On the other hand, my little Morello cherry tree produced a good amount of cherries this year, maybe because the branches are much smaller/thinner (wood pigeons are pretty big birds) and the tree itself is very close to the house.  I fully netted it a little while ago and have been picking red cherries and freezing them this past week.

Already picked a freezer bag of Morello cherries, June 2025

I can only assume the pigeons treated my small Stella cherry tree the same way they did the Kordia as it also has very little fruit.  Its top has died back and it's suffering from aphids in a bad way;  I don't know if it'll survive.  My plum tree, just around the corner (seen a little bit in the top right corner), had a couple years of bad aphids which I think the local sparrows eventually sorted it out;  this tree isn't visible from the house (unlike almost all of my other fruit trees) so I don't know if the birds are helping it this year or not.  While every ladybug and/or larva I find goes onto this tree, other than that, my policy is to not intervene.  I focus on setting up healthy conditions for my little garden ecosystem, a la permaculture;  it's up to the ecosystem to sort out its own details.  If I lose this tree, I can console myself with the thought that it only cost me £4 or £5, and I do have another healthy tree.

Sad Stella cherry tree, June 2025

As an aside:  there are a lot of wild cherry trees at our local country park just a few streets away;  some are pretty sour but others are quite nice.  Just much too small to preserve in any way:  good for eating and spitting out the pits.  At least we've been able to eat cherries this year, one way or another.

A change in the weather, still planting, hoping for fruit

It rained at last!  My plants all grew about an inch overnight I think, and my rain barrels filled up again.  Although now I'm wondering if that was our "summer" and it's going to be cool and wet from now on--not an uncommon occurrence.   

There was a very slight and unexpected frost at the allotment last week, touching just four of my zucchini plants.  Everything else:  tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, and the other four zucs were absolutely fine.  And the zucs are all planted near each other, right at the center of the allotment so it's a puzzle to me how only those four got it.  One plant was a goner but the other three may recover;  though if I do lose them all, I still have another four in the kitchen garden and have just planted out two more at the allotment.  I'm hoping it'll be another zucchini summer.  Though I need the weather to cooperate...

I cleared away all of the old purple sprouting broccoli at last and the son helped me fully sheet mulch over the bed so I could replant immediately:  six squash and five sweetcorn.  I am hoping to get at least six more squash (though I actually have around 12 more plants left) when I pull up the garlic--probably this weekend. I wish the broad beans were a little more forward so I could replant there too--they are right between the two other beds.  However, they're only just forming their first little pods so I probably won't be clearing them away for another few weeks at the earliest.  I'll still have time to replant the bed, but probably not with squash.

The daughter picked our first two strawberries of the year, which does seem pretty early (mid May).  I'm trying to remember if the ten plants I put down this spring are everbearing strawbs or not (I only remember thinking I ought to choose those, not if I actually did).  The first berries came from one of our older plants, and there are lots of little green ones forming, on both old and new plants.  I was lucky to get one bite of the smaller berry--the daughter is five and has quick fingers and a very persuasive manner!

Did I mention that both my apple trees flowered and set fruit this spring?  Since I've had them (pre-blog but not by a lot), both have produced biennially;  last year was an on year so I was expecting an off year for 2025 but it's an on year again, hooray!  Has the biennial tendency stopped now they're older?  Or is it just a freak accident of timing and they'll go back to their normal ways next year?  

The next phase

It looks as though I have to stop with the seeds for now;  I have some empty pots and trays now and I can't refill them as I won't have anywhere to plant.  Now I'm moving on to the business of potting on and planting out.  

All my green cabbages are in the ground, some at home and some at the allotment;  the allotment ones are sharing the kohlrabi bed, under some insect mesh and the home ones are with some lettuce.  I have Brussels sprouts and red cabbage ready to go too, probably to go partly with the kohlrabi and the rest in the turnip bed at the allotment (also covered).  All the snap peas are also transplanted, mostly growing well (looks like a little bit of flea beetle damage).

The first batch of plum tomatoes are all in the ground at the allotment, and the cherry toms in planters.  I have a second batch of plum toms but as they are still pretty small I don't know if I'll end up planting them out.  Maybe.  I initially wasn't planning on growing sweetcorn this year but ended up buying a packet on special and only 5 of 25 seeds sprouted:  not that special.  I've potted them on already;  lots of people plant sweetcorn at the allotment so maybe mine'll still get pollinated and grow some corn.  I'll put it with the squash anyway, like I always do.  

I'm waiting for my squash to emerge actually.  I ended up sowing three trays of it:  two of the giant squash seed and one from the final squash of 2023 (that we ate in July of 2024).  Both came from the same lineage;  I hope they both grow big, long-storing squashes (we still have one last squash from 2024 on our living room windowsill--I'll save seed from that one for next year too).

Though the squash is slow, the cucumbers and zucchini are all looking fine.  I've put the cucumbers out on the patio already (sprouted indoors) but the zucchini are only getting day trips so far.  My runner beans are also just coming up in the cold frame on my patio.  I bought some dwarf French bean seeds and saved some climbing French beans seeds from last year but maybe I won't have anywhere to grow them this year;  I'll take stock in a few more weeks and see if it's possible or if I'll save them till next year.

Caterpillar carnage

Cabbages still got leaves, September 2024

When I pulled up all the caterpillar-y kohlrabi, I trimmed and left the leaves laying on the empty bed;  it was near enough the mini daikon radishes that several caterpillars were able to crawl underneath the netting and discover it.  At least they didn't discover the pak choi and cabbages further on.  I don't know if the radishes will still have time to grow more leaves in order to make roots--though luckily I have another bed at the allotment (not pictured) which is completely covered and untouched;  this one I buried all the edges of the mesh, not just weighed it down with bricks.

Poor broccoli, September 2024

The purple sprouting broccoli right next to the cabbages (cabbages in the first picture, broccoli above) were unnetted and have suffered the consequences.  Though I made my best effort to de-caterpillar, it was not enough.  I am hopeful it will leaf out again;  harvest won't be until next spring and I've had this happen in the past and still got a good harvest.  And again, my allotment broccoli (not pictured) is in much better shape than my garden, despite it also being unnetted.  Why?  Not quite sure, but maybe fewer butterflies?  I did pick caterpillars off the allotment ones too, but all the plants there still have leaves, unlike at home.

The caterpillars are pretty much past now;  only a few stragglers remain.  The rest are no doubt happily tucked up in their cocoons, dreaming of next summer.

At the allotment, August 2024

At the allotment I'm still waiting for my climbing beans to flower, though luckily the sugar snap peas continue to produce in the meantime.  Also harvesting a couple of beets per week, the very first of the tomatoes (both cherry and plum types) and I've started my first pickle jar with four small cucumbers.  Last year I  discovered I actually prefer them cornichon size: one or two bites;  I'll be picking them much smaller this year.

I've picked all the artichokes now, bar a couple very small heads which I'll let go to flower.  The raspberries are also completely finished, and while I've been pretty diligent at recording all my veg harvest, I didn't keep a faithful record of these:  we ate a lot, froze some and gave a good amount away. 

My squash vines are taking over one climbing bean frame--I built it from odds and ends and it's very flimsy--making it hard to get to the beans;  the other frame is better accessible.  I have at least one big yellow squash growing and one big green.  While I don't think I need 21 big squashes like last year, I'm hoping for more than just the two.

My leeks are growing well in their bed but so is the grass, and there's no way I can pull it up without pulling up leeks too.  I've got several large purple sprouting broccoli plants that seem to have some new growth on them, after the shock of transplant;  these and the leeks are for harvest in late winter/early spring.

Somehow I got some achocha volunteers growing in a couple of my bigger containers;  I've not grown them on purpose for years as they keep self seeding, but this is the first time they've done so at the allotment.  I can only assume I put some seeds in my kitchen waste tub after harvesting at home (normally I give this waste to the chickens but for a short period last summer I was putting it in my allotment composters).  They are just starting to form little flowers.

It looks like my corn isn't going to produce this year;  it's still below my waist and even though we've had a few weeks of warm weather now, it's only inching along.  Oh well.  I may give it up and next summer grow something else instead.  However, my newest beet beds look great and I've got a newly sown bed of radishes both white and black, all fully enclosed in insect mesh to hopefully keep out the slugs, bugs and birds.  I've started one more new sheet mulched bed with plans for turnips and/or swedes in the next day or two.  Got to keep growing while I can.

Back in business (after all the setbacks)

It's been disappointing, with such a long cold spring, that I've lost several of my transplants at the allotment to slugs.  If the plants are growing well they can outgrow most slug damage, but some of them need warm weather for this:  cucumbers and squash for instance.  I've lost about half of my transplants (so far) before they've even started growing.  The weather has finally warmed up again to above 20 C, and they seem to be growing a bit now.  I have a tray of late sown squash just emerging, so hopefully when I plant them out they will just keep going (have another tray of cucumber but no sign of it).

I have other warm weather plants--corn and tomatoes--that the slugs don't like to eat, so at least they are still all right.  The corn only got transplanted last week anyway--really late--but with a pot shortage, I couldn't sow them any earlier.  Maybe I should focus more on these two for next year, with squash and cucumbers lower down on the priorities list.  

Also late to sow and hence transplant:  two varieties of climbing beans (a green podded one and a purple).  I've lost of couple of these too, but as they got planted out late it looks like the rest might be able to shrug it off. 

The broad beans and snap peas were planted out relatively early, before the slugs were too active;  finally they are producing pods for me.  I'm also getting the first of the beets, another one unattractive to slugs except as new shoots.  None of these are warm weather crops however--if it stays hot, they will go over quickly.

It's not all doom and gloom, even though I like to keep it real here and talk about failures as well as success;  I am still writing down my harvest every day.  Lately it's been lettuce, broad beans, kale, artichoke hearts, garlic, beets.  The son made a deluxe allotment crumble on Sunday with our own rhubarb, gooseberries, raspberries (and some strawberries we picked from a farm).  Even with all the setbacks, we're back in business again.

Failure and success, May 2024

So it's still not all planted.  Yet.  I've got a lot of trays on my patio in various stages of emergence, though I think I'm going to have to give up on the last 35ish pots of peas, as they are dated from April and still haven't sprouted.  I've had this problem with everything so far this year:  seeds go into little pots and a large proportion of them just don't sprout.  This is for indoor sowing and outdoor sowing, so I'm really not sure what's going on.  I don't have a single butternut squash or romanesco zucchini (indoors), and I'm still waiting on my corn too (outdoors).  Maybe it's my potting compost.

In slightly better news, I do have about half a dozen self-sprouted squash seeds growing in the chicken yard at the allotment--we moved the chickens back home earlier this month.  I generally give my chickens most of my kitchen scraps, which obviously included some squash seed (we still have two left on the living room windowsill, looking good!--and just finished the third to last one).  Hopefully they grow well, as my tray-sown seeds are also very patchy:  only about six I think, from around 24.  These are the big round Kuri squashes from last year:  tasty and good keepers.

Also at the allotment, I've got in the first small leeks, sown back in March.  I have a second sowing just coming up now.  I also got in the next batch of beets, and resowed the tray after I'd emptied it.  The first beets I planted out have really grown, but the peas look kind of puny and sad still.  I wonder if the soil is too rich for them--it's mainly well-composted horse manure that all the other plants seem to like.  My tomatoes look really sturdy, and the broad beans--though a bit short--are covered in flowers.

The husband spent about an hour at this weekend and the previous one making us a new little tool shed at the allotment, using a large wooden shipping container given to us by a fellow allotmenter.  The son and I wrestled it into position onto some old sleepers first (and I dropped one on my foot in the process--limped around for two weeks).  The next weekend the husband bought some wood preservative and painted it inside and out;  and this weekend he fashioned a door for it using a panel (from a deconstructed shed) we'd scavenged from an abandoned allotment a while ago.  It's not quite as tall as me, but is a good size for our shovel and fork, and holds the watering can and still has quite a lot of room.  However it's not quite tall enough/wide enough for our rusty old wheelbarrow.  But that's ok, I can't imagine anyone wanting to steal it--or our tools either:  they're all a bit rubbish.