Beans, beans and more beans

Things at Plot C81 have slowed down somewhat now that there's not a lot of planting to be done. The rotovated side of the plot remains one third cultivated two thirds weeds making a comeback. I am trying not to let it depress me but it's hard not to feel horrible as I see what hard work it will still be as I just didn't have time to take care of it properly as soon as it was done. I have decided to put some weedkiller on it in the next few weeks and then ignore it until I need to plant it, when I will weedkill it again and then just deal with a small bit at a time rather than putting pressure on myself like I did with the other side!

Things are growing well, I didn't make it down to the plot for a week and ended up with a huge marrow on the courgette plant! We're getting a steady run of courgettes as well which is helpful.

My major excitement at the moment is that my 3 pumpkins are changing colour to orange and I also have about 5 orange peppers growing in the shed! I was convinced that I was going to just have pepper plants that didn't do anything (like the aubergine plants which are a waste of space really) but all of a sudden little peppers started to appear!

I am freezing bag after bag of runner beans which is lovely but a bit dull with the chopping and blanching! So now I know that 2 tee pees of beans will be plenty for us and I will be planting the same variety next year (Painted Lady) as they are very tasty.

All the stuff that's still in like parsnips, leeks, cabbages, cauliflowers, kale etc are coming along nicely as are the P' potatoes. Two weeks ago when my Mum was here she helped me put in 100 overwintering onions (50 red and 50 white) from Jane Lane, some Charlotte Potatoes to be dug up for Christmas and we filled in the spaces with some french bean plants which probably won't do anything but will at least give me something to hoe around!

I'm still intending on planting garlic next month so I need to buy some and prepare the bed for it. It needs digging over as it's weed covered but if I can get the weedkiller on in the next fortnight it should make it easier.

I gave up on the blackberry picking I admit, I just ran out of time. But I have enough in the freezer to make some blackberry jelly and apple and blackberry jelly so I will get around to that sometime soon!

Hopefully I will get up to the plot today or tomorrow and do some hoeing and picking and general tidying, I'm still trying for the twice a week which seems to be about right for this time of year, things have a chance to grow enough to be picked and hoeing is keeping the weeds down on the planted beds. I can up the visits during the planting season. Still thinking about the Square Foot Gardening and working on my list of things to grow. The Organic Catalogue doesn't come out until next month so no concrete plans until I see what's available. My Mum will be splitting a lot of seeds with me so we can save some money and my sister might come in on some potatoes. I have about 6 varieties I want to grow (early, early main, main, late main, salad, lates). The 2 beds I planted have lasted us about 3 months so 6 should just about do us for the year I think if I spread them out properly.

So, that's me for now, I will try and take some pictures if I remember to take the camera. I'm still enjoying the allotment, my only wish is that it was my back garden rather than a short drive away, I could get so much more done if I could pop out for half an hour here half an hour there rather than having to cram it all into 2 visits of a couple of hours each. Next house will definitely have a garden, but as that won't be for at least a year to eighteen months I will have to make do with the plot until then!

Forgot to add that my tomatoes are finally growing and some are turning red, I literally didn't have a red tomato until last week which made it annoying to read about everyone else harvesting them! They are mainly plum tomatoes which I don't think I'll bother with again, they don't seem to have many on them and are taking an age to ripen, but we'll see if they pick up now before making a final decision.