14 August

Third trip to the allotment since my last post, mainly weeding, watering and harvesting now.

Haven't had any rain for 3 days and it's been fairly warm so went down in the evening to water. Everything was really dry but looked healthy enough.

The largest pumpkin is swelling nicely and the yellow courgettes are producing in abundance! The squashes seem a bit slow but getting there.

The runner beans are well behind but cropping now as are the cobra beans.

I've had my first florence fennel

Used 2 lots of shallots so far, others still in the ground. Also pulled nearly 50 of the red onions up for drying - these will be strung up in one of the sheds at home. 21 still left in.

I've sown some spring onions which I will cover for the winter later on. Keep digging up the second earlies (Kestrel) as we need them. 9 of 20 used so far. We've found these to be a decent cropper and are very tasty boiled or roasted.

The King Edwards at the back of the top plot are dying off but the other 2 main crop potatoes (Desiree and Cara) are still growing well in a different part of the top plot.

The chioggia beetroot has cropped better this year, much bigger. Still loads to pull! I've taken down the broad beans now but left the roots in situ.

The bed of carrots on the bottom allotment have had a bit of carrot root fly - I should have protected them! The carrots on the top allotment are unaffected.

I have way more pasnips than previous years - love them roasted. Pulled a few more of those up too.

The celeriac looks healthy - don't know if I'll like it!

The sweet corn is finally putting a spurt on - hopefully it's not too late to get some decent cobs this year.

The bed of salad and radish I sowed a few weeks ago is performing well.

Back home in the greenhouse, I'm really pleased with the peppers

and the sungold tomatoes are doing brilliantly. Got a few red cherry too

5 August

Got to allotment for 07:30 on my bike. First trip since a weeks holiday in Whitby. Parents had done a bit of weeding and watering so not too bad!

Top allotment:

Bottom allotment:

Loving the yellow courgettes! The butternuts are growing well and the pumpkin plants have gone ballistic - had to chop 6 foot lengths off to keep it under control.

Pulled 4 parsnips - couldn't resist it:

Dug up a couple more second earlies, 6 down, 14 to go. Over 2Kgs, reasonable yield: