Potatoes!

At last, a Bank Holiday weekend, and the chance to spend some decent time at the allotment.
Of course, we wake up on Monday morning to fairly persistent rain...but then it clears up, and all 3 of us are on the plot by 9am.
My main task is to get the remaining leeks weeded, and then to try to get some seeds in. Otherwise there'll be precious little to harvest once we get to the middle of September or so.
W occupies himself happily watering the pumpkins, and collecting stones in his wheelbarrow, under MP's watchful eye - until boredom sets in, and they head off home. Which leaves me to crack on with the jobs.
I get all the weeding done - slow and only rewarding in a slightly weird way - but it's done. Then B&D roll up, and we spend some time chatting about plans for the autumn/winter. I have a few:
- get another 4 raised beds built
- put a path in along the bottom edge of the plot
- finish off the main path to the shed, and tidy the area round the shed
- create a sitting/picnic/flower-growing area next to the shed
- do something to partially screen-off the 'messy' end, compost heaps etc
- put in a fruit cage
- keep the raised beds in active cultivation through as much of the cold season as possible
And what will I do the weekend after that, you ask! It's good to be ambitious, and if I end up getting half of that lot done by Easter, I will be content enough.

Not a lot of activity from the new neighbours. They've built a neat doorstep at the front of their shed, which I might copy.

Am surprised how quiet the allotments are, given it's BH Monday. Maybe everyone was up on Sunday when the weather was really hot and sunny?

I get some seeds planted: lamb's lettuce, spinach, spring greens, winter lettuce (Arctic King - the free seeds from GYO magazine months ago). And I do various tidying jobs. The sun comes out from behind the clouds every so often, and it feels good to be up there for a decent stretch. I even have time to sit and have a sandwich and a cup of coffee, watching the countryside beyond the railway line: bliss.

And there's a bit of picking to be done. I lift an experimental plant of spuds - and get a pleasant surprise: a good number of decent sized spuds. Obviously the dry weather has not nobbled them completely - and they make into a fantastic mash in the evening. MP tells me she was really thrilled to be presented with an apronful of potatoes: proper veg growing. And W gets to pull a few crrots on his own, which pleases him no end. Runners keep coming, and loads of flowers (and bees). There are loads of squashes appearing all over the place, so I spend time last night looking at recipes...