I took the afternoon off with pouring rain forecast for tomorrow and got some great work done. We reversed down the path to deliver two bags of compost; the ground is pretty wet now, so I think this is as far as I’ll be able to go until spring.

I covered the lupin toad hole with some pieces of bark. Come on toads, come back to the plot.

We covered Beds 2 and 10. Later I realised that the marigolds in Bed 4 were done, so I took those out and added compost. That’s now ready to be covered. The Bed 9 marigolds are done too, so that bed is next. They’re going great guns with the calendula in Bed 1 though.

Most of the apples have been picked now. There are just some high up, trying to escape over into the back plot. While clearing up the windfalls I found that the liner of the hedgehog house has deteriorated and it’s certainly not watertight at the moment. I don’t really want to unpin it all, so I shall work on giving it better protection with twigs and leaves.

I started to clear the triangle. The fuchsia looks happier now that I’ve taken out the big nettle that was sitting on it. I’m wondering if I want to mulch this area and the woodland bed with some wood chipping – not decorative bark.

I’ve made a bit of difference to the front bed too, but there’s lots more weeding to be done. I wish the callicarpa looked healthier. It doesn’t look as good as when I bought it.

I added a layer of coffee and compost to Bed 2 and moved the volunteer pink lobelia to Bed 3. I took the lobelia from Bed 9 and added them to the bed too. The fuchsias are doing very nicely and the verbena and yellow thing are still going well too. I might just be getting some longer colour established in this bed.

There was a volunteer fennel plant at the edge of the bed, which I’ve potted up and taken home for the winter. It looked a bit sad in the pot, so we’ll see if it picks up.

I weeded Bed 10 and added coffee and a thick layer of compost; 10 and 2 both had a whole bag. A verbena is left, which may be moved or just left for some colour before removal. There are a lot growing in Bed 10 which may be the ones I use for filler in the spring.

While I was at the back of the plot I saw three blue tits flying around and discovered that they’re the ones who have been eating the sunflower seeds. It’s thrilling to see this actually happen. One of them also clung onto the nest box and looked inside.

I cleared Bed 4, but for the flowers and added coffee. The compost will be done later.

I tidied up Bed 5 a bit, but nasturtiums are still going for now. Note to self: next time I do nasturtiums, make sure I cram lots in.

I’ve made a start on clearing Bed 9, taking out all the weeds and removing the rest of the dead candytuft. I also knocked over the molehill at the front of the triangle and made a small start on clearing up that section. Still lots of work to do there and I’ve realised that the lemon balm has crept too far forward and will need some digging.

I got my step count up in the light drizzle, looking for my glove, which turned out to be at the bottom of my weed bucket. I tidied up the woodland bed, removing the weeds, rediscovering the lungworts, as well as the hellebore that has just re-emerged. Larkspur and cornflowers are being left to seed down.

I saw the robin on one of the perching branches against the fence, so I’d like to find a couple more of those to encourage the bird population to hang around. Sparrows and dunnocks were all around me.

Keeping in mind that the right hand side of the allotment is last to get unnavigable, I set to work on the left hand border, clearing the grass and weeds. I’ve dug up a clump of physostegia to clear space in front of the right hand perovskia and made sure the left one was clearer too. Hopefully they’ll do better next year.

I did lots of general pulling up of dead nigella and poppies etc. I’m gradually clearing the rubbish out of the way to get down to the real mess I’ll need to clear in the soil.

A piece of couch grass had poked its way through the plastic up on the beach. Fortunately not too low and quite obvious, so it was fairly easy to mend. I knew that having one layer of PVC would mean that the pond isn’t permanent, but I hope it’s not about to be attacked by the damn grass all over. I tried to pump the glue into the hole a bit as the grass only broke off, and I’ve added a layer of glue in the area too.

There’s a real hole in the ground to the right of the pond, where a lupin has half-rotted away. It’s by my toad shelter and really needs a bit more of a roof over the hole.

In the afternoon we delivered a couple of bags of compost to the allotment and did a bit more weeding while we were there. Beds 2 and 10 will be done tomorrow.

I cut the second physostegia down a bit and threw some of the seed over the back to try and fill any gaps. I’ll leave the stalks over the winter for all my lovely bugs. 

I cleared up a bit more in the front bed and ended up doing my biggest work outside the fence, ripping back the horrible grass. I rediscovered the gap between the car park and the fence and saw some of my old edging fillers, but it needs more blocking inside/outside. I’ve made a big difference to the bed pulling from outside, but there is of course some that grows right on the fence line. There were some fallen branches from the tree, which I put in the hole. The tree may not offer shade any more, but it has built quite a thick centre of new growth now.

I’d left buckets out that were full of rainwater, so one accumulated bucket went into the black leaf bin, to make it damper and to perhaps move the ants on.

The white candytuft in Bed 9 is done, so I saved lots of seed from it – far too much really, but it’s a good, long-term filler from late July, that can be broadcast sown. I also finally got the candytuft tidied and deadheaded; it’s still happily flowering.

There were apples all over the ground under the apple tree, which I tidied up and split between home and the compost bin. I also picked six from the tree. The blackbird was in the tree and the robin seems to always be there. No doubt the nestbox needs to be straightened again. It’s not like  the fence is straight.

I did the mowing after work, everything on 2 and some areas on 1. The grass grows unbelievably fast, so I’m sure it’ll need doing again very soon. Most of the other things have slowed down, but the cucumber has a flower on it now, although I’m really not expecting anything from it!

There’s also been lots of rain, so the pond was good and full. The beach was full of water shrimp.

I filled in the molehills outside the gate when I arrived. The handle of the trowel disappeared down into the holes. I packed the earth back into the holes, but when I came back after lunch, the hills were back!

The level of the pond had been fairly well maintained. Evaporation and roots will have pretty much covered the few centimetres drop. We’ve now cut the roots back a bit more and fished piles of stones out of the bottom and brought them up to the front shelf. The sand has sunk and formed a lip on which more stones can be put. Either the damn mole’s fault or just the fact that sand wasn’t the best idea in land that floods.

I’ve cut down all the tomatoes now, leaving their roots in the soil for another day. I’ve cut down lots more borage too, but have still left some bits that are going to flower. I can now see across the plot again.

While I was working I saw two birds dart around above the pond, stand on the helianthus and zoom around before disappearing. They were sparrow-sized but with very pale chests and a distinctive yellow stripe above their eye and a black stripe to the side. They were wood warblers on their migration route to West Africa.

We took down all the netting and beans and chopped them up roughly. That’s all gone straight on the compost heap.

The big thistles have been dug up from Bed 10 and soon I’ll start properly clearing and covering these finished beds. There’s going to be so much to do in the borders before winter.

There was another molehill right outside my gate today. I came to refill the pond and found that some birds had been splashing about it just before I arrived. The pond has now been refilled with rainwater from the buckets and butts. There were some mosquito larvae in the buckets so now the beetles have extra to eat.

The tomatoes are complete done now, so there will be a big tidy up session at the weekend.

I did the strimming in the afternoon, something that has long needed doing. I seem to have the fastest growing grass known to man. I added a little water to the pond just so I could fish the grass more easily.

I collect lots of calendula seeds. These need deadheading now that I’ve done this job and then I’ll get more colour from them. There were more off-green tomatoes to collect too.

When I packed up the car I found a diving beetle in the rear footwell. I dropped him back into the pond and he immediately dived down into the depths.

I had the day off today to hopefully fix the pond once and for all. I now have proper glue that even says “pond” on it. I peeled the patch and tape off quite easily and dried it all off and fished out what stones and mud I could from the folds. I used the sealant-like glue to cover all the pecked holes I could find and then put glue on the patch and put it back into place. I’ve tried to cover any holes that would let water under the patch. I also used the glue to reduce the flapping of some of the puffy parts of the liner. I’ll refill the pond next week.

I’ve rearranged some of the rock in order to bring the corner stone back up. It’s sunk so much over time from my stepping on it, but now has some better support from farm rock. It does mean that my little stone pile by the trellis is no more though.

There was one small molehill in path and one outside by the fence/pond. I really hope the damn thing doesn’t damage the pond from underneath. The beach damage has been hard enough to deal with.

There’s more blight on the tomatoes and the Red Alerts are about done now. There’s so much fruit still on the Romas, but I’m afraid that we’re not going to get much more from them.

I picked all the pears from the tree. They’re quite covered in scab.

I cut down more borage. I’m gradually clearing a bit of a view from the gate. It’s certainly been proof that something tall in the front bed is a pain for my view of the plot.

I finally did the deadheading after weeks of it needing to be done. At least the cosmos didn’t need to be done!

The front bed is quite a mess and will need a lot of pre-winter preparation. I need to find more logs this autumn/winter that I can use to hold back the long grass from the car park. I can’t do much about tearing it up when the bed is full of plants. The logs / barrier needs to be about a foot tall. The good news in the bed is that the callicarpa now has purple berries. It’s not the healthiest looking shrub, so it might need some TLC.

After a lot of rain, there was a total of 3 litres of water in my buckets, but the pond was still as low as usual. When I pressed the patch on the beach, water came out from behind it, so clearly the UHU has not worked.

I cut down more borage, taking it down to where new buds have formed. I don’t want the mess and the seed drop, but I’m happy to let the bees have flowers for a while yet. The robin followed me around the garden as I worked.

Brambles are suddenly everywhere, with feet-long branches coming through the trellis and even through the apple tree to the ground. I’ve cut back an amount, but it’s going to be a proper ladder job to take them back to the fence.

The larkspur in the woodland bed is still flowering. I’m delighted it’s finally grown here and now it can seed down for colour in late summer next year.

There’s a little blight on Roma, so I’m just picking them as soon as they are a bit red and come off the branch easily. There’s still a reasonable harvest on the Red Alerts, though those plants aren’t looking amazing now either.

I also took home some  apples and pears to test – both picked and windfall. I’ve cleared up the rest of the windfalls to try and keep the crows away. I imagine they’re the ones responsible for picking a hole in the earwig shelter.

I scooped up the molehills as best I could in the long grass and made a little effort to refill the holes. I’ve kept the gathered soil in a bucket in the shed, so it’s available for further repair work as needed. I’m not sure if it’s ruining my oca. It’s gone all around the edges of the bed and there’s  a hill in the bed too.

I’ve given up on the sweet peas now. They would have lasted well a bit longer if I hadn’t let the deadheading go over Salzburg/Covid. I think I might do them next year now I’ve had some success.

I cut back the everlasting pea on the trellis and found a dead rat on the ground. Good to know the poison works, but it could have wandered off further to cark it.

Just before leaving I decided to get rid of the cosmos, but just pulled them up and put them on the compost heap as is. There’s been a very leafy nasturtium growing on the heap and it now has cabbage white eggs on the leaves.