I am filled with a mix of feelings today - we're experiencing heat like the middle of July and look set for an even hotter day tomorrow which will be the start of October!!! And in the midst of all this as I look out of my office window onto our allotment, I can see a neighbour busily feeding an autumn fire! And I think that epitomises the whole year. Not one plant seems to know when it should have started or finished growing flowering or fruiting. Our apple tree in the midst of its confusion decided to produce a second set of blossom just as our fruit was perfect for picking and I seem ready to pick yet another bunch of sweetpeas. And yes to repeat myself it's October tomorrow!
The crops have overall been good this year with some stunners including a forest of curly Kale and spuds to die for. Both of which should see us comfortably through the winter. And some amazing pati pans / courgettes and beetroot. But there have been some things which were a little lack lustre! Our sweetcorn was reasonable but a fair few of the cobs were only half the size they should be and our sprouts are only just making a feeble attempt at becoming sprouts, although there is some time for them to get ready for the Christmas table. And our poor little plum tree! It valiantly produced its first full amount of blossom and even managed to set some of its fruit, only to have the weird hot spring remove all moisture and make them all drop off. To add insult to injury we had muntjack dear get into the allotment and they cropped the first three foot of the tree completely.
I've had a great year for storing things for the winter months with some fantastic jams and chutneys. I'll get some recipes on here in the next few days.
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