Saturday 20th October 2007 - Weather: sunny with a nip in the air

Flying visit time of year with the kids on half term and not much growing now. I popped up to assess the situation and to bring home the squashes now the mornings are frosty. Not as many as I would have hoped but in the rotation plan this year, the squash bed was unfortunately in dappled shade and of course, with the old hernia problems, I could pamper them, so they were left to get on with it. However, I am pleased with what I brought home, and it will give us some to carve at Halloween and the rest for soups and stews. My lot aren't keen on squash as a veg on it's own, but it is great in soups and they don't mind it then, so to be honest, this is enough.

Looks like this is the last courgette for 2007. I don't buy them in the supermarket at other times in the year, so looks like I will have to wait until next May or June. I made a chunky season veg soup and in it went. Delicious!

Picked a red and green cabbage - the green called Greyhound, sorry about the pic quality. The red will be a coleslaw base, and I will have some braised with apple, the green has already been scoffed, with Sundays roast chicken. It was so sweet. You cannot beat picking something and cooking it soon after.

I plan to get up to the allotment once the kids go back to school for 2 or 3 days on the trot, to dig every where that needs it and to get the compost out of the heap and start getting that on any bare areas. I am also tempted to dig a bean trench and fill it over the winter with kitchen and garden waste to try and give them a good boost next year. It will help with water retention.

In my vague rotation plan for next year, the cabbages will remain on plot 2, but will shift down into the shadier area at the bottom of the plot. The spuds will be on plot 1 down by the shed, the squash on plot 1 up in the sun beyond the apples and my 'others', so roots, salads, etc will be on plot 2 in the sun at the top end. I don't really do maincrop onions due to the white rot - the over wintering onions are already in and growing on plot number 2 at the lower end. They will be cleared as the brassicas go in. Leeks are also in with them.