Nolana Bluebird

It's taken an age, but the Nolana Bluebird has finally flowered.

Raspberries

A good raspberry crop this year from my own, relatively young bushes. I pop them straight into a sealed freezer bag to keep them fresh, before scoffing, stewing or freezing them.

Sweetcorn

Despite the dismal lack of sunshine this month, a few sweetcorn have ripened, which I managed to harvest before the badgers found them. Yummy ; )

Cucumber

One of three cucumbers grown in a small plastic greenhouse at home.

Bean Seeds

Collected a couple of dozen borlotti and broad beans from the dried pods for next year's seed.

Hawkmoth Caterpillar

At first glance, I thought it was a slug amongst the evening primrose, but in fact, a hawk moth caterpillar, possibly elephantine.

Harvest

Cobra beans - some are totally green, others mottled & some completely black.



Still lots of redcurrants around, but only a few plums after last year's glut.



More runner beans than I can cope with. Saving the larger ones for seed.



The sweetcorn's coming along. A neighbouring plot was raided by badgers.

Badger Raid

One of the neighbouring plots got visited by hungry badgers.



Maybe they were disappointed, after my prize specimens last year ; )



They left a calling card.

Windfalls

Not sure what type they are, but these windfall cooking apples are delicious and plentiful at the moment and need collecting and stewing before they rot.

Shine On Me

Got several capsicum plants like this - ta Mr G - but they all need a bit of sun to ripen.



At 35p per seed, about the price of a shop bought cucumber, I'm happy that this plant's got several small fruit on it.



Not much chance of these olives ripening, but one year soon, who knows ?



The tomatoes in open ground at the allotment have grown well but not ripened, ones in a greenhouse at home haven't cropped as well, but have ripened earlier.Natch.

Frogwatch

Saw two frogs today, but only managed to photograph this tiny one by the pond. The other was in the garage at home, of all places, looking a frightening grey/black colour and startling me as I picked up a bin bag on which he was sitting. I'm guessing that he was the healthy green one I'd seen in the garden last week and he could have crept in there when the door was left open recently (though it's a bit early to hibernate) and changed his appearance to suit his surroundings. I put him outside in the undergrowth and hope he might get his colour back and pop up again soon, bored felines permitting.

A pity my carrots haven't done as well as the beetroot, even though they're just thinnings, they all seem to have some degree of carrot root fly damage. Loads more beans, chard, kale and spinach and the first ripened tomatoes too.

Showers & Gusty Squalls

Showers, gusty squalls and sunny intervals. Found myself humming 'Four Seasons In One Day' by the Finn brothers, as I pottered around the plot this morning. All that free wind energy going to waste.



One moment I was taking my shirt off in the hot sunshine, the next I was running for shelter in the shed.



Harvested kale seeds. It was a while before I noticed that they have two channels of seeds on each side of the pod. I've saved myself a packet - of seeds : )



The first of the autumn raspberries to ripen - so large that at first I thought it might have been a loganberry.

Harvested more peas, kale, a few small carrots and the first of the climbing beans. Tied up some of the giant sunflowers which had either fallen over or were in danger of doing so.

080808 State

I harvested a couple of buds from each artichoke to eat earlier in the year and now the remaining flowers are all open, still attracting bees and comments from passers by.



Gladioli don't last very long, especially if they're thrashed around a Top Of The Pops studio by Morrissey, or in the rain, so I took nearly half of them home to enjoy indoors.



Way too many runner beans to cope with at the moment and the freezer's filling up.



Sunflower season's here - some single and giant, some multi headed. The big uns are reaching 10 ft.

Il pleut encore

Flippin' 'eck Tucker ! It's set to rain every day for the next couple of weeks - and beyond. At least I won't have to water anything up at the allotment, except for the cucumbers and tomatoes in the mini greenhouse.

Les Fleurs