Post-holiday allotment survey

It's probably fair to say that this year's harvest is not going to be reaching last year's bumper levels.

All of our allotment tomatoes were infected by blight so we tore them out. The new potatoes have largely drowned and those that didn't succumbed to blight, which caught almost everyone else on the allotment except our highly organised neighbours who probably chose a blight-resistant, flood-ignorant variety and sprayed everything else into submission with their scary killing juices. Our summer potatoes have yielded maybe 3 small spuds to the seed potato. Last year, we had about six to seven sackfuls of the stuff, this year, we have half a sack. This is no way to meet the coming food price inflation.

And after the second season trying to grow cauliflowers from seed, I've now decided that it's not worth it. We planted a whole bed of two different varieties, and so far, I've counted only 2 tiny little heads forming. On the other hand, our broccoli bed has done quite well again -- bolted perhaps a little too quickly, true, but at least yielded quiche-sized amounts and also keeps growing florets from the sides. Next time, I'll just expand the broccoli bed. I don't even want to think about the fact that the amount of pelleted chicken poo I've thrown over the cauliflower seedlings has quite possibly been more expensive than buying the odd head from Lidl.

The handful of carrot seedlings that have come out have also disappointed -- forked and short and half-eaten already. However, the parsnips look very healthy. We don't have a lot of them but one per Sunday roast should comfortably see us through much of the winter.

On the plus side, we have a  fantastic onion harvest -- these are currently drying in the wood shelter. The perpetual spinach and chards are also being very reliable and prolific. The leeks are coming on okay, and the three self-seeded zumpkin plants (that uncontrolled cross between a zucchini and a pumpkin) have started to throw out marrow-sized fruit. Finally, the rest of the exotic pumpkins are starting to wake up and have begun to creep around and flower. I've taken great care to cultivate the plot as a bee sanctuary, with poppies, borage, mints, oregano, nasturtiums, cornflower and calendula  etc. all allowed to grow and flower freely so pollination should not be an issue. If we get a decent late summer, which we often do, we may even end up with a proper pumpkin and squash harvest round about Halloween. Not holding my breath -- but we're still in with a chance.

OH's heart crop -- sweetcorn -- has been disappointing -- the first 10 or so are doing okayish although it probably didn't help that I harvested and then tore out 2 plants that the wind had pushed over -- OH told me later that I should simply have righted them and staked them and they would have continued to grow. Oops. The later lot however just would not grow. Now that it's been a bit warmer, it's taking off. Maybe we'll get some baby cobs off them.

Among the more surprising harvests has been the chamomile -- flowering hugely now in its second year and being very fragrant. Chamomile is good for all kinds of stomach upsets and wound healing so I snipped the flowers and herb off and dried it in a paper bag.

Waiting for the bolting coriander, dill, parsley and borecole plants to go to seed has also paid off. I harvested probably about 200 seeds off the borecole so that should keep us in kale for quite some time. Coriander seeds also plentiful -- good for curries and, my new signature dish, vegetable samosas. Dill seeds elusive -- but as long as it, and the parsley, self-seed for next year, I'm happy.

Raspberries all a bit behind -- last year, we had a big harvest in early August. Now we've got very little but there are still some flowers so maybe in a month's time, we'll get some more. The ones by the house which get a much milder and wind-protected climate are well behind too. The field on the plot got ashed and poo-pelleted so it must have been the dodgy weather conditions. OH also thinks it might be too congested. It probably will need rejuvenating next spring.

I have been monitoring the lack of development on one other plot quite carefully and really have my eye on it. It's been overgrown the whole summer but it has a (glassless) greenhouse frame and a bean frame and a row of ramshackle shed buildings at the back. It's quite a bit smaller than ours but nicely tucked away with trees at the back, not so exposed, and I love it already. Must try and catch the Allotment Secretary and ask if I could farm it next year. OH would love to keep on farming our current plot and turn it into a fruit haven to supply the raw materials for all his wines. He's made a superimpressive bed for his Mueller-Thurgau vines and wants to expand. Toi toi toi, as we say.