What's growing on the plot in August...

 Our broadbean harvest from the plot: 2 kilos, though not yet shelled. We've possibly got some more coming on in the planter in front of the house.

Tons of courgettes, all going into soup or fritters.

These are OH's experiment this year: Shetland Black potatoes. They've got an alarming aubergine skin and look purple when boiled but are very nice (when they're not exploding in the pot).

 OH's vines in late July. No grapes yet. He tied them in yesterday, very professionally, and it looks really good.

A yellow pumpkin. Not grown these before but I hope they're the winter keepers because so far, the butternuts seemed to have failed. I keep saying they're the uchiki kuris (Hokkaido-Kuerbis) that didn't grow last year but OH disagrees.









We have an "allotment apprentice", a younger guy, just taken over a plot, who likes to pop over and take inspiration from what we grow and how we grow it. He is particularly taken with my self-seeding herb bed of coriander, sage, parsley, dill, bergamot, nasturtium, a riot of flowers and greens and bumblebees and he and OH have swapped numbers to meet up for coffee and pore over our our allotment books.

We also discovered that one of the chicken men on the allotment also keeps a turkey, a lovely creature. He's clearly for Christmas so we've taken to calling him "Cranberry".

Everyone we talk to is thinking of keeping chickens -- is it that the price of freerange eggs has gone up to £2.20 for 12? I freecycled a no-longer wanted piece of furniture the other day and the woman who came to pick it up brought me 12 eggs as a thankyou -- from her own chickens. Those eggs were absolutely massive and really lovely to eat, and so far without any half-developed chicks. Barter economy? Bring it on.