Allotment - garlic is up!

I was back on the bike this morning taking a ride down to Verwood to return the tool I'd borrowed for aerating the lawns which meant finding a way of carrying it on my back which I managed successfully although it kept brushing against the encroaching shrubery lining the roadside.

From there I went on to the allotment in Wimborne and ended up riding 20 miles today which was a real pleasure in the autumn sunshine. I was listening to the Chris and Rosie Ramsey pdocast to begin with followed by the Putin biography on Audible and my own playlist on the ride home. 

The news from the allotment is centred around the emergence of the garlic which I planted just over a week ago, very excited to see that, and the plating of a final row of garlic and to rows of broad beans. The best thing about the broad beans was finding that the bed dug over earlier in the year was easy to turn over again and full of worms which left the job of raking it level and worked to a finer tilth as a fairly straightforward task. 

I put in 20 seeds in two rows which will over winter and the remaining seeds will wait until spring before being planted. 

At the same time, there are other plants growing productively. The spinach and chard has had a further lease of life and I brought home a good number of leaves and there are the beets and lettuces which were planted in early September. The lettuce is ready to eat, more or less, so I'll be using that from next week. 

I removed the french beans and the fine mesh which had protected them successfully after so many of the initial sowing, which had emerged, had been eaten by the rabbits which continue to visit the plot. The mesh gave the seedlings the chance to grow and strengthen and the cropping was strong from the few plants which had that protection. Alison and I had no experience with these plants previously and have been delighted with the beans which are delicious and easy to prepare and cook. We'll be planting many more of them next year.

There are other jobs to be done but the autumn and winter seasons will allow plenty of time to get the tasks done, especially compared to last year. I'm looking forward to planning even more and being able to develop the aesethics of the plot more fully. The produce comes first but it is worthwhile making the area attractive too and we've already added lavender and borage hoping to attract more bees and other insects.