More harvest and autumn planting

My carrots and parsnips have done pretty well this year. My first year my carrots were tiny - once you peeled them there was nothing left to eat! Parsnips take ages to germinate and I thought I'd keep the weeds down while waiting for them. Unfortunately I weeded the only two that germinated as I didn't know what their leaves would look like. My friend had told me they look nothing like carrots but not what they look like.

Autumn is not normally thought of as a time to plant but there are some things that can go in now. I've bought Japanese onions sets, broad beans and peas from the allotment shop. I haven't tried growing onions from seed yet - I just buy the sets(tiny onions that grow into big ones) but maybe next year. The onions that you plant in autumn have to be used pretty quickly as they don't store well-unlike the ones planted in spring which store well. The broad beans can go in up till beginning of November. Last year the birds had most of mine -very upsetting as I was looking forward to the boiled beans being fried with garlic and onion. A fellow allotmenteer recommended letting the weeds grow up round them once the pods start to form as the birds don't see the beans. Peas - now I don't really know a lot about them so will let you know how I get on with them.
Today I had a whole morning at the allotment- first time in ages. It was a perfect day for it -sunny and not too hot. Lots of bonfires - I love the smell of bonfires- makes me smile. I drew a plan of my plot as I need to rotate the types of veg to stop a build up of pests and diseases. Lucky for us the allotment gets free deliveries of houshold compost recycled by the council and manure from the local stables. I did a bit of hoeing -trying to cut down the weeds before they get big and cause more of a problem. Then I dug a trench lined it with compost then filled it with soil from the ground next to it making another trench then so on till whole row had compost added to it. I do a bit each time i go so I don't wear my joints out too much. I feel so much calmer for spending time working there working.

Echeveria

Haven't made it to the allotment for a while - hopefully go soon and dig up the rest of my potatoes and see how the leeks are getting on. I love the silvery green of the leeks' leaves - I also love eating them though they are still a bit small for that. My youngest starts school on Thursday and I feel a bit sad though she seems very happy.

Above are photos of my beloved Echeveria coming into flower. I keep it outside in the summer but bring it in when it gets cold as it cannot cope with frost.

I need to get to the allotment shop soon and stock up on Japanese onions, aquadulce broad beans and maybe peas as these can all go in the ground in Autumn for earlier crop in spring. I need to start digging horse manure into the ground soon - except where I'm putting carrots and parsnips next year as they hate fertile ground- it makes them fork.

Tomatoes in the Big Issue

For those of you reading in Britain the Big Issue (a magazine sold by and to help homeless people) has a guide on growing tomato seeds this week so buy it if you get a chance. It also has a fascinating piece on people who plant veg and fruit in public places so anyone can benefit from them.

I have had some pea casualties. I planted them out before the snows and put them under plastic tubs which were too flimsy as let cold in. I have put some pea seeds in existing pots of shrubs and will see if they germinate.

Here's my hexagon of herbs. The long stick things are the bronze fennel that has died back. I like chewing the seeds - they are anaseed flavoured- good for stomach upsets. The bay is in the middle and golden marjoram behind it. The golden margoram is low at the moment but will bush back up lovely and goldy limey coloured. Lemon balm on left needs cutting back and it spreads like made but the bees love it so good for encouraging insects in to pollonate the plants. You can't see the purple sage but it's they - lovely colour when it gets going.

Lavender on left - I love it. Some people use it with lamb instead of rosemary. On right of lavender is the rosemary - lovely with lamb and in stews.