Autumn planting

I don't mind digging in the rain but if the ground gets too wet then you damage it by trampling over it. Please let it stop raining for a while. I still have my onions, garlic and broad beans to put in. Japanese onions can be put in now as they can cope with winter, other onions can't.
Also I've decided not to grow runner beans next year as I really don't like them. That frees up some ground for other stuff. My strawberries didn't do so well - too little rain and I didn't water enough and too much competition from weeds. I may grow them in pots in trays next year or not bother. My carrots did well though some of them were dug up and eaten but at least they left me most of them. At the allotment we have deer, badgers, pheasants, moles and lots of squirrels. I've started some digging but I should really have tried to get more done before the weather gets worse. Crop rotation is doing my head in as some group of plants take up sore space than others or stay in the ground longer. Just need to suss out where carrots are going next year and make sure I don't manure it as they hate it and it makes them fork.
I have some broccolli (well it's calabrese really) coming and have had some nice bits. My butternut squashes are colouring nicely and my Ukrainian pumpkins are enormous- will have to wheelbarrow them home. First year for my Autumn Bliss raspberries- v nice but not loads- possibly because it's the first year.
Still have one row of potatoes to dig up. Had quite a bit of scab again this year- it does affect the flavour. Think it means the ground is too limey and needs to be more acidic.

Poetry

I've just been asked to be a guest poet locally next month. I'm very excited and nervous. Strangely I'm not that nervous about my poems but about all the chatting you need to do in between. Saw Elaine Feinstein last night and she was fab - so engaging. She spoke so clearly that you didn't miss a word.
Any tips from experienced and inexperienced readers very welcome. It's lovely to have a reason to sharpen up some more of my poems.

Admitting defeat

Finally I have had to admit defeat. I will never finish this book which I won from Annie's fab blog. Annie described it as too cerebral - I now know what she meant. This book is all head and no heart. The authors dimiss us all as only ever showing kindness to children. Natural disasters summon up all sorts of support near and far -this did not seem to be addressed but then I only got half way through the book so maybe they did. As I did not finish it (it's a very slim volume too!) it would be unfair for me to comment further. I will pass the book on to the runner up and hope she fares better.

Thanks to Annie for the competition - it's always good to try something you wouldn't normally read.

Latitude

I had a fab weekend at Latitude thanks to the local paper competition. The festival had grown since the previous year. The field we'd picniked in last year is now an additional car park.
Florence and the machine performed brilliantly though she looked tired - as though she's just performing too much or maybe she just had a late night. Empire of the Sun were spellbinding in their spandex, capes and head-dresses. We caught the end of Temper trap and wished we'd heard more. Belle and Sebastian appeared after a 4 year break in performing. They looked like they'd dressed to meet in the local pub which was actually quite sweet and refreshing. They turned the stage into the dancefloor after inviting youngsters up. It was great to hear Mumford and sons classic songs.

I wanted to stay in the poetry tent all the time but realised I needed to pull myself together. We wandered into the Film and Theatre tent and were so gripped by a soviet era silent movie- the Dying Swan that we didn't realise that the music was live. So much emotion conveyed by music and the written word that talking movies seem tame in comparison.

I've never been to the ballet so we elbowed our way to a space on the side of the Lake to watch Swan Lake. The dancers limped off, the black stage blistering hot in the sun. Still ballet virgins.

We popped out to Southwold for a fry up on Saturday morning as I have a horror of staying in an enclosure for too long. I feel like that in Ikea and in shopping centres too. It was good to eat and drink from proper crockery with the sea sparkling and heaving outside.

The poetry tent seem heavily tilted towards performance poetry or maybe I didn't get a fair view of enough poets. Having said that Kate Tempest 's rap poetry can't help but move you. She speaks to people many try to avoid making eye contact with. Laura Dockrill with her Word orchestra dressed in patterned lyra was amazing. She plays words - they are her instrument and she looks the audience in the eye wanting to see if they are enjoying it. Such young people with such passion and commitment to their art. Written word poet Jacob Polley was outstanding. I wish i'd taken more notes but someone correct me if I'm wrong - did he have a line saying the sun wrote itself across the windows. I loved that - it keeps resonating in me. It was great to hear Neruda's poems but I'm not sure that David Soul made them overdramatic with his delivery.

I danced in the woods - boy I needed that dance.

However much you do you can't do it all so for all the highlights there are the regrets for what you've missed.

Harvest and writing updates.

CORRECTION- redcurrants don't need the fruiting branches cut right off. Will update tomorrow.



First cucumber - it was delicious!

Oh and we've had courgettes- I really miss them when their season is over and can't bear to buy them as it feels so disloyal. I haven't managed to use the flowers yet.


My parsnip thinnings looking rather sexy I think.

Any recipes for courgettes gratefully received. I tend to fry them in butter (especially baby ones) or make ratatouille. Or any recipes as I keep cooking the same stuff.

When it gets busy at the allotment I don't really feel like writing about it so all my posts end up being a bit after the event. I've dug up a row of my Charlotte potatoes which are delicious but the crop is not as abundant this year I guess because of the lack of rain. My neighbour watered his but got even less potatoes so I guess you just can't beat rain. I'm putting my leeks where the potatoes were but due to long winter they are going in late. Last year I harvested my Charlottes on the 18th June. The loganberries (at least I think that what they are- I really should post a picture)I need to finish picking my redcurrants - someone recommended lopping off the fruiting branch then picking off the currants which sounds like a good idea as you need to prune the branches that have fruited and once you pick it gets harder to work out what's what.

I am forcing myself to write 1000 words a day of my novel - some days more successful than others and when I get fed up I look at a poem I've been writing that shimmers in places and trips me up in others. Once I'm in the swing of it I feel happy but always seem to subject myself to hours of prevarication and what's the meaning of it all. The meaning is to enjoy! Some days easier to say than do but I will plod on regardless. Happy plodding or maybe even skipping!!

Allotment and front garden-too hot 4 fancy title

My first globe artichoke. Not sure is I should harvest it now or wait a little longer. Once they flower you can't eat them.







As a child I ate redcurrants from the bushes in a friends garden. The sourness takes your breath away. They look like gems I think.










The potatoes are flowering beautifully and as soon as the flowers die I will be harvesting them. Due to the long winter these are going to be ready much later than last year. A fellow allotmenteer has said to plant the leeks where the potaotes were as the area has been well manured so I'll give that a go this year.









My front garden - Phlomis, Valerian and Aliums with a bit of Salvia thrown in at the back.

A late allotment post

Here's the structure I build every year for my beans. At each corner I drive in strong posts of wood to which I attach the canes and then build up the frame. I like this shape as you can easily access beans in and out. Also you get a gorgeous green shady tunnel. I am growing runner beans and climbing french beans up it - I put string acrosss the top so they can carry on climbing across the top and form a roof.

This picture of the potatoes was taken about a month ago and it's amazing how much they have grown since. They are also flowering.

I'm having one of those days. Do you get them? It feels like you've been turned inside out and any sad news you hear feels like it is drawing blood. I know you can find reasons for wars but when you break it down to what it is, it seems so incredible that we behave in this way. I honestly hope they'll be a day when it will un-understandable.