I spent a lovely afternoon at the allotment yesterday. A dull and chilly day but I didn’t feel the chill working on the plot. It was a day of weeding, harvesting (carrots, potatoes and a few pumpkins) and generally mooching around in the shed, tidying up and sipping hot tea.
We’re almost half way into October and the plot still offers plenty of Cosmos for wildlife and picking, the flowers just keep going and going until a hard frost arrives.
I have a couple of rows of potatoes still to lift and I’ll get that done before the ground freezes.
I’m very pleased with my carrots, they’re a lovely size with straight roots and the best I’ve ever grown. Putting rabbit fencing around the plot certainly helped matters. As much as I enjoy the comedy value of pulling misshapen carrots (you do get some strange and wonderful shapes), I was determined to grow some decent carrots this year. And I did, yay!
Sunflowers hang their heads, ripe with seeds, I’ll cut the heads soon and lay them flat for birds to help themselves.
This lovely pumpkin will be used for carving at the end of the month for Halloween! I finished painting the inside of the shed door before I left for home, I’m so pleased with the colour, it looks stunning against the colour of the Cosmos and pumpkins don’t you think? I’ve decided to paint the inside of my shed ‘Country Cream'(Cuprinol) and add a few finishing touches, some of which I sourced from artisans including lovely bunting which I just can’t wait to put up. I just need the paint and away I go!
The Garden Smallholder 
Lovely photos, lovely squash and lovely colours. The weather this weekend was just perfect for being outside. I didn’t get much time for gardening as we were dealing with turkeys and chickens, but I did get to harvest lots of carrots, cauliflowers, tomatoes, tomatillos etc. Now I just have to freeze them all for later in the year. I am very envious of your neat allotment. I keep telling myself that the weeds are for the insects and that I like higgledy piggledy vegetable plots where a chaos of plants interact, but actually I like straight lines.
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It’s been a great weekend of harvesting :) loving your inspiring plot and photography :) xx
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That is one very good looking pumpkin! I wish we celebrated Halloween in Australia; I really want to try carving a pumpkin, it looks like so much fun :)
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Thanks bluebunny01, it’s getting easier to manage now but I did let it do it’s own thing for a while in summer, still catching up. Oops.
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Many thanks Kaz xx
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Thanks Anita, it’s quite a good size. I’m pretty useless at carving really scary faces into pumpkins, my attempts always look like a happy drunk!
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Love your photos, the shed is a great colour 😃
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The Hopeful Herbalist – Many thanks!
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Lovely pictures and garden! I noticed the bee box on your shed but I am unsure what the bottom portion is for. Can you enlighten me? Did you build it?
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Your allotment looks wonderful and sooooo much produce! You’re clearly have green fingers.
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Wow! What a tidy plot! great photos and post, thanks for sharing.
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The colors are beautiful! I will have to try cosmos again; they really are so pretty. Your soil looks so rich compared to my sandy Florida garden. Your garden looks like such a pleasant spot to spend a day.
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It’s looking beautiful and so very immaculate down on your plot. I’m determined to grow some decent carrots next year as well, I’ve not succeeded at all so far. CJ xx
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I can’t wait to garden next year! Everything looks so beautiful!
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You have the most beautiful allotment. It must give you so much pleasure to see what you have achieved from the first days when you took it over (I have been looking at your archives.) Congratulations on your harvest, carrots are magnificent specimens, and your potatoes look so fresh and delicious.
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It’s all looking and sounding good. it’s been a really good year for cosmos.
I have a touch of carrot envy as I’ve yet to succeed in growing decent ones, maybe next year… xx
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It still looks beautiful
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East Sac Edible, thank you. The bottom section can be filled with straw or dry leaves for insects to hibernate. I bought this box locally.
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Many thanks Tania
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Beeseeker, thank you
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Sarah, thank you. I adore cosmos, they look so delicate but they’re really quite tough until frosts arrive.
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CJ, thank you. I let it go slightly wild during summer but I’ve managed to catch up with the weeding quite a bit since then. Good luck with your carrots next year x
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Thank you 2boys1homestead. It will start to look bare again soon.
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Jean, thank you. I love reading your blog and marvel at the things you grow.
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Thank you Flighty, it has been a super year. Good luck with your carrots next year xx
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Thank you Sue :)
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Congrats on your carrots! I have yet to grow many pretty ones. Perhaps next year. Any advice?
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Looks great! :)
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Those cosmos are lovely! Congratulations on the carrots…like everything else from the garden, so much better (and more interesting) than anything you can buy in a store ;-) Cheers, Ben
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Thank you Ben! It has been a great year for cosmos and I’m super happy with the carrots this year.
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Reblogged this on stillhere2008 and commented:
Wish everybody in the U.S. had a garden like yours. It would no doubt solve many of the issues we have today..Don’t ever stop!!!!!
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Your pics are amazing! What a great garden, and what great colour! Love the look of your blog!
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