Reaping the Home Grown Harvest from our Allotment
It has been three months since we told you about our new venture to 'grow our own' on a small allotment space we have been given.
This past week has seen us harvesting produce that has matured, learning a lot about what not to do and freeing up space for some more seeds to grow.
Our greatest growth comes in the form of peas. We have had a bumper crop - and with the good weather to continue we hope to get another batch in before the growing season ends. There is nothing so sweet as the pop of a pod and the taste of the peas fresh from the plant. 
The thing we learned with peas is that they do need some organisation, and the new plants will have the correct vertical netting in place as they start to emerge.
The runner beans have just started to mature and we are picking these daily and eating them with relish! Not stringy, and very sweet, they are delicious, simply sliced and boiled gently. Hopefully they will continue to grow and give us plenty more in the coming weeks.
Our pumpkins have started to grow and we have three fine examples to nurture in the hope that come Halloween we will have some to carve into Jack-o'-lantern. We may even be brave enough to try our hand at a pumpkin pie or two.
With the spell of hot weather we have also had to make sure we water every night, and water well. It is surprising just how dry soil can get and even after a thorough soak, little more than the top layer is damp. We have installed a water barrel too and hope to catch any rain that comes our way.
The initial strawberry plants have throw numerous off-shoots that have now been planted into their own little pots, the apple tree is laden with ripening fruits and the plums are falling by the dozen every day. We have a large pan full ready to jam down later and plenty more to pop in the fruit bowl.
Beetroot has been a popular choice and has grown well and been harvested weekly to boil and enjoy. Small spring onions are nestled beside some much larger leeks and another crop of radishes are well on their way.
One remaining sprout is trying its hardest to mature, along with a singular Swiss Chard and a handful of kale.
A real success is the tomato plants. Four sickly little seedlings planted out too early and failing rapidly have been transformed into four very strong, tall plants that are now in buckets in the greenhouse and starting to bear fruits. One lesson learned for us on tomatoes. Next year they will benefit from being planted and left in the greenhouse all summer long.
The weekly fight to hold back the weeds from the beds is ongoing, along with tidying the surrounding grass area and tending to our 'wild garden'. The huge birds that were ransacking the feeders have given way to a smaller, well mannered collection of fliers and the pumpkin flowers are being populated by many, many bees. Hopefully they may even decide to spend a night or two in our bug hotel.
We still have a lot to learn and much more work to do but moving on, this year we will continue to see our harvest grow and put lessons learned into practise for next year.
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