Although the weather is still pretty great, the day's are getting noticeably shorter and the mornings are dark enough to switch a light on when the alarm sounds. The plot is definately showing signs that summer is out and Autumn is almost upon us.
The squashes and pumpkins are beautiful rich colours and will be harvested by the end of the month. I am sure we have harvested the last of the sweetcorn and what is left on the dwarf fench beans will be left to dry out before I harvested them for next years seeds.
There is a shift from growing and planting out to clearing the beds of spent crops. We will now be focusing on becoming a 'no dig' plot. The main part of this method is to feed the soil. Meaning now is the time to start mulching with beds with organic matter such as compost or manure (or both). We do not make anywhere near enough compost for this and the manure I collected earlier in the year won't really be usable yet! I have worked out an estimated cost of buying in compost and believe it is managable, especially as we should need less as the years go by. When we spotted Wilkinson selling off all their compost for £1 a bag this week we didn't even hesitate to fill the car boot.... 600l for £12 not even a dent in the amount we need overall really but fab all the same.
So I made a start covering a couple of the beds I had cleared. I also decided to cover a patch of perennial weeds that we hadn't yet sorted out. It had actually become the place we put down a picnic rug for the children, like a really ugly lawn haha. It is mainly dandelions but also bindweed and marestail. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to really test out the no dig on a piece of ground that hadn't been cleared of weeds through digging. So I covered it with a layer of compost about 3inches thick, then layed a thick black plastic sheeting on top and weighted it down with wood. I figured it will be a good test to see how long it takes for the weeds to completly die and how much difference the compost will make to the soul conditions.
If it is succesfull it will become part of the large strawberry patch I have been dreaming of since we signed the lease! One of our older plot neighbours has informed me that he had been talking about my 'funny idea' with some of the other allotmenters and they are all interested to see if it will work- no pressure then! I just hope it doesn't all blow away in the next few months.....
As this is our first year on the allotment it is all new and a huge learning curve, however I wasn't expecting to feel sad at the thought of the summer finishing, and I left the plot, feeling a bit lost. I have since made a loose plan for the next few month and am looking foward to the different jobs on my to do list.
Autumn has always been my favourIte time of year, being able to enjoy it at the allotment can only make it that much more wonderful can't it?
