The allotment floweth over ...

A brief lull between fruit and veg harvesting to tidy the compost heap.
And to plan a bit of  rebuilding later in the year ...

It's all go on the allotment at the moment - just about to embark on the blackberry, damsons, plums, apples and pears picking season - the blueberries are in full flow and have done exceptionally well this year. Much to Archie and Angel's delight, as they love blueberries almost as much as strawberries - I started with one in a pot in the back garden but moved it to the allotment when it became clear that otherwise it was going to be a race every morning between me and the dogs to get t the ripe berries first. It has been joined by 5 other bushes since then ... but when I arrive home with the harvest each day I get mugged at the door for a sample!

One of the quality controllers checking out the goosegogs earlier this year

Success!

Another sign of autumn being here - the annual garden show was held last week. All around the village you could hear the sound of busy bakers (the local shop briefly ran out of self raising flour and jam sugar at one point) while the allotment saw an unusually early contingent of gardeners descend on it to harvest fruit and veg entries ...

 I must have been doing something right as I was excited to find that I'd won prizes for my apples, plums, pears and cape gooseberries. It will be nice to be able to eat them at last - they have been kept aside on a sunny windowsill to ripen just in time for the show.

 And of course I now have a prize winning bowl of fruit in the kitchen!

Needless to say, Archie and Angel are not in the slightest bit impressed, and prefer not to get involved, but instead to supervise from a safe distance while soaking up a few rays of autumn sunshine from their beds by the garden window ...

Tasty!

Once big enough to leave the shed, the tomatoes
and cape gooseberries were moved out to a cold frame in the front garden,
where the dogs can't access them.

Shop bought tomatoes never taste as good as home grown ones bursting with flavour. If you don't want to buy a whole packet of seeds which you probably won't use,  for the same amount of money you can buy just one or two seedlings ready to pot on. This will also mean you don't also end up with a huge glut of fruits, but just the amount you can use - although if you do go a bit mad and grow lots of plants, friends may be glad to have any which are surplus to requirements, and you can of course bottle and preserve and make sauces to put in the freezer.

But you must make sure that tomato plants are kept safely out of the way of your dogs as they are not good for them to nibble on. It belongs to the nightshade family Solanaceae, so be respectful! Although the ripe, red fruits are relatively safe, green tomatoes, plus the leaves and vines are toxic.

Dogs do not always appreciate the importance of waiting for things to ripen: given the chance Angel will happily munch her way through as many unripened strawberries as she can snaffle rather than wait till they reach their luscious best - although she eats those too. So keep your tomato plants safely away from pets, so they can't be sampled: mine, plus a crop of cape gooseberries are being grown in the front garden which the dogs don't have free acess to.

Remember that there are other plants too which although humans can safely consume them, are toxic to dogs - including grapes, onions and avocados. As you don't want your dog snacking on something which may be bad for him (or assisting your gardening by 'watering' plants for you either) fruit and veg are probably best grown in areas where your dog is not allowed - if it is a spot within the garden, make sure it is very securely fenced off - or on an allotment.

Allotments are in great demand, and in many areas there is a waiting list - but the sooner you get your name down for one, the sooner you'll get one!

 

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