Giant veg
This past month the story on our plot has mostly been about weather woes and caterpillar catastrophes - as well as some truly magnificent marrows!
The weather hasn't been kind to us lunchtime gardeners - on so many days as 1pm rolled around, so the heavens opened and stopped our daily walks down the hill to the old walled garden. Luckily we've had a few sunny days lately so have been enjoying the pleasures of weeding, harvesting and sitting on the bench chatting once again!
The cabbage white caterpillars have devastated everyone's sprouts, broccoli and cauliflowers, leaving just spindly stalks behind them. I remember saying last year that we needed to net our brassicas but I think we all hoped that we might escape the carnage this year. Never mind!
Still, at least our potatoes and tomatoes have been blight-free after 2009's crops were devastated, and we're happily harvesting now the sun has come out.
The chard, dwarf beans, cucumbers and borlotti beans are still going strong, as are Ann's amazing yellow courgettes which have been providing us all with more than we can eat for months.
I did think that the growing of giant veg was a typically male occupation, but as you can see from the photos the girls are the competitive ones on our allotment! Jo from accounts has just picked the most enormous beetroot while online marketing manager Kim has dazzled us all with her marvellous marrows. The challenge now is finding a way of cooking the beasts!