It has been really difficult this month to find the time for the plot. Ma is on an every other week cycle and I’m busy and tired and autumnal so it’s hard.

However, I am determined to get the plot in good shape over the next couple of months so we can kick off in spring on the right foot.

So we’ve cleared most of the tomato beds and one of the polytunnel beds. We planted the garlic, in two beds outdoors and I’ve planted the other 17 or so cloves in the polytunnel bed. One of the tomato beds has had chive plants growing in it and I’ve left them in and planted violas and primroses as well as some plants that I know won’t survive the winter! It’ll look pretty until I need the bed in the spring! The brassicas are dealing with a massive whitefly invasion, it’s seen off all of the red cabbages and the red Russian kale in one of the beds. My plan for that is to clear it and maybe plant some broad beans instead. I bought some more kale plants and put them in the poly so we have about 20-ish kale plants, they are very small at the moment but we like kale, I can make pesto with it and surprisingly, it’s a veg that I can always give away at work!

We had a frost at the beginning of last week and I took a quick early Monday morning trip to the plot to rescue the winter squash and dig up the sweet potatoes. This year has been the best yet for sweet potatoes, we got just over 2 kg of them and some of them were a really good size. This is certainly the best harvest we’ve had so we’ll do them again next year and hope for better weather. The winter squash haul wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t great either. Some of that could be weed pressure, one of those beds is over run (it wasn’t that great on the sweet potato bed either. I have a plan for that for next year. I’m going to weed them, top them up and cover with black plastic and plant through it. For the paths around the squash beds, we’re going to weed and I’m going to lay down weed fabric (I have a load of it that my sister in law gave us when she gave up her plot). It’s not my preferred method but I can’t keep it all the paths weeded and this will reduce the pressure. Down the side of the squash bed nearest the path, I’m going to lay down weed fabric and plant sunflowers. They look pretty and it’ll give the beans something to climb up!

Last weekend, I was planning to pull up the peppers in the poly but they look really good so I’m going to give them a bit longer. My plan was to plant that bed up with lettuces, chard, mustards, rocket and so on, we’ll see if that happens!

This weekend I started to tidy up. After clearing the summer squash beds at the front, (the frost had done their work) I planted the three blackberry bushes in one of the beds. They haven’t done well in pots and so I decided to put the blackberries in there and see what happens. We do have a plan to move the other square bed right at the front and use that area for the strawberry towers! I also cleared the ‘widows and orphans’ bed of squash and tomatoes and cut down the tomatoes on the grow bag. There was thyme self-seeding in the rings so I planted them up, if they grow great, free plants and if not, I’ve lost nothing!

We also harvested the last of the potatoes (1.6kg), two cabbages, and some beetroot. Not bad for October! (Ma took home, winter squash, some last patty pans, potatoes, sweet potatoes, beetroot and a cabbage. I’m happy with the harvests we’ve had in a bad year!)

After Ma cut up all the squash into the compost bin, she started to sort out the strawberry towers. We’ve lost some we also have some runners, so it was a case of trimming the dead leaves, making sure each layer had three plants and topping up the compost. We’ve lost some plants but with the runners we’ve broken even. For year two of my grand plan, we need 24 new plants and eight new planters. I’ve ordered 30 bare root plants and I need to order two more sets of planters. Maybe next year, we’ll have enough runners that I don’t have to buy more plants!

Meanwhile, I started to weed the front of the plot. From the front to the gooseberries all weeded and then I planted all the plants that have been waiting patiently! Comfrey and sage went at the front corner where I dug up the poorly performing rhubarb at the beginning of the year. I then covered with cardboard and compost.

The camomile lawn (six plants) and thyme were planted around the bed that the blackberries were in. I’m hoping that it’ll spread and help keep the weeds down! The lavender (Provence) went on the corners of the flower bed and blackberry bed and the roman camomile went in with the other one I planted out a couple of weeks ago. I know it’s a lot but apparently, I’m a maximalist in the garden and it could be drugs!

There is a heap of things to do and in no particular order:

• Paint the shed
• Tidy the shed and the polytunnel
• Prune the jasmine and give it some better support
• Clear and cover rest of the beds
• Weed and woodchip under the plum tree
• Grease band the plum tree
• Trim the grass paths on the right
• Weed, woodchip and prune the gooseberry bushes
• Weed, woodchip and prune the blackcurrant bushes
• Weed, clear and mulch the herb beds (that was the first bed I planted, rosemary, thyme, oregano and sage – there’s also a lemon verbena and some chives but there are also herbs everywhere on the plot!)
• Weed, clear and mulch the wild area in the middle
• Weed top up the sweet potato bed and hot boxes
• Trim the lavender, oregano and rosemary bushes
• Sort out the rose bushes
• Weed, tidy and mulch the iris, rose and pond gardens
• Weed, cover and woodchip the paths around the squash beds
• Weed, top up and cover the squash beds
• Weed and mulch the pink and white bed at the back
• Sort out the boysenberry bed
• Tidy up the back paths and sort out the weed bin that you’ve been composting
• Turn the compost
• Slug nematodes for the polytunnel – which is slug and snail heaven at the moment.
• Sort out support for the raspberries and

Next week, I need to get the Halloween stuff out for the pumpkin walk and maybe, I’ll get to that pesky grass under the plum tree.

So much to do, I don’t want to do very little and then panic in March, I’ll like to be pretty much there by the end of January, because by that point, I’ll be planting onions, alpine strawberries, aubergines and peppers and getting ready for the next season…