September 2023 Video Diary
01 October 2023
I had to start sometime – cutting back redcurrants
For several years now I’ve been going to cut back our redcurrant bushes. They’ve gone unpruned for several years now and have become so big that we haven’t been able to protect the fruit from the birds. So the time has come to cut them back to the ground and see what happens.
28 September 2023
Paws in the Park at Nostell Priory – Ruby and the agility games challenge
This must be a regular feature at Nostell Priory. Last year we arrived just as the agility games were being put away and Ruby didn’t get a chance to take part. This year we saw Paws in the Park advertised on Facebook and decided to make sure Ruby got there well in time. This was just as well because we had a lot of problems trying to get Ruby to do the simplest of tasks. She could always find a simpler way of doing things. However, the three of us had lots of fun trying to get the challenges completed and Ruby didn’t seem any worse than any of the other dogs there trying to do just the same thing. 
26 September 2023
Harvesting apples and quince plus lots of digging and clearing
A sign that autumn really is here is when it’s time to pick the apples and quinces. Our apples have done reasonable well this year but after a bumper crop of quinces last year we’ve only a few to pick this year.
20 September 2023
Harvesting our winter squashes plus last of the potatoes and some apples & pears
It’s a sure sign that autumn is here when the squashes are ready for harvesting. Both varieties have done well this year and we have plenty to see us through winter. The last few varieties of potatoes were lifted and gave a better crop than I was expecting. Our Fiesta apples are ready for eating but the Invincible pears will need a few days on a sunny windowsill to ripen.
19 September 2023
Ruby’s shower ready for grooming
When it’s time for Ruby to be clipped she gets a shower first so that she is ready for the groomer. Taking a shower is not high on Ruby’s to do list. She takes a lot of persuading to get into the shower and hates the shower directed at her from a distance. Once showered and dried a zoomy or cracker dog is bound to follow.
16 September 2023
Tomatoes growing the wrong way?
This video was made a few weeks ago. We’ve had a strange tomato growing season but we’ve also had a bumper crop of tomatoes.
11 September 2023
An afternoon harvesting on the plot with Ruby.
The weather had cooled down considerably so we decided to head down to the allotment to do some harvesting. We took Ruby along too. What could possibly go wrong?
07 September 2023
A different plot tour – Overgrown plots 41 & 42
Over the last month or so we’ve been busy harvesting and any tidying up jobs that we have done haven’t been done to plots 41 & 42. The result is that they’ve both become very untidy. The grass is in desperate need of cutting and weeds including the dreaded bindweed have grown somewhat unchecked. However, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to harvest on these plots. Once the weather cools down we’ll get stuck into tidying up this side of the allotment.
07 September 2023
Planting winter onions & garlic
Last year we planted our winter onions and garlic on 02 October, this year we are planting them exactly one month earlier.