The weather had to eventually turn cooler. After above average temperatures throughout July and August and a mild start to September, it was a bit of a shock to the system when a bit of chilly weather arrived this week. The breeze moved into a cold northerly to make it feel even cooler.

 Over the last few nights, the temperature has dropped as low as 6.1°C and through the day the high temperature has only managed around 18°C rather than the low twenties we’ve become used to. After a few showery days the previous week, we’ve had a dry week. However, we managed to clear and dig over a few more beds at the allotment. We’ve covered a couple of beds with weed control fabric to prevent weeds from germinating.

As I was unrolling the weed control fabric, which had been stored in the greenhouse over the summer, I think I rather annoyed this spider by disturbing its summer home.

Last year around this time , rather than leave them in the ground where they suffer from slugs or begin to rot if the weather turns very wet and cold, we decided to dig up our carrots and store them at home in compost. It’s not very pleasant digging up carrots on a cold wet December day and having to wash them under cold water before they are fit to transport home. The experiment worked pretty well and I think our carrots lasted much longer stored in the greenhouse at home in a tub full of compost than left in the ground.

This year I’m planning on doing the same again. Also this year we’ve been very successful with our beetroot crop and rather than leave the roots in the ground they have been lifted and stored in just the same way as last year’s carrots. Next week I’m hoping to get the carrots lifted and stored away in the greenhouse.

Once the carrots are lifted the only crop remaining to be harvested, rather than left to fend for itself through winter in the ground are our quinces. They’re still not ready to pick so I’m hoping that the weather holds out for a few more weeks to give them a chance to ripen.