Quick Allotment Visit

For the first time this summer, now we've had a bit of rain, it's possible to visit my allotment without watering things until the water trough is empty. I'd gone this evening to get some vegetables for a stir fry for tea. Fresh produce, picked and cooked within an hour tastes wonderful, especially with a bit of allotment garlic which is still really juicy. There's a glut of cucumbers and courgettes, they have done really well this summer. The runner beans are a bit more problematic, it's been too dry for them really, and how ever much watering I've done, it's not the same as having adequate rain falling on them, helping the flowers set, and lots of beans develop. If it's too dry, not enough beans set and they mature very quickly making them small and stringy. The raspberries were good, and the self set Swiss chard is huge, I dug up a few potatoes, but they don't look too good so I left them out and photographed these:

 I'll put the excess out in front of the house tomorrow for people to help themselves.
The winter lettuces I was given by another plot holder look really good

 and I was very pleased to see that my new next door neighbours have started digging the plot they chose at our allotment open day. They've mad an excellent start.

 There's also a warning cone on the corner of their plot. I think it was chucked over the fence some time ago.

Lovely not have to carry buckets of water, although I expect the weeds will grow now, my plot has been relatively weed free because it's been so dry.