Unofficial retrobike allotment thread....

I've just spotted the "horse's willy" quote – I guess the 'interestingly shaped' courgette offering was asking for it!

Must say those beetroots, carrots, etc look good. The beetroot is great diced into chunks with butternut squash, chopped onions or whole shallots, and long slow roasted in olive oil in the oven (190 for around 90 minutes). Mix in some goats or feta cheese and add to couscous, salads or whatever.

Harvesting a few things here and there. The weird and wonderful courgettes are 'firming up' nicely. More runner beans. Had some Red Duke of Yorks, Yukon Gold and Pink Fir Apples over the last couple of weeks – potato salad o'clock! The PFAs are particularly good in salads and also sauteed with say, onions/garlic/bacon, for a gourmet yet rustic breakfast. Lots of Alpine Strawberries – my hens love these.

Shame about my cooking apples – the pesky squirrels have gnawed the lot as they were developing – now there's just one big one left on the tree. This is where a fully tanked up super soaker comes in handy.

Carl, it's really annoying/depressing when you start experiencing theft/vandalism/arson on an allotment, so I know how you might be feeling. Basically, you need to have regular committed presence of holders turning up all hours, particularly when miscreants least expect. May need to tackle the parents of the robber or better pester the rozzers to approach them on behalf of the committee. If you have a local parks police unit, encourage them to do regular patrols.

On our last site, we ended up with a huge chase after someone who kept burning 3 sheds a night, stealing and vandalising stuff. Things came to a head when he burnt down the local community's bowling society's committee house. The rozzers turned up with everything that evening.

First tub of Dahlias in the garden to flower today. Exploding like a sun god, this one is 'Maniac'.

i had to many blackberries from the bottom of the garden so I dug up history mans rhubarb cake recipe

it works with blackberries too

Fantastic cake. I have just found a source for frozen local gooseberries so......

Cheers for the cooking tips Howard. We had our first ever taste of Kohl Rabi tonight (oy vey!!) and very tasty too. We had it in some coleslaw, it has a lovely peppery flavour that sits nicely with the sweetness of the carrots. Very Masterchef They have proved to be a sacrificial crop has they have distracted all the 'white' butterflies from the rest of the brassicas.

I've been mostly hoofing out caterpillars, squishing their eggs and picking all manner of beans and peas. The novelty is still fun but the prepping time for food has increased but we all muck in which is half the fun. We had our first taste of Kestrel this week. It chipped quite nicely (as all potatoes should be) and we had it baked tonight. Quite a nice creamy flavour and boy are they big!

We are all feeling very healthy and virtuous at the moment, we shall see if it continues.

I've just started digging the last strip of the plot that isn't under cultivation, bindweed and lots of docks are coming out. Piccies included. LUMOS take note. If you see any of these roots bag them up and chuck them away, don't put them in a composter!! It's bindweed and it's a swine.

Blueberries, or something else (sloes?)

The leaves look right, but the bottom of the berries don't look the same. Admittedly, these are quite hard and small so not yet ripe?

These are looking like sloes off a blackthorn tree, which reminds me, I'll need to be thinking about picking some in a few weeks time for another big batch of gin

Any joy with you sloes? The huge mass of sloes that i promised earlier in the year have all been grubbed up as collateral damage in the construction of a yard to store pallets

"Oy vey!" indeed, in reference to your previous posting Karl.

Haven't been keeping up with the thread as late as there have been issues to deal with – a wider family crisis, and then delivery of an 'ALL7' notice from the council on my plot (bar stewards parking fascist jobsworths!). As a result, I'm having to dig and clear the plot like a whirling dervish to avoid losing it in around 20 days time. I'm one of at least a dozen who've received the 'ALL7'. All my spare free time in the hours of daylight are going into this.

The council have also started year long work on a flood prevention scheme by our allotment site in the valley, and to great dismay, have destroyed a huge run of old established native deciduous trees and fruiting hedgerow to make way for it. Fortunately, I still have a few 'barrels' of my sloe gin from the last 2 years. I'm actively on the trail now for a fresh source of sloes. I've been out on the bike today scouting for them in nearby woods and trails.

yep got lots of them to go through, I haven't given it much time lately, been away camping for the end of the summer hols, cloud farm north devon, highly recommended and totally off grid. anyway shes back to school and ive got a to do list the length of my arm.
I thought you pick slows after the first good frost?