Update:
– picked just over 2kg of sloes and stuck them in the freezer pre-ginning
– picked chicoria for tonight’s piadina (yum!)
– chucked split soggy tomatoes in the compost
– bailed out the navy bed again

There is a pot of blackberries and sloes bubbling away on the stove, ready for turning into jelly. Smells lovely, though I’ll have to get up early tomorrow to finish it off.

The Wyevale seed sales are on – word’s gone out over the internet that they are down to 50p per packet, and who can resist that? I spent more than I really thought I would. I guess this means that I have a seed problem…The seedbox walls have officially burst and new stuff has to lurk in a bag for now. I have  70+ new packets, including onions, which I swore never to grow. Onions from seed in 2015 it is then. Some of the packets are a starter pack for my lovely friend Maggie and her new roof terrace in Glasgow. I am hoping I don’t have to cart compost up to it – there’s no lift…

My favourite packets all seem to be Franchi seeds – padron peppers, yellow carrots and rugosa friulana, which look like very warty yellow courgettes and are supposed to taste fabulous, though that could just be over-enthusiasm. Looking forward to those! It feels a bit previous to think about next year already, I need to leave myself something to do in the dark twiddly-thumb months!

To do list:
1) dig a big hole for rhubarb and put it in it
2) find somewhere for more of the saffron bulbs
3) stop the tomatoes and the tomatillos
4) junk some of the most mildewy of courgettes

Getting through the hardcore road is tough. And I am very glad I have safety goggles. Have left beans, toms and courgettes to pick tomorrow and some potatoes to dig up so my neighbour’s little boy can help when he visits. Last time he came he had strawberries, and I think he thinks they are still there…