No excuses for a visit to the lottie today, as it was our monthly committee meeting. I have been going for fleeting visits and today I was surprised to see that it is fairing better than I thought it was.

The butternut squashes have finally had a growth spurt and I noticed two VERY small butternuts - fingers crossed now for some sunshine. Hopefully we'll have at least another month without frost - fingers crossed.

I picked a carrier bag of the gorgeous purple 'french' beans. I can't remember what they are, but they taste lovely. I could do with some recipe ideas for them though ! Noticed some Borlotti beans have appeared too - they are not quite ready to be picked.

I dug up some Pink Fir Apples and some Charlottes, they are not particularly big and neither were they as plentiful as previous years, but they looked good nonetheless.

The leeks all have flower pods bobbing about, so after snapping them all off and tutting at them I dug up a couple. They and some of the potatoes have been made into soup. Not tasted it yet (it will be my lunch next week at work) but it looks lovely.

I was also surprised to see quite a few tomatoes on the vines. I thought I'd lose them all at one stage and I'd say its about 50 : 50 so far. I've made cream of tomato soup tonight, we had some for tea - cor, it was good !

The courgettes have been decimated by the slugs this year - unbelievable, I'll never moan about them again ! (haha, well until next year anyway). There were two mammoth sized 'marrows' and a couple of very small ones, so I've picked them - not sure what to do with them yet.

My beetroots are very small, so I've pulled a few and will cook them this week - can't decide whether to boil them or roast them.

I took up the last of the onions - very small, but once they are chopped up and in the pan, no-one will be any the wiser :)

The best surprise of the day was that I have a new neighbour ! I think she said her name was Linda. She is an experienced gardener and doesn't seem daunted at all, so I'm hopeful that we'll see some progress next season.

Last task of the day was to collect blackberries and elderberries. I made blackberry & apple pie for tea (oh my word, it is sooooo yummy). If I can find some energy I'll be making blackberry & apple jam later and possibly elderberry & apple jelly.