I dug the cauliflower patch over today and it was like moving dust, the soil is unbelievably dry. Tomorrow I'll need to spend some time doing some serious watering I think. The cauliflowers that I sowed last weekend have made an appearance - although several other things have appeared that I didn't sow !! Guess that is one of the drawbacks of homemade compost, it just doesn't get hot enough to sterilise it. The ying yang bean pods were looking very yellow and dry, so I decided to harvest them - amazingly the beans are black and white inside, I'm really awestruck by mother nature. I'm going to dry the beans thoroughly for a couple of weeks, before putting into a jar. Then I'll need to find a recipe !

I've got four turks turbans growing at the plot and so far every plant has produced a different fruit. Here are two of them, the second bears no resemblance to a turks turban - must have had some cross pollination last year:





This is one of my few squashes, I've forgotten its name and I'm pretty certain the label has faded. Another couple of others have rotted on the vine, so I'm hoping this one manages to toughen its skin over the next couple of weeks - it is currently football size. It will be treasured this year. I think if this year had been my first season I would be very downhearted - I just didn't appreciate how lucky I was last year ... we ended up giving squash and pumpkins away left, right and centre:



Now here is a sight that I would have been delighted to see in July or even August. But September, come on, it is pathetic. I have spotted three and they are not even as big as my little finger yet. I'm guessing that they will not come to much - especially as the weather man was forecasting an air frost for next week:



The only record I'm going to win with my Dills Atlantic Giant this year is perhaps the smallest. The plant has around 10 of these at the moment, they are about palm sized - perhaps if I gather them all up I might be able to make soup ...



Here is my sweetcorn - it is either Miracle or Incredible (I really must get better at labelling things). Although the plants are still very small compared to last year, the have started to produce decent cobs, and are starting to swell nicely:



The vole family are having a little taste of my sweetcorn, which I take as a good sign that they are ready to be harvested. I'm just chopping off the bit that has been chewed ... now if somebody told me they were sharing a corn on the cob with a vole !*!*! ... but for some reason its just not bothering me.



I have another little visitor in the greenhouse, this is the second tomato I've noticed that has been munched



My red egg aubergines have started to change colour now, but they still don't look anymore enticing ... I'm not that keen to try them in honesty


Raspberries are still going well, every week there are more waiting to be picked. I've spread the word that I'm after more when people are thinning their beds:


I've been chopping away at the hedge today to let a little more light in ... awww, who am I kidding ... really I wanted to clear a path to next doors apple tree and perhaps sample a couple. Sadly after all that work the apples are not worth picking, as they are all marked like this one. I'm guessing that its because the tree hasn't been tended for a couple of years - I'll suggest that the new owners get a sticky collar or whatever it is they need to stop the nasties for next season.