We took all the logs I’d gathered down to the allotment this morning. They’re on Bed 1 for now; I’ll be using some in the trellis/fern bed when it’s been cleared. Some will be forming a log pile somewhere.

Something had been nosing about in the allotment. Moss had been scraped away from some beds and there had been scrabbling about under the apple tree. The wind we’ve had had blown oak leaves from the rec into the pond, and had blown the plastic off Bed 7, but everything else was fine. The frosts have well and truly killed the oca tops now.

I harvested all the carrots. A few were a bit soft, but most were fine and I had a heavy basketful to take home. That bed is now empty.

I put coffee on Beds 5, 6 and 8. Bed 5 is a little low on compost, but the other two don’t really need any now. Beds 5 and 6 are now covered.

I’ve made a good start on taking down the everlasting peas at the back. Some more needs to be hauled back over from the other side. I used to cut these stems into smaller pieces, but nowadays I just roll it up and smash it into the compost heap.

I took a few obvious weeds out of the ledge, but I think I’ll just give it a little tidy and leave it until spring. I’ll be better able to see what’s getting to big or not once it’s been through the winter – and the big fleabanes can be homes to plenty of little creatures.

We’ve had a couple of frosts now, so a number of plants had had it when I reached the allotment, including the nasturtiums, yellow annuals and little fuchsias in Bed 3 and the bird seed helianthus. The calendulas were looking a bit sad, but it’s not clear if they’re finished, or will buck up again.

The oca tops had collapsed fairly comprehensively, so now I have to leave the tubers in the ground for a couple of weeks before I lift them.

I had new bulbs to add to Elder Corner. I removed the dead nettle from the woodland bed (turns out it has invasive roots!) and planted 10 snowdrop bulbs there, among the leaf litter.

25 purple crocuses and 25 snake’s head fritillary have gone into Bed 3. There was some weeding to do and I done a first thin of the mat of foxglove seedlings. A few narcissi are already coming up and I only managed to break the top off one, which is pretty good going.

Most of the beds are covered now. Bed 1 is just waiting for the calendulas to finish. Bed 3 is empty, ready for the new stages. Bed 6 has some cornflowers left, but that’s all. The carrots in Bed 8 are suffering a little, so I’ll pull them all up soon.

I continued weeding bed 1 and with cold weather on the way, I took the marigolds out and left only the calendulas. They might survive through the upcoming cold weather, so it might be a case of moving them somewhere. While weeding I discovered that the crows had moved some pebbles from the pond to the corner of the bed. I cleared lots of soil, but the robin kept its distance, just shouting at me from the fence.

Mum had done a wonderfully short mow, so I took the opportunity to try and build up the dip by the water butts. I tipped out most of the reserved mole soil, so I still haven’t actually opened the top soil I bought yet. More soil might go at this point and there’s a patch between the front of Bed 3 and the back of Bed 2 that could possibly do with bringing up a little. I put down a little grass seed, but I can’t imagine it’ll germinate now.

I’ve taken the sunflowers out of Bed 6 and cleared it an amount, but there are still some surviving flowers at the moment.

I added more water to the pond and was pleased to see a non-hibernating diving beetle in there.

The harvest was a couple of carrots, though I had to get rid of a few damaged ones first. I imagine this peeling skin is just serious carrot fly damage.

The grass had grown so long that it was a complete mess. I have now strimmed the edges at last, ready for a good mow. Some of the paths look a bit like punk rockers for the moment. So pleased to have got this job done – I imagine for the last time this year, but it’s still pretty mild. The oca needs to be killed by frost, but that’s not imminent.

I collected a bunch of chunky sticks from the rec and arranged them over the top of the hedgehog house, pinning down a layer of leaves and moss over the roof that’s had holes pecked in it. Hopefully that will stop the birds pulling off too much of the covering.

Bed 7 is now completely done and while I was spreading compost the robin came to see me.

A second one suddenly appeared and they got into quite a fight, leaving the usual one sitting very quietly, often with its eyes shut – until the other one came back and they had another little skirmish. Mine wasn’t interested in any crumbled mealworms while he was sat looking sad, but after a while he perked up a bit and sat in Bed 6 while I pulled up dead plants. He let us be incredibly close to him.

We delivered the apple and Green Lane leaves this morning and put them all in the wooden bin. I’ll put the rest of this year’s apple leaves in there too, once they’ve fallen, and then the wooden bin will be full.

The oca has been sprawling over the sides of the bed somewhat, but is now propped up with cane hoops. There were some little tubers growing on the branches. Hopefully there will be more under the ground.

I cleared the front bed, accompanied by the robin, which nearly took my head off as it flew so low over me to get an offered caterpillar. While I was trying to photograph the three-spined grass bug it was sat on a log making its overhead predator call, but I couldn’t see a threat anywhere.

Something has dug its way into the bug hotel and there has long been a hole on top in one of the planter squares. One of the logs at the front has really started to fall apart and I also discovered a large hole under the everlasting pea, which explains its lack of performance this year. Assuming it’s a mole hole, I refilled it with coffee grounds and soil, so hopefully that won’t be redug.

Having finished the front bed, I also made a start on the corner of Bed 1, which is full of weeds, as well as flowers and tomato plant roots.

A little more Million Bells seed has gone around the edge of the pond. I’m hopeful it’ll give a bit of colour and coverage next year. The pond’s fairly uneventful at the moment. I’ve not seen any beetles for a few weeks, so hopefully they’ve found enough material in which to hibernate at the bottom of the pond.

A few more carrots have been harvested, along with all the beetroot. Some big weeds have been taken out of Bed 8 now, which had rather sat on the second row of beetroot, but I managed to grow some reasonable ones this year.

I went to Green Lane today and spent an hour scooping up 4 or 5 bags of leaves. Back home, we mowed them up and bagged them up again to go down to the allotment with a bag of mown apple leaves. Really glad to have done it at last. There are millions still in the lane, but I doubt I’ll go back again before next year.

I weeded and mostly emptied Bed 7 to make room for the contents of the leaf bin. Moving the bins out of the way, I was able to get rid of the nettles, re-lay the tiles and cover the ground under the wooden bin with the plastic sheet that was originally not doing much inside the bin.

When we emptied the bin, there was no sign of the ants any more, which was great, so we just mixed up the leaves and put them back into the bin. It’s not ready for use yet really, but the remnants left on the bed can certainly stay.

I also emptied Bed 9 today and added coffee and compost. The robin landed on the heap of compost the moment I turned my back.

We covered Bed 9 and Bed 4 for winter, but Bed 7 has enough colour from the marigolds and zinnias to stay open for the moment. Bed 1 is going to be open for a long time yet – it’s still blooming beautifully.

The pond has been a little low for a while, so I filled it pretty much to the top; hopefully it won’t drop too much. Some tiny new pieces of floating weed have appeared. I’m curious to see whether it’s duckweed.  

I weeded and spread coffee on Bed 9. While I was working there was a lot of bird activity in the tree and when I looked up at the sound of some insistent peeping, I saw a couple of long-tailed tits flying in and out of the tree.

I have cleared the corn cockle and nigella from the trellis bed, along with a lot of the trellis bed. Anything big that’s not at the back needs to go. There’s a lot more weeding to be done, but the big obvious stuff has gone.

The mole may have pushed through a bit at the side of the pond. I’m not sure the pond is built for longevity, but hopefully it’ll survive a while longer.

I transplanted a clump of physostegia that I’d dug up weeks ago and used some soil that I’d kept from mole excavations  to fill it in.

There are all sorts of volunteers already coming up in the garden, including this sea of foxglove seedlings which clearly needs thinning and moving around. The nasturtium that appeared in the compost heap is also getting bigger and bigger. There’s one flower on it, but the rest is just leaves.

I took the afternoon off with pouring rain forecast for tomorrow and got some great work done. We reversed down the path to deliver two bags of compost; the ground is pretty wet now, so I think this is as far as I’ll be able to go until spring.

I covered the lupin toad hole with some pieces of bark. Come on toads, come back to the plot.

We covered Beds 2 and 10. Later I realised that the marigolds in Bed 4 were done, so I took those out and added compost. That’s now ready to be covered. The Bed 9 marigolds are done too, so that bed is next. They’re going great guns with the calendula in Bed 1 though.

Most of the apples have been picked now. There are just some high up, trying to escape over into the back plot. While clearing up the windfalls I found that the liner of the hedgehog house has deteriorated and it’s certainly not watertight at the moment. I don’t really want to unpin it all, so I shall work on giving it better protection with twigs and leaves.

I started to clear the triangle. The fuchsia looks happier now that I’ve taken out the big nettle that was sitting on it. I’m wondering if I want to mulch this area and the woodland bed with some wood chipping – not decorative bark.

I’ve made a bit of difference to the front bed too, but there’s lots more weeding to be done. I wish the callicarpa looked healthier. It doesn’t look as good as when I bought it.