I potted up the calendulas I had tidied yesterday, but ending up putting a couple of them straight onto the compost heap. So I have a few calendula and a random foxglove in pots behind the shed. We’ll see how well they survive and then where I’ll put them next year …

I emptied Bed 11 and used up the last of the coffee on it. Mum covered Beds 1, 8 (which got the dregs of a compost bag) and 11 – and with that, everything is covered. Beds 1 and 11 weren’t dressed, just covered.

Meanwhile I moved all the collected logs to the trellis / fern bed. I’ve not had a good chance to clear it like I planned, so the logs can kill whatever they want, and any bugs that choose to shelter over winter won’t move far next year. A few big logs will be boundary edgers, but the ground is too wet at the moment for wandering about trying to work out where and stepping into the beds.

Something had kicked out a load of compost between the bin and the shed, which I’ve scraped out quite well and gained a full bucket of compost, which is now sheltering in the shed. I refilled the bait station and tidied up the front of the bin, blocking the front gap as a deterrent, though it’s still easy enough to get in at the other end.

The allotment and the pond are now closed for winter. The forget-me-not has rafted nicely in the pond, so if anything wants to hide in it or use it, it’s there ready.  

As usual, I changed the coconut for the robin (though I now have a shy one that I barely see). I tidied up the old strings and tied them to the back fence by the leaf bins, so the fibres can be pulled at for nesting as needed.

I’d ordered some wood anemone rhizomes from eBay and planted them all in the woodland bed. It’ll be interesting to see if they come up and spread at all. I tidied the bed a little, but left all the lovely leaf litter and added some more logs from the ones waiting to be placed. The hellebore hasn’t grown much after its leaf was broken off. Maybe with less bird activity over the next few weeks it’ll have a chance to recover.

I trimmed the calendulas, taking off all the long, floppy branches and leaving them as much neater plants.

The sun was setting by the time I left, but then I went to the rec in the semi-dark to pick up pine needles that had dropped from the trees. I might go back and pick up the deader ones, rather than just the fresher branches, but I didn’t dare scrape about doing that in the dark.

There’s lots of rain coming this weekend so we harvested the oca today. It would have been a bit easier in drier soil, but it was a two-person job. Tubers are hard work whatever their size.

All the mushy tops have gone straight onto the compost heap, along with the tiny tubers. Hopefully they’ll disintegrate before they become food for rats. Something had dug out a load of compost against the shed. I’d better refill the bait station in case it’s a rat, though other (good) things can hibernate in compost heaps too.

I decided to take the verbena out after all. It’s not easy to transplant, so I’ll deal with moving any in the spring. I just near to clear and coffee this bed and cover it. I think it’s got enough compost for now.

The harvest was pretty good, not too many big ones, but I think I’ve got a good pile to eat, and plenty to save for replanting and sharing. The weight of what I’ve kept is 3.142kg, split into a couple of bowls of larger ones and a bowl of smaller ones.