Since none of the bait was taken yesterday, I’ve thrown one piece outside the station, just to see if I can persuade the rat to give it a nibble. It’s down the side of the compost heap at the entrance to the bait station. Come in!

I finally got to do my weeding and did Bed 7, almost entirely seated, which was good. I’ve taken up all the marigolds in that bed and saw a few remnants of the fibre pots – so they really do break down in a season.

I also weeded the empty parts of the veg bed and did a section of the broccoli bed too, which is fairly overgrown.

The robin now has a nest box for roosting and for a new family in the spring. It’s sheltered in the corner behind the apple tree, which is one of its favourite haunts.

Mum dug over Bed 6 to get rid of the new weeds while I was doing this, then we covered it to prevent any more weed growth before Leo comes along.

We cleared up all the stuff that the rat had thrown out and put it back on the pile. I checked the bait station and none of the bait had been touched. No doubt down to the exciting apples I’d left on the heap the week before.

The broccoli is slowing down, but I won’t bother taking it up until necessary. I’ve picked the biggest beetroots and now the next size down will be the next ones to come up. The second sowing will be a good bit smaller still.

When I came back in the afternoon there was a huge buzzard sitting on my fencepost as I drew up. It then sat on the roof of the potting shed for a while before flying off.

I’d gone down to do the weeding, but got diverted into a job I’d been thinking about for a while. I’ve now bound together the two panels of chicken wire with my wire, so that there’s no billowing gap any more. Putting more log roll edging along the back, I had to remove my ad hoc spur but I’ve managed to push the fencepost on the other side further away with a fate cane hammered into the base. That combined with wiring the fence has made the fence stand up straighter.

I’ve mulched the end of the right boundary and along the front to just past the pear tree. The tree was a bit off kilter and the stake wasn’t doing anything. I discovered that it had rotted at ground level, so I just took it out of the equation and did what I could make firm up the tree a little.

It rained in my allotment slot yesterday, so I didn’t do any gardening. This morning I went down to mulch the ledge and meet with Leo. He understands the plan for levelling the ground and making little raised beds and will get back to me soon. I shall get him to put a new board along the front bed too. The log roll has started to rot, so I’m breaking off their legs and putting the boards along the back of the ledge.

I finished the weeding on the right hand boundary, so that’s all ready for mulching now. While I was sat on the ground the robin did a really close flyby over my shoulder and across my face before coming to hang out on the tree and fence.

In the afternoon we got some new bags of compost, but weren’t able to get them down to the plot as planned as the gates were blocked by cars.

The start of my birthday break. I just went down for the morning today and got the entire ledge weeded. There was lots of nettle – with very long, spreading roots – and an amount of bindweed to get rid of. There shouldn’t be too much mulching to do, as there’s still lots of compost there.

The compost heap has been disturbed an amount and more has been kicked down the back by the shed again. So I guess the rat is still around.

I’ve added the apple offcuts to the compost heap. At home we now have a big pile of started apples plus a good number of whole ones, or ones with just a cursory peck. It’s not the best idea to have added them as the rat is around, but I want them on the heap. I’ve also added a brand new rat bait station to the space by the compost heap. The bait inside smells a bit chocolatey and the two entrance/exit holes line up perfectly with the gap between the heap and shed. Hopefully it’ll be at least as tempting as the apples.

I checked the leaf bin and it all looks good. It’s sunk down three holes now and still seems to be secure from pests.

I’ve mulched the trellis bed with the compost. It has all those little stones in it, but on a bed of this size it won’t be a problem. I’m hoping that if I get the vegetable version rather than the all purpose next time, it might be finer.

I’ve also now completely weeded the triangle and mulched it too. I was completely clapped out, so thoughts of moving the hyssop and maybe the lavender have been postponed to another day – probably spring, when all the boundaries are dealt with.

We’ve had our first proper frost now, so the cosmos, zinnias and nasturtiums are done. The marigolds are done too, but I’m leaving them to dry out more so that I can gather more seed than is currently available.

I’ve pulled up all the carrots now. It wasn’t a great year for them, but there are a few good ones, plus a load of snack-sized ones – and a bunch that went straight onto the compost heap.

We’ve picked all the apples and although the crows had sampled most of them, there were still some in perfect shape. There’s just one little apple left on the tree, as it didn’t want to come off. I’ve also picked the last two little pears, though I doubt they’ll be up to much.

I cut a few branches off the tree in order to gain access and stop it going any further through the fence. Come spring, it’s going to be a big job to prune the tree. I can see branches heading into the tree, pointing downwards, criss-crossing each other …

I started weeding the trellis bed in the morning and finished it in the afternoon. I was done by 16.40, which was also when it was getting dark enough that it was more difficult to see. I went right up under the apple tree and pulled up bindweed and nettles from the bark chippings and fence.

I’ve dug up all the toadflax that was in the way of a different tall plant, or along the front of the bed. More smaller plants need to be found to take their place. I’ve left the clump of toadflax plants by the gate though. I’ll be surprised if there are no marigolds cropping up next year, as the field vole has spread the seed all over the place. It’s clearly had some of the fallen apples too.

I spotted another bit of wildlife today, finally seeing the suspected rat. The fact that a couple of apples had moved over lunch gave it away and then I saw it moving between the heap and the shed.

After two mornings of heavy rain, two days of work and then a walk in the woods on Sunday, I went to the plot just to see if everything was ok. The back fence was leaning somewhat, in part from its heavy load of everlasting pea this year. I think one fencepost may actually be a bit rotten, but it’s on the wrong side of the fence really. I’ve put in a temporary stake which has improved things a lot, but the stake really needs to be buried more firmly somehow – difficult when there’s chicken wire not very far down. A crappy post on the other side is also pushing against the fence, but there’s not much I’ve been able to do about that, apart from bending the chicken wire back from its billowing shape.

The attack on the apples has continued big time and I’m pretty sure it’s crows or corvids of some kind as there are so many around. They’re just eating the tops and then abandoning them, but down the corner by the fence one had evidently had more of a complete feast. I picked what I could carry back up the path and I’ll get more at the weekend.

I’ve made a concerted start on weeding the front bed. I’ve doctored calendulas and put collars around the ones I’ve saved, so that they are more obvious. I’ve managed to get a good lot of weeds and grass out but there’s still a bit more weeding to do – and then mulching. I also disturbed numerous little onion-like allium bulbs. They’re the little white alliums, not the big purple ones.

Sitting on the bed edging, I also finally broke it, as one of the legs has rotted through. I have some spare, but would rather get a new leg on it than put a bright yellow panel in among the grey weathered ones.

In the afternoon Suzy and I took down the remaining two everlasting peas, not least because the trellis is probably a bit fragile, so I didn’t want just pull the plant through the holes. We’ve also trimmed back Mr B’s bramble too, as one very thick branch had grown up on my side. All the old fruit has been cut off too.

In the bed, I’ve made a good start on clearing, pulling out the verbenas in the wrong place, digging up nettles etc. Autumnal nasturtiums are having to take their chance while I do this.

I noticed a number of marigolds had been beheaded yesterday and piles of seed were on the ground here and there, which was unexpected as usually the seed cases dry on the plant and can be picked off. Today, the story became a little clearer when I discovered a piles of petals and seed at the border, dumped and carried through to what is clearly an animal run. Hopefully it’s not a rat and it’s just the field vole, though the smell of marigolds might not be attractive to them.

I’ve done some marigold deadheading and collected more seed. The leggy one had fallen over, so I’ve pulled that out now. The cosmos had fallen over for the million time and the one by the trellis cracked when I picked it up, so I pulled it out. I’ve also cut back all the annoying verbenas that were covering the paths and I’ve pulled up the ones at the front of the trellis bed, getting in the way of other tall plants.

I’ve finished cutting down all the mint now and keep pulling up whatever weeds I can as I go. The ground is a bit too wet for perfect weeding, but it’s not too bad.

After lunch I finished digging over Bed 1. There’s just a verbena left in it in case I want it elsewhere.

I made a good start on clearing up the front bed too. Lots of couch grass gone, nettles and weeds. There are lots of old haggard calendulas, which I’ll attend to in more detail, cutting them right down to the base and new growth. I’ve also dug up the mallow, which was a droopy nuisance this year. I was somewhat broken after all this, but managed to weed the end bit of the broccoli bed too.

I had a reasonable harvest. One proper sized carrot from the second sowing and a few thumb size ones from the first. I’ve brought back some apples for testing. Two had been eaten by something and then I picked one more, which doesn’t look amazing, but did come off fairly readily.

I’m moving into the slower work of autumn. It took forever to cut down this much mint and then cut it up for the rubbish bag. Another trip to the tip is coming soon and all the buckets of rubbish will be emptied again. The huge everlasting pea on the back fence will also be heading to the tip.

After lunch I attacked the ledge, pulling down more of the everlasting peas and pulling out grass and trying to clear up somewhat. The sweet williams are getting bigger and bigger and making good ground cover.