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or garden weeds for good measure, just in case you thought it was all a bit too idyllic.It's been a week or so since I last popped up to the plot and things have grown hugely in that time. Some plants have gone over already - the last couple of leeks have

the warmth generated by decomposing matter.Then I found a hedgehog. I don't know which of us was more surprised when I nearly ran it down with a wheelbarrow full of weeds. We both stopped dead (I'd spotted him beneath the barrow as I could barely see over

and mushy – especially on the allotment. Overnight my nasturtiums, courgettes, squashes and pumpkins perished. Their remains looked messy and certainly didn’t reflect my autumnal efforts at weeding and tidying. Poor Ron next door has lost his rows of cutting

problems on the plot in the past couple of years. They make their nests down the side of my raised beds which means I get attacked and bitten when I'm weeding. I know an ant bite isn't much to whinge about, but there are an awful lot of them and they seem

brassicas this summer. Steve’s almost perished in the onslaught. Mine, despite horrendous neglect, survived to produce some lovely sprouts – probably down to the fact that the weed growth masked the plants from the cabbage white butterflies' attentions

of successionally sowing lettuce seed. I usually start off well and then forget and they're all ready at one go. I'll try sowing them in stagess and planting out a couple of plants at a time this year.I must do more weeding!

I'm not a great one for going to meetings — there always seems to be something better to do. Weeding, reading or even cleaning are often more attractive options than going to a meeting. But this week the plot holders of Bathampton Parish allotment

view to nesting sometime soon. It would be great to have a little family to keep an eye on while I'm weeding.Although the soil is warming up nicely I'm determined not to sow seeds too early. It's easy to get lulled into a false sense of security

It's been lovely to have some proper summer weather so early in the season. Everything seems to have started growing apace, both indoors and out. Weeds and wanted plants alike have been spurting upwards and outwards.It's a job to know where to start

few that would be worthy of the village show and more than a few that would be best pickled as they're so tiny. Again, I think I know what the problem is. The weeds got a bit out of hand in June when I was on holiday, swamping the onions at a rather