Winter Wind-down

As the last vestiges of our Indian summer slowly cools down under the influence of the North Sea winds, everything in the allotment is grinding to a halt.

The last of the late tatties is out, all 25lbs of them. And the squashes have finally decided to stop their epic land grab, and give themselves over to heartening winter soups.

It's been a good year, considering it was the first. And my constant amazement at the ability of great veg to grow almost unaided has been consistently upgraded. Now it's time to take stock (and eat it) and decide what should go in next year.

There is of course the odd plant which likes a dose of frost, and I'll have to dig out the last vestiges of weeds and turn the soil over once more before hibernation begins.

Fewer squashes will definitely go in next year. The potatoes and berries will remain. And now that I think about it, probably everything else except the corn plants. But I've got a good few months to decide when and where it'll all go.

So even if it is cold, and the sun sets at 5.00pm. I'll still be thinking about Spring.