The allotment is all slugs snails and weeds growing like mad after all the rain. Fortunately most things have survived and some are doing very well. Courgettes, corn, climbing french beans, broccoli,  pumpkins, leeks and kale are all in and look as if they have taken. Lettuces growing like mad, Little Gem are a bit nibbled at the edges, but the Multi green and Multi red are relatively unscathed.
The pumpkins are grown from seeds originally taken from a pumpkin (from more tropical climes)  bought in Ridley Road market (Hackney) which has a firmer flesh than those I have grown from bought seed. This is now the third year growing these, and we have managed to keep them through winter, either stored in a sunny room, or frozen, to give us a regular supply of pumpkin flesh.

The strawberries in the allotment are thriving, but I have plants in a 'tower' which are not nearly as good, despite regular watering and feed. This looks like an idea that seemed good at the time but just does not work. Next year I will have a redesigned strawberry bed better protected against the wildlife.

The broad beans are now cropping and we have had 2 weeks meals so far with more to come. I have stopped cutting the asparagus and given it a good feed. It looks a bit patchy this year and I wonder if this bed is coming to an end, it is about 20 years old after all!

Its pruning time for the fruit trees, all of which have put on more growth this year than I ever remember. The pear in particular is shooting away.