Today’s session was busy but, the kind of busy that was only focused on a few areas of the plot.

At the café end of the plot, the courgette plants which have already been trimmed back a bit were still yielding courgettes. This is the crop that just keeps on giving. Which explains why we plant it every year:)

In the areas around the courgette plants that had been cleared, cloves of over-wintering garlic were planted. This is part of a strategy of keeping the plot as productive as it can be throughout the course of the year.

At the far end of the plot, the runner beans were picked. Not for eating because they would be really stringy at this point in the year. They were picked so we can save the seeds for next year. This is part of doing what we can to start closing the loop when it comes to external inputs such as seeds.

After the last of the runner beans were picked, the bean plants were taken out. This may sound easy but trust me, it wasn’t! The beans had been held up by a fine mesh attached to the metal poles holding the frame. It was puzzle time:) Eventually, the last of the runners were removed from the mesh which was carefully folded up for use next year.

After this, instead of digging the soil over, it was raked clean and then a couple of bags of horse manure were applied. We’re trying out the no dig way of doing things. Yes, the horse manure is an external input but, it’s from a farm that’s just outside of Keynsham so, it’s about as local as we can get.

We were reflecting on how productive a year it’s been on the plot, despite the hot, dry summer. A summer that meant a lot of watering. The work we’ve put in has certainly been worth the effort, particularly when we still have vegetables to crop.

Lastly, the ‘hedge’ by the public path was given a trim as it was spreading beyond where it should have been.

The next official work session at the plot will be on Saturday 7th November, starting at 2pm. Any extra help is always welcome:)