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Growing Your Own Fruit and Vegetables

We grow our own fruit and vegetables for our meals for as much of the year as we can. Without a greenhouse we have to buy shop food in the winter months but in the spring, summer and autumn we often have enough to share with family and friends.

Read about growing your fruit and vegetables here on my growing your own food pages.

Monday 23 September 2013

Autumn Jobs to do on the Allotment.

Autumn Time on the Allotment.

The time spent now tidying and weeding the vegetable plot will be worthwhile. You get good weather days for working at the strenuous tasks at this time of year.  The weather tends to be not too hot or too cold to work on tasks like digging, tidying, shifting things, and even moving compost.

Here is a list of jobs the ones that I need to tackle in the coming months of October and November. I need to do these as soon as possible, just in case we get a winter that is too wet or cold to work on the soil.

Job One - Sorting out the Compost.

Composting Jobs on the Allotment.


  • Dig out, move and use the compost that is ready now.
  • Turn over the compost that is still working and is not ready to use.
  • Make adjustments to the still working compost heap (to optimise the composting process).
As the weather cools the composting process will slow down.

You can improve the compost heap, by checking if it is to wet or too dry.
This can be done at any time of year but can be overlooked in the busy growing and harvesting months.

If the heap is too wet, add ripped up or shredded cardboard or add more dry composting 'ingredients' to it... such as rabbit or guinea pig bedding, dry materials from your garden tidying up session.

If you have added a thick layer of cut grass to the compost heap and it has gone smelly and sludgy, either remove it and add it back a bit at a time.
Or turn the compost heap over and incorporate it with the other materials in the pile. You can try adding torn up cardboard boxes.

Some people cover the top of an open compost heap at this time of year, to keep it from getting too wet and to try to  maintain any heat that has built up in the composting process. It is not a good idea to use carpet for this as they are banned on many allotment sites. Layers of brown cardboard boxes could be used if you want to cover the heap followed by a top layer of a weighted down tarpaulin. Remember to check the heap in the coming months as it may then get too dry and need to covering removed.

That is it for the first vegetable plot autumn jobs post more to come, soon.
Composting. The end result is ready to add to the allotment plot.



a healthy potato plant in flower

a healthy potato plant in flower
photo of potatoes in flower

home grown carrots.. grown from seed

home grown carrots.. grown from seed
photo of my first bunch of carrots 2009

Even a small batch of mixed fruit can be useful

Even a small batch of mixed fruit can be useful
Home Grown Fruit can be made into delicious compote