Caterpillars on parade!

Sunny and mild on the allotment on Thursday so a good day to give the grass its last cut of the season and tidy the hut. It was time to plant out the autumn onion sets. This will give a crop next year several weeks before spring-sown sets. The bed was dug over, compost added and planted out with the variety Radar bought at the Harrogate Show, a change from previous years when we have planted a Japanese onion – Senshyu Yellow, so we shall see how it does.

The garlic Early Purple Wight – another new variety to us – was also planted out. The mint growing alongside the pears and cooking apples has taken over so it was all cleared out and we shall plant some bee-friendly flowers there. A small piece of the catmint was put back but in a pot to keep it under control. We continued clearing the nettles and weeds from the leaf mould heap beside the willow patch – more work still to be done there.

The netting over the Brussel sprouts had blown off at one point and we found the results today – caterpillars eating their way through one of the plants. They were cleared off and the leaves checked for eggs but we shall need to watch them carefully for more.

Jobs for next week: Continue with the winter digging. Felt on hut roof. Weeding.