What a difference a week makes – allotment update

Baltic!
What a difference a week makes! Last week, the rainbow chard glowed in the autumnal sunshine. Today, it looked very sorry for itself, flopped over and colourless after 3 days of persistent frost. Will it recover?

As the ground was frozen solid, we focused on edging the paths and beds. Today was also an opportunity to remove rotten wood around the beds and replace it with fresh timber, securing with pegs rather than nails. This was also a chance to unthread strands of couch grass, which is expert at weaving itself underneath and around structures, making it difficult to keep beds clear.

The sun began to show itself a little, thawing the soil enough to continue work clearing perennial weeds from the bed earmarked for raspberries.
We checked all 5 trugs of apples for signs of rot. The cold, dark conditions of the sheds seem to be working well to preserve them, with only 2 discarded and a small selection put aside for using up quickly.

We clocked off after lunch having enjoyed the warmth of the sun in the communal covered area.
Jobs for next week: Not so much left to do before hibernating for the Festive Season – main tasks remain timber replacement, weeding and harvesting remaining root and brassica crops.