Well it's a full year since I swapped plots; I can't believe everything that has happened in a year. I have worked so hard and I'm really happy with the results. I was lucky to have started with a blank canvas and all the work Mr L did with the structural elements of the plot and then all the planning and planting I did have made it such a successful plot. I told you last week about winning an award for my container garden and I'm already planning on what I can do next, particularly with the planting table I got from freegle. I've also started to think about the things that have and haven't worked on the plot. I've decided that I am going to move my flower bed to next to the shed. I haven't really been able to appreciate the flowers because they were hidden behind the brassica's. I would like to tidy it up as well when I replant. I had never grown flowers before so Littlest L and I just put them all in where they fell. My freesia's therefore haven't done so well, hopefully if they're properly positioned they'll do better. Having said that, for the first time I was brave and cut some of the flowers for the house. I chose them just based on what was ready so the colours don't exactly match but I don't care - they're lovely and the roses smell beautiful. I'm hoping to still get more now that I've been brave enough to cut them but if not I'll be happy with these for this year. 
It really is a funny time of the year, there's still harvesting but the things that are growing don't need much work and the weeds seems to be starting to die off. I took up all of the ground elder and wildflowers from next to my pond a couple of weeks ago and last week I sprayed a particularly rampant doc with Richard Jackson's weed killer. I don't use lots of weedkiller but I do like this one and I was struggling to dig it out so it got sprayed. This week I have planted about 40 English bluebell bulbs and sowed some wildflower seeds. I wasn't sure if I could sow the seeds now because the packaging recommends sowing in the spring but my gut tells me that the wildflowers are sowing their own seeds now so I decided to do it anyway. I have kept half of them back so that if they don't germinate I have more to sow in the springtime.
I took the decision today to remove all of the tomatoes in the polytunnel. They had blight and it was starting to affect the fruit so it was time they went. I had to harvest both ripe and green fruit and so I'm hoping that they green fruit will ripen on the windowsill but if they don't I will make some green tomato chutney. I think the red tomatoes will need to be made into either a pasta sauce or tomato soup. I do also need some to make a chilli jam although I can't decided whether to make a jam or a sweet chilli dipping sauce. Mr L likes the dipping sauce but I'm not sure that I have enough chilli's yet. I also need to dry and chop some chilli's - I use dried chilli's all the time and I prefer these to chilli powder so it would be great if I can make my own. 
I also decided to clear out my pepper plants which have been a big disappointment. I only got 4 peppers from them and the rest had all been eaten by something (probably slugs). I really want to think about what I can do better next year; I think I'll plant the peppers directly into the bed and I think I need to consider some better support for them to avoid them drooping down, which resulted in some of them breaking. I have never had a good crop from any peppers that I've grown so I am determined to find a way to get a good crop of ripe, red peppers! They are a vegetable that we use very regularly and so it is definitely worth my while to master the art of growing them!My final thought for the weekend is regards to the changing season. We have had some lovely weather in the last couple of weeks but I'm expecting that it will very soon turn cold. I still have plenty to do so I'm hoping that even if it's chilly that the rain holds off. as it did last year. Today I had a little bit of rain, but luckily I was working in the polytunnel. I did however come out at one point and found a full rainbow over my plot. I was particularly taken with how the light seemed to shine on my little plot and how the sunflowers were so bright against the sky.
So, until next time I hope you all have rainbows over your endeavours, whatever they may be!
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