I’ve been struggling with the allotment recently. Struggling with finding time to tend to it, struggling with the motivation to tackle the carpet of weeds that grow bigger ever day, and struggling to find any good weather that allows me to do anything other than pick off the ballooning courgette fruits from their persistent parent plants.

A break in the weather today, however, allowed a brief visit to the plot. The rain is encouraging everything to go bananas. Everything is proliferating; runners on the strawberry plants, the tubers on the potatoes, broad beans in their pods, the carrots in their compost, slugs and their frog enemies – it’s all gone a bit mad and just a little bit out of control.

So faced with the uphill struggle that is the allotment in August, I packed up and came home, resolving to have a really good go at it next time I visit!

There’s standing water on parts of the allotment, something which is usual in the winter, but not summer. That said, the squashes are loving the heat and rain. The photos below are Polo (Patty pan) and then Crown Prince.