The most exciting news of the month has got to be that we found a mother hedgehog and three babies on the allotment. The whole Barnfield Allotment area is a great space for hedgehogs and there are probably several up there. We consulted with John Groves, a hedgehog carer, and he said that the babies might be too small to survive the winter and they would benefit from supplemental food so we now have a feeding station managed by Jenny who lives nearby. If you intend to feed hedgehogs please do the research into what is best for them. It would be good to set up a hedgehog home up there if anyone feels like a project.

October has seen the last of the summer veg, but tomatoes carried on until the middle of the month. The chard is still doing great, there's still some salad stuff and we got a few butternut squashes to ripen. Apparently Jerusalem Artichokes taste better after being frosted so we're holding back on harvesting them. We did get a few flowers. The leeks really need to fatten up so they will be an early spring crop along with the kalettes and purple sprouting broccoli. In anticipation of next early summer we have got some broad beans planted.

We've also made a start on some structural work, putting in a new path and working on a new bed below it. We've yet to do that manure run.

Our winter hours are 1pm until 4pm. However, note that there may not be anyone to introduce new folk to the allotment on the first two Saturdays in November but please contact us if you are interested and we will arrange a time. Attendance will also always be weather dependant.

Christina Dymond

Nov 2023