Thirty days have September… on 30/09/2010 at the Allotment Plot at MERL the clouds sat over the garden, but they were not as heavy and low as the three preceding days and there was a faint chance that sun could break through later or it could rain or both (both). The month of October loomed peeping and edging closer as every minute passed. The end of one growing season and the start of a new growing season looms, the over wintering will begin. A need to make space for this action in the limited Plot area is becoming more necessary as the days pass. The Climbing Beans leaves are starting to look like they have endured chilling over night temperatures as the autumnal hours of daylight diminish. It feels like it will be an early winter, but the weather is unpredictable and warmth can seep back when it is least expected yet yearned for.

In a week when it is announced in the media that one in five plant species are in danger of extinction through human activity an underlying fact is emphasized that plant life is the basis of all life on Earth. The Cosmos Cosmea blooms attracting insects for late pollination, where other flowering plants have faded with the last remaining days of summer. Late in the season the Squash plants are determined to sustain a chance of production.

Harvest commences: Dwarf Beans Royalty 1.5oz = 40g; Rainbow Chard = 3oz =75g; Kale Pentland Brig = 1oz = 30g; Climbing French Beans Blue Lake = 5oz = 140g; and Blauhide = 1.5oz = 40g; Runner Beans = 9oz = 260g; Herbs, Parsley, Sage, Marjoram, Basil and Mint.