It's a quiet time at the allotment, just a few beans, raspberries, tomatoes and summer squash to pick while brassicas, carrots, parsnips, fennel and celeriac for autumn are growing steadily, with no major tasks scheduled, this could even be a good time to have a few days away. #UKGardening

On the 10th and 11th September, Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership will be a prominent figure in an “AI and Health” conference, one of two AI events they are advertising this month. We distributed some flyers explaining why it was the opposite: AI is a public health risk.

This is the biggest wasp spider l’ve ever seen, probably because I’ve never seen one this late in the year, I saw it catch and consume a shield bug yesterday.

Here's the first of the Autumn King carrots that were sown in mid-July to follow the garlic, and I'd say we're off to a good start. Germinating seeds can be tricky in a drought, but we have our methods. @snnybnny.bsky.social #UKGardening #Allotment

Given what has happened to the RNLI, this is when wider civil society should speak in solidarity about the far-right and political parties attacking charities delivering vital services for vulnerable people. The voluntary sector is part of our social fabric, it needs protecting.

Banning trade with illegal Israeli settlements is a good start, but the gov must not stop there. My piece for the Middle East Eye, in which I echo campaigners’ calls for a full apology that covers the wrongdoing to which successive UK governments subjected the Palestinian people and reparations:

Banning trade with illegal Israeli settlements is a start, but Labour must not stop there

The government must look at how it can provide accountability, reparation, and investment in Palestine commensurate with the damage the UK has caused

middleeasteye.net

We humans do better at dealing with traumatic events if warned/prepared. That’s why govm must do a Covid or wartime-style briefing on climate & nature as demanded by @nebriefing.bsky.social, & why @zackpolanski.bsky.social & others are right re this report. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Polanski calls for report on ecosystem collapse to be published in full

Green leader says ministers must stop ‘hiding the truth’ about threat to UK security from climate and nature crisis

theguardian.com

🧵 below 👇👇 1️⃣ Govt lawyers have refused to answer basic questions about how UK Govt set carbon budget levels for many years (16) ahead 2️⃣ Assume overshoot peaks 1.6C when UNEP says at least 1.8C 3️⃣ Read more and please repost 4️⃣ We are filing a legal case later this month. Please support.

#CarbonReckoning (Andrew Boswell)@drandrewboswell.bsky.social · 2w ago

🧵 1/13 🔦 What the Government won't tell you on climate. 🔒 It buried its own intelligence report on ecological breakdown 👉 bsky.app/profile/geor... 📈 Now it won't tell us how it sets carbon budgets that let emissions roll on ⚖️ So we are taking it to Court 👉 www.crowdjustice.com/case/carbon-...

Some classic winter veg at the allotment, the sprouts and red cabbage look exceptional, they've done well without much water, the leeks also look good but I must cover them before the autumn leaf miner hatch, the kale has been grown under fine mesh so the leaves are clean and bug free. #UKGardening

These squash are coming home with me, finding places to keep them all will be a bit of an issue, but trying out new recipes for them over the winter will be fun. #UKGardening 🌱

A new decoration for the allotment shed, it came from an old cuckoo clock. With the bird's beady red eye I think it looks like it could help ward off evil and maybe even ensure clement growing weather, because we need all the help we can get in those departments. #UKGardening

We accidentally harvested (broke off) a North Georgia Candy Roaster squash at the allotment, never mind, it looks ripe enough and there are 15(!) more still attached to the two plants, and most of them are bigger than this 2.5kg fruit. This is far more squash than we expected! #UKGardening

Sorry not sorry for more Styrian oilseed pumpkin content. I harvested three smaller ones from the allotment, I've refined my technique for breaking in and also realised you can quickly separate the seeds from their attachment strings with a fork, over 400g of fat seeds this time. #UKGardening

Since setting four fruits in July, the Bon Bon F1 squash vine had done precisely nothing apart from producing male flowers, but it's now suddenly started producing again. It had better crack on a bit now, there's still time but it's definitely getting late. #UKGardening #Allotment

A more serious Styrian oilseed pumpkin harvest today, a spade and hammer were used to break in. Most of the hulless seeds had fattened up, but a few were already sprouting. I'll soak them for a couple of days so I can remove all the flesh before drying and then roasting. #Allotment #UKGardening

It’s not all work down at the allotment, sometimes I just go down to weigh things up and spend some time with our dahlias. #UKGardening

We've deployed our external heat shields which will help us keep the temperature in our UK house below 24C over the next few days without aircon. Details of fabric and attachment in alt text. Not my usual subject matter, but a nice dahlia has got in the picture. #Adaptation #Heatwave #Climate

A very early start today for pre-heatwave watering of the entire allotment, picking raspberries and more tomatoes to join the big pile ripening at home, ngl, I could well be having a lie down this afternoon. #UKGardening

Part of the magic of having an allotment is you don't know what to expect, today a quick visit to pick fruit turned into a long one because badgers, seeking out damp places where there might be earthworms, had rearranged the maincrop potatoes, so I had to get to work and build defences. #UKGardening

Tomatoes are ripening quickly now at the allotment and we've already frozen two batches of passata. The plant at the front is one of our favourites for eating, the super tasty green "Emerald Brocade", which with its purple stripes, many think looks like an aubergine. #UKGardening

A little harvest of borlotti beans from the allotment. I was a bit dubious about growing dwarf plants but the seeds were free, the yield from two plants was quite decent without much effort (direct sowing, little water). I always harvest before beans dry so they don't take long to cook. #UKGardening

A first test harvest of hulless seeds from a Styrian Oilseed Pumpkin, it was a small pumpkin and the seeds could have swelled more, but even so I doubt we'll get more than 500g seeds from the five remaining pumpkins, but at least we had fun, and the seeds are very tasty. #Allotment #UKGardening

North Georgia Candy Roaster update, I know you’re all here for them. The vine of one plant now stretches 6 m across one of our plots and then takes a right turn at the edge and carries on for a bit. So far it’s produced seven 2-3kg squash, the other plant has four. #Allotment #UKGardening 🌱

Aubergines 8,9 & 10 harvested from the grafted plant in the improvised mini greenhouse at the allotment, with 11 & 12 lurking in the background. Because the plant is growing so vigorously I quickly built up the roof space using whatever wood was to hand, I'll fill in the gaps later. #UKGardening

Here's the final harvest of onions and shallots from the allotment. They were all grown from seed in two beds of 110 x 270, so just 6 Sq m, and they should keep us going well into next year. The next allium activity will be in about three weeks when I sow onions to overwinter. #UKGardening

I opened up the sweetcorn fortress and harvested the first cobs, plot to plate within 40 minutes was the plan. Effective sweetcorn defences proved their worth, a badger took sweetcorn from my neighbour’s plot last night, but I've now given them materials to save their crop. #Allotment #UKGardening

Part one of the allotment onion harvest completed, these are from one bed of just 3 sq m, grown from seed multisown in modules in February. Zebrune shallots top left, Bonus F1 Spanish onions below, Red Baron top right, Long Red Florence below. TBC, one more bed still to be harvested. #UKGardening

Morning allotment view, the self-seeded sunflowers are now 250 tall and flowering, time to crack on with the onion harvest before it gets too hot. #UKGardening

These Joan J primocane (autumn) raspberries are looking great and just starting to yield a lot of fruit for the first time since planting early in 2025. We planted them to replace some Autumn Treasure at the other end of the allotment that got the crumbly berry virus. #UKGardening

I like this allotment bed, it has tomatoes, borlottis, beetroot, shallots and flowers, all in a mat of lesser birdsfoot trefoil living mulch, the tomatoes include deep purple coloured "Alice's Dream" and the flowers, including my tallest ever sunflowers, were all self seeded! #UKGardening 🌱