The structure that I lovingly constructed for my beans was holding together very nicely until we had the last lot of wind (which had nothing to do with me eating any sprouts). Because the runner beans had grown so thick on one side it was unevenly weighted. Therefore the wind broke all the twine and both sides had drifted apart. Fortunately no canes broke, but I needed something strong to hold them back together again.

I don’t like using stuff that doesn’t biodegrade in the garden, but at the last minute all I could think about using, and what was very easy to get hold of, was a load of cable ties from Screwfix.

The ones I got were long enough to wrap round the canes twice and then pull them tight enough so hopefully they won’t drift apart again. I think when the beans have finished I’ll leave the structure in place and will maybe grow cucumbers or cherry tomatoes up them next year. You should never grow beans in the same place year after year, so I’ll have to put them somewhere else next year.

Emily, my daughter helped hold the canes in place while I fastened them together, so that was a great help. Now don’t break apart again!

In amongst the sweetcorn on the right of the above photo I have pumpkins and butternut squash growing. I spied several squashed and a couple of pumpkins. I’ll have to wait until all their leaves go brown to see exactly what is growing underneath, but that’ll be a lovely surprise to look forward to.

Once that was all done I went to tidy up the potatoes in the buckets. They’re not ready yet, but their foliage has just gone mad. And with the tomatoes all getting blight, and the same virus can spread to potatoes as well, I though I would remove much of the leaves and stems just incase. The potatoes will still grow, (although they don’t grow as big in buckets), but at least if the top parts of the leaves have caught blight, now I’ve removed them it won’t spread to the potatoes themselves.

Where I was on Wednesday some local tree surgeons A Bird (and yes I’m fully aware of the irony here, but his name is Alex) were cutting down a couple of trees just up the road from where I was working. I know the lads very well and asked what they did with the chips. They usually take them back to the yard and then dispose of them somehow. I need some more woodchips for the path at the back of my garden, between the large raised beds and in the chicken run, plus a few other little places. So I asked them if the wouldn’t mind dropping them off outside my back gate. I’m pleased to say they were very happy to and did it free of charge. Basically it meant that they would end up taking their truck back empty which was much easier for them. They would drive past my house on their way, so they didn’t have to take a detour.

So late this afternoon Mark and I moved a load of it, there’s still more to move, but I’ll do that this week. We did a load of the back path, and that now looks much tidier and neater but didn’t quite finish. I left a wheelbarrow load by the chicken run, but didn’t put it in. The chips create lots of heat inside the mound, and I suspected it would be too hot for their little feet. So once I’d tucked them in for the night and closed their door, I spread the chips in their run so they would cool down and be fine in the morning. I’m sure they’ll enjoy scratching in them tomorrow.

I picked some french and runner beans, as well as the first head of broccoli to go with dinner. I also tidied up the little square beds at the back and pulled up some more blight ridden tomatoes. It’s been a funny year, I’m not sure what to make of it quite yet. I’ll be harvesting some carrots soon, and some of them have rather sizeable tops so they should be good. But only time will tell.

I’ll keep you posted on anything I do.

Take care and happy gardening xxx