One week, six tonnes of top soil, four tonnes of gravel and some autumn crops.

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Bunching onions to the fore.

An optimistic late sowing of runner beans growing over the arch, to be replaced by kiwis in November.

This bed was constructed earlier in the summer, and is already a jungle of borage, tomatoes (provenance unknown), asparagus peas, fennel (also unintended) and marjoram.

Along with purple french beans, garlic and herbs this lot went into the mix with some barley cous cous. The aubergine was delicious and the onions, well, I grew them from seed rather than sets, which makes them a rare delicacy around here.

My first aubergine. In fact there are now six - four black beauty and two tres hative de barbentane. The only thing I can think that I've done differently this year is to plant them in pots and neglect them...

At last, some rain...the pump in the allotment had dried up, the seedlings hardening off couldn't wait a moment longer.