A way to go

I didn't get much time at the plot last weekend but I am hoping to get a few hours there during this one. I nipped over yesterday for a quick weeding session and bumped into one of my next door neighbours. We had a lovely chat. She had been digging up all her spuds and comparing the yield from the varieties she had grown. One outperformed the others significantly but I can't remember which one. I'll find out for next year. We were chatting and I mentioned that there was a small weed in my onion bed which I was hoping would turn out to be comfrey. She took a look and confidently said it wasn't but that if I wanted to have some comfrey, she has some potted up I could have. What a star! Out came a tall pot full of lovely comfrey. With gratitude, I transplanted it immediately.

 The weeds are prolific on my plot. Mares tail keeps coming up everywhere. A weed that looks like lamb's quarter (Chenopodium album - judging by the results of an Internet search, not an encyclopedic knowledge of common weeds on my part) is giving it a run for its money. I'm ashamed to be putting it on the compost heap when it is reportedly an important food crop in India and a close relative of quinoa. Incidentally, I am considering growing quinoa next year (it is for sale through the Real Seed Catalogue.

 This evening, I nipped over very quickly to move one of the bits of carpet so that the local wildlife could find new hiding places before I start digging over that patch tomorrow. There was a toad, a slow worm, some very fat slugs and an ants' nest. Hopefully, they will all be out of the way in the morning.

I was about to leave when one of the allotment representatives came over for a chat. A bit of banter but it turned out that he really came over to remind me that it was actually my responsibility to upkeep the path to the right of my plot. I hadn't realised so will get to it tomorrow with the strimmer. However, the chap with the plot on the other side of the path is storing some of his tools on it (and his wheelbarrow) so I'll need to have a word with him. Further on down the path, there are Jerusalem artichokes growing proudly. It would be a shame to have to remove those before their season.

 Before going over to the plot today, I had an optimistic feeling about getting it all dug over by New Year. After moving the next bit of carpet, that feeling dissipated. There is a way to go...