Welcome to November. I hope you had a great Hallowe’en and saved those seeds from your pumpkins?

It’s funny how as soon as you own an allotment you start to get frugal.

All those fab seeds get saved in envelopes and if a neighbour mentions about getting a skip! Well, you cannot help but have a look if there’s something you could reuse or recycle.

It may well be an old piece of drain pipe to them, but to us lot, the endless possibilities are almost as mouth watering as our peas!

So if you’re not digging, start making, I’ve seen all sorts of ‘finds’ like old spoons flattened out and stamped with plant names, old boots as pots and colanders as hanging baskets!

So why not have a go at being frugal and get creative?

I’ve been trying so hard to have a special day dedicated to just me, well, my allotment. I’m busting to give everything a proper dig over before the frost arrives.

But you know how life gets in the way.

I had every intention of keeping on top of things, but my runner beans kept going the courgettes had a few flowers and I simply couldn’t bring myself to pull things up.

It’s definitely time to do it, the big dig.

If I can get a day when I’m not in someone else’s garden, I will be out there with my favourite spade in hand. It’s time to drag everything out and throw on to the compost heap.

Sometimes it’s hard to pull up those old friends, but let’s be honest with ourselves “if it gave you veg in May, by November it’s had its day”.

My allotment to do list:

Make a leaf pile.

Put a thick layer of straw around artichokes to protect them against frosts.

Check your stored fruit and veg for anything that is starting to rot or turn.

There is still time to move and divide rhubarb. If you have problems with rabbits on your plot, why not move some crowns around the boundaries of your plot, rabbits hate rhubarb.

You can email your allotment queries to vixlot@outlook.com