Life has been taken over by Birmingham Weekender, which was brilliant, intense, busy and BIG! It takes a lot of effort to organise a festival for 150,000 people (check it! 150,000 people!), especially one that is stretched across the entire city centre. During the past week there has been no cooking (barely any eating really) and no allotmenting but quite a few headache tablets. These stunning images are from Andrew Fox and Verity Milligan, our official photographers.

The spectacular show Maudits Sonnants sent acrobats and musicians 55 metres into the air in Centenary Square

I love this dramatic finale to the show

Beautiful shot of a performer from Sampad

Motionhouse dancers threw amazing shadows at Bullring

We put Highly Sprung’s Urban Astronaut into the markets…

…and Birmingham Royal Ballet performed the famous pas de deux from Swan Lake in the Bullring shopping centre

Kids loved the Mexican block party complete with face painting

So with that DONE normal service can resume. Whilst I’ve been away, the autumn booty has continued apace. Proper updates and new recipes soon!

All the corn have come up now, packed into the freezer for winter

Today’s harvest: tomatoes, courgettes, purple beans, sunflowers, crysanths

The colour continues!

Gorgeous jewel colour

Harvest: tomatoes, courgettes, chillies, purple beans for podding, onions pulled, raspberries, sunflowers, crysanths, dahlias