Autumn started "officially" on 23rd September.   The beginning of the allotment year - most allotment tenancies start this month.

Summer cropping is over, and only the frost-hardy vegetables are still standing on your plot.   Much of my work over the next few months will be preparation for next year's season.

Time to sow next year's garlic in next year's allium bed.

On established plots, a lot of older, "traditionalist" gardeners will take the chance of pleasant weather up to mid-November to dig the ground over, leaving the soil bare over winter.   Back in the days of colder harsher winters, this made sense as you would clean off any plants harbouring pests and disease, and expose soil-borne problems such as slug eggs to hungry winter birds.

However, this also allows winter rains to leach minerals and nutrients out of the soil; what digging I do now is much later - in January or February, preferably just before really cold spells.   More and more though, I will have sown a green manure or laid a mulch of manure to give ground cover through a mild winter; this will be forked in come late February or March.   Alternatively, I might fork in compost from the heap.

For a new plot, however, I would want to get as much ground under crops next season and happily spend these six weeks digging and clearing new beds.