First shoots

To be honest I'm not sure how much growth to expect before winter sets in but there are at least some signs of life.

Perseverance

So after last year's failure I thought I'd have one more go and try planting some winter wheat. The nice folk at Kings Seeds supplied me with what I believe to be some Solstice seeds and I did a little digging:

My spade-work revealed the ground wasn't quite as fertile as I'd thought, being riddled with lots of small roots from the surrounding foliage; turns out digging is the very definition of back-breaking work. So as an extra precaution I dug-in some general purpose compost too, which probably isn't ideal but it was on special offer at the local DIY place.
I drilled the seeds this year to save a bit of time, and finally made a slightly more thorough job of the bird netting, now the waiting begins...