The onions have been picked and the bottom two beds tidied.
Beetroot and onions.
Even though we picked a lot of stuff only three days ago we pickd another load today. At least it's not just the weeds that are growing well.
After doing a considerable amount of weeding just three days ago, thanks to the weather there is still loads to do. Mostly mares-tail unfortunately. The onions have been picked and the bottom two beds tidied. Beetroot and onions. Even though we picked a lot of stuff only three days ago we pickd another load today. At least it's not just the weeds that are growing well.
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As can be seen here, a lot of weeding now required. But there's also a lot of produce to be picked. The asparagus ferns are in full bloom. The sweetcorn has reached it's maximum height now I think. The squirrels lie in waiting for the cobs......... Potatoes and carrots are doing well. The onions have lay down flat so they're gong to have to be picked at some point. And this is what we picked today. It's been dry for a few days now and as we've recently planted quite a few plants we thought we ought to go down and water some of the less established veg. The squashes and courgettes especially needed a drink. The clematis and the poppies are still flowering well. The gooseberries in the large fruit cage are looking excellent. While we were down there we planted a few more carrot seedlings. Once again what we had already planted were not doing particularly well. The leeks were definitely in need of a water. While we were there we picked what is probably the last of the asparagus for this season. Several of the onions appear to have some sort of disease or blight so we got rid of all the infected ones. There don't appear to be any actual grapes on the vine this year. They're normally visible by Mid-June and we did have an exceptionally dry, warm May which should have benefited the vine. It still makes a lovely green wall against the shed. All of a sudden there appears to be loads of plants and seedlings to put in down the allotment. Firstly though, surrounded the celery with membrane to help blanching. Planted several courgettes near the pumpkins and next to the sweetcorn. Planted some squashes in a row between the tomatoes. Planted dozens of wallflowers ready for next year. Potatoes are looking extremely good now. High hopes for a good crop this year. Watered the onions again but a few seem to have perished. It's definitely too dry in the two beds near the cemetery wall so we're not bothering at all with the bottom bed this year - apart from the artichokes - and we'll have to have a think for next year. The roses are looking good again this year. Cut back the comfrey in the comfrey bed and replenished the comfrey water-butt as the liquid feed needs topping up. With two days still left in May it's been declared the driest, warmest and sunniest May on record. We went down after 5:00PM to do some digging, weeding and planting; it's just too warm earlier in the day. Potatoes are doing well............ ............but the onions aren't happy. Dug five channels in the top bed for the celery. Had to get rid of more mares-tail first though! Also planted some tomatoes. Broad beans seem to enjoy this weather. "Spot the carrot!" We also put some more wallflowers in. The artichokes seem to like the dry bed at the bottom of the plot. Mind you, the Goji berry is most definitely NOT happy. Becky bought Sophie down to help us with watering. We've only had 7% of the average rainfall this month so far and the temperatures and sunshine have been more like June/July than May. The onions look somewhat fried! But never mind.......... Sophie to the rescue, watering the artichokes. Potatoes seem to be doing OK in this heat. We recently planted a couple of pumpkins; they'll definitely need watering. Picked some rhubarb just before we left. It's the Easter Weekend coming up and stern Government advice is to STAY AT HOME. Not sure if going down the allotment counts as essential so we're going down today and then not going down again until next Tuesday (April 14th). The weather has been glorious (hence hundreds of people ignorng social-distancing recommendations) so we watered the onions and flowers. All the water-butts were between half and three-quarters full so that was useful, but if this weather continues then we will have to fill them. The onions definitely needed watering. The blossoms coming out nicely on the plum trees. We managed to do some more weeding and give a covering of compost. There's only another three or four beds to do, though that does include the long bed by the top path. We watered and fed the blueberries and they're looking good. Some lovely new growth on the fern. It's certainly taken to it's new home. Went down and picked more produce but once again did little else down there. The weather has been extremely erratic this year and some crops have done a lot better than others. The weather has also prevented us doing as much maintenance as we would have liked. Still, we're doing OK on the crops front with decent amounts of most fruit and vegetables.. The sweetcorn especially looks good. We've now dug up about half the potato bed and this has been an exceptionally good year. The variety is Charlotte. Picked another selection and also all the remaining onions. Difficult to believe that a couple of weeks ago we'd had three months worth of rain in about three weeks but already some of the beds look dry on the surface. It hasn't helped that we've had a couple of really hot days and as many of the plants are quite new we need to water, and possibly feed too. Already two outdoor cucumbers have perished, though that may be as much to do with the earlier cold and wet as the hot and dry. Sweetcorn is looking excellent. Potatoes, hopefully, will be better than we've had for the last few years. Onions, too, are looking really good. Carrots are also a lot better than last year. We have our first two courgettes of the season. The comfrey leaves from last week have dried out so we placed them around the tomatoes as a mulch - looks a mess but very effective. Some more produce. First blueberries of the season. Just popped down to weed and generally tidy up and pick anything that's ready, although it's early in the season. Also just checking up on everything. Potatoes are looking very promising. We're looking to pick some tatties in the next fortnight. Sweetcorn is looking very good. Tomatoes doing well. Onions look huge. Carrots are doing a lot better this year. Celery is doing very well. Mange-Tout and Beans are coming along nicely. Should start getting a few of both of these in a few days. Leeks look good, if still a little small. Squashes............ Courgettes.......... The wallflowers are growing strongly. We've stopped picking the asparagus so that they can prepare for next year. The wild garden area is looking lovely at the moment. We picked some comfrey to dry out in the sun and we'll use it as a mulch on the tomatoes. The roses in the wild garden are looking nice. Picked a bit of produce. Should only increase from now on, especially if the weather stays so good. |
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