We finished the asparagus bed - 16 plants in all.
Foxgloves are coming nice.
The forecast is for rain from about eleven so we'll see what we can get done. We finished the asparagus bed - 16 plants in all. Finally got round to picking some rhubarb. Planted a bed of tomato plants. Also got a bed of courgettes and a couple of pumpkins in. Noticed a birds nest in the plum tree, wedged up against the cemetary wall. Don't really know which type of bird it belongs to though. Still no rain so we started weeding the worst of the beds. Managed to get three done but it's now three o'clock - so much for the weather forecast. Time to go, but before we do; a quick look at the wild-garden. Foxgloves are coming nice.
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Just popped down to empty some pots of compost onto the beds. Took the old, tired and bedraggled flowers out of several pots in the back garden and emptied them onto the pumpkin plot. Picked about a dozen carrots - strangely shaped but look decent enough. Picked half a dozen sweetcorn from the bottom bed but didn't hang around; as you can see the sky looks very ominous. This weekends weather, and the next few days, is going to be a scorcher. Felt about 25*C or higher in the sun. Spent an hour picking. This is pretty much the remains of the soft fruit. Pumpkins aren't going to get any bigger so might as well take them home in case they get nicked. Best ever crop of tomatoes......... we think. We also suspect there's a little bit of blight appearing so we've bought a lot of orange tomatoes home and also destroyed the foliage. First pick celery. This too looks like our best ever crop. Couple more squashes. Overall, another fine crop of fruit and veg. Definitely looks like being a very good year with more potatoes, loads of celery, a stack of leeks and a fair few carrots still to pick. .............. so it's about time the weather warmed up. Picked the first rhubarb of the year. Planted some runner beans. Strawberries have now got a few flowers showing. Grapevine has a few leaves appearing. Blueberries are doing well in the pots in the top fruit cage. Broad beans are doing OK. Ground looks a bit dry but the onions are also doing OK. Two beds of onions, both doing well. Dug the holes for the pumpkins and courgettes today. Comfrey's suddenly shot up. The rhubarb has gone a bit berserk since I fed it with the comfrey juice, which is why we picked several stalks. We also planted a dozen or so potatoes today - but obviously there's nothing to see. Middle of August and a lot of the produce is now doing OK; not brilliant, but OK. The sweetcorn, however, is going great guns, especially as it's our first attempt. Beans have finally started to take off. Grapevine too is going beserk. Pruned some of the new growth off today so more of it's energy can go into the actual fruit. The boysenberries are fruiting like there's no tomorrow. Unfortunately they seem to prefer it outside of the fruit cage. Courgettes are doing OK. But then they always do. It's been over a week since our last visit and some were now marrows; and big marrows at that. Strawberries seem to have taken to their new home (next to their old home). The celery, as mentioned several times in previous postings, is exceeding itself and everything else. Shame you can't actually do that much with it. Still, it is very low in calories. Cabbages, too, are coming along nicely. Leeks too.................... Following on from the failure of the pumpkin in the compost bins, at least we have one starting in the courgette bed. It might just about be the size of a grapefruit by Halloween so it won't be scaring anybody. We planted some brussels sprouts today. Soil was a bit claggy but hopefully we should some nice ones for Christmas. Onions!! Picked them all. The tops had gone on all of them so had no choice really. Still looked edible but they won't win any prizes. Potatoes are a bit of a mixed bunch. Some are alright but many are having to be thrown away - and none of them are excellent. We did manage to pick a bit more fruit and veg. Blueberries have definitely been this years success story and the soft-fruit as a whole has been very good. Went down to the plot for an hour or so this morning to feed and water some of the veg. Yes, I know it's rained non-stop for three months but some of the plants needed a boost so we watered with our very own comfrey juice. As you can see it's like a sparkling cider........... and probably tastes like some of the scrumpy I've consumed over the years. The baby robin is still around, and starting to get more red plumage on his chest. The compost heap is now almost full to bursting. Hopefully, with a bit of summer heat, it might start decomposing and turning into proper compost a bit more quickly now. The comfrey leaves that we placed on the tomato beds are decomposing nicely; adding plenty of nutrients to the soil. Runner beans are picking up a bit at last.............. ............... but I think the pumpkin on the compost heap has definitely had it. Still, we'll leave it where it is and see. Sweetcorn is looking good. Gave it a good feed today. Celery, too, is coming on nicely. Celeriac is also doing well: apart from a single plant at the top. Courgettes.......... again, doing OK. Strawberries are a bit mixed, but at least they're alive. And even the roses in the "Picnic" area are looking good. To finish, a general shot across the allotment towards the cemetery showing the runner beans, the strawberry bed, and the fruit cage. Been a while since the weather was kind enough to allow two consecutive days down the allotment,................. and we now have a friend keeping an eye on the weeding! As you can see by the compost heap there was an awful lot of weeding to be done. We cut some of the comfrey back and laid it as a mulch on the tomatoes. It's supposed to be good to let comfrey decompose back into the soil as it's packed full of nutrients. Pretty much given up on the pumpkin. Something's been having a go at it but we'll leave it and see if it picks up at all. These two photos show that the other bed of tomatoes isn't doing as bad as you might expect either. Potatoes too aren't completely a washout. Beans are a long way behind where they should be but if the weather suddenly improved for a prolonged spell............................... Planted some celeriac today. See how that takes to the cold and wet!! Celery seems to OK though................. .......... as do the leeks. The boysenberry in the fruit cage appears to be trying to make a bid for freedom. No point cutting it back as it is absolutely loaded with fruit. The wild garden area has, well, lived up to it's name though not many of the wild-flower seeds we sowed seem to have grown. I'll finish off with a couple of general shots across the allotments from the car park area as it's such a sunny day. The surrounding trees and the fact it overlooks the cemetery gives it quite a peaceful air. Well we couldn't really leave it any longer, we had to see what sort of state the plot was in after weeks of rain.Some of the crops obviously thrive on it - the fruit cage was completely overgrown. The grapevine was looking robustly healthy too. Sweetcorn appears to be OK as well. As for the rhubarb................................ Some of the leeks however seem to be turning into marine plants........... ....... and the trout farm is rapidly nearing a reality. But we did salvage quite a few onions. Not bad here either. So we'll just have to bear the brunt of the weather and carry on. Who knows, August and September might be scorchers!!!!!!!! |
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