Went down for a couple of hours to water and feed and to pick any more soft fruit that has ripened in the last couple of days. It's still warm but it's a muggy warmth. Severe thunderstorms are forecast sometime during the next three days......... but thunderstorms can be very localised so we'll see what happens. Today has been the eleventh consecutive day the sun has shone all day and temperatures have been mid-twenties or above. There's even been talk today of this summer excelling 1976; but we'll see. We're having to go down the allotment every other day to water and pick fruit/veg. Not much else to say.................. except "phew", and here's a few pics. Not much to add: despite the horrendous spring and early summer everything seems to be doing almost the best ever. Dry conditions so far have meant virtually no blight........... yet. No sign of this weather coming to an end in the near future. Becky's wedding next week so watch this space. It's been an absolute heatwave for the last five days and looks like continuing for another week or more so we've been and watered twice in the last three days. Everything seems to be thriving in the sunshine. The following pictures tell their own story. The old water butt with a tap had fallen over (again) and acquired a strange new shape. The redcurrants are ready for picking; so pick them we did, along with some potatoes, cabbage, beetroot, french beans, other soft-fruit and a courgette Decided to have a go at the compost as it needs turning and sorting. Unfortunately there was a wasps nest inside the fourth bin. Compost definitely needed some attention. Sweetcorn coming on nicely....... ......... as is the beetroot. Earthed up the potatoes. Potatoes in the bottom corner bed are looking good - once we got the nettles out that had migrated from Barry's plot. Talking of which, we cleared his rubbish off the path. Fruit cage is filling up a bit. Onions coming on as well. Tomatoes too are picking up and as can be seen below most of the stuff is doing alright at the moment. Been a nice sunny week but starting to get cooler as we get nearer to our holiday in Downderry. Cabbages have over-wintered well. Winter onions look OK. Two beds of ordinary onions looking good. Broad beans and garlic are in. The new strawberry bed is very neat and tidy and the black membrane is keeping the roots nice and warm. Some more parsnips went in today to complete the bed. Comfrey bed's had wild flower seeds scattered on it . A couple of lavender plants have also gone into the comfrey bed. Top fruit cage looks good with the two blueberry plants in tubs and the two gooseberry plants kept under control. Rest of the beds have been weeded as we're going to be away for a week and it may well be a couple of weeks or more before we get back down here. Plum trees have blossom on - hope there isn't a late frost this year; though the forecast is for the possibility of one within the next couple of days. ........ and finally, the compost just keeps increasing. Really need to have a good go at it if we have some decent weather. 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. Another half-day down the allotment and the weather stayed fine. Just did some of the little things that needed doing like tidied up the "picnic" area. Becky joined us briefly and said how nice everything looked. Steve on the next allotment gave us a large rhubarb root for Becky's garden. Mick on another plot gave us a nice big bag of broad beans and we picked some more soft fruit and a few more potatoes. 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. |
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