We are still picking some fruit. The blueberries are still ripening and I am scrambling under the net and picking some berries on most plot visits. We are also picking blackberries, blackcurrants and a few autumn fruiting raspberries.
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| 7 August |
The small cherry tomatoes are ripening quickly. Sungold still isn't splitting which is unusual for that variety. Neither of the cherry varieties are showing signs of blossom end rot which seems to be affecting the larger varieties very badly this year. I'm not convinced that this is as a result of inconsistent watering as is the widely accepted explanation. I wonder whether latterly the compost mixtures are lacking in the necessary nutrients. It will be interesting to see whether the plants grown outside have the same problems. Other than Sungold no fruits growing outside have ripened yet.
Our second lot of brassicas are now at the cropping stage and we are harvesting Kalibro cabbages and Montclano calabrese. Both are clubroot resistant and have done well for us in the past. This year they have been on our watering priority list. A fourth lot of overwintering brassicas have been planted out. So far this bed is planted with Sabrosa cabbage and Aalsmeer cauliflower both of which are not clubroot resistant so it's fingers crossed. In the past we haven't had much luck with overwintering greens.
As rain was forecast I decided to bring in the onions. As I have written previously, although some bulbs are of a decent size most are smaller that usual. The red onions are just about a write off. They have produced very few bulbs of a reasonable size and more have produced flower spikes than any other variety. Although this year they have been exceptionally poor, red onions never seem to produce a good crop and I think that we have finally decided to give up on them.
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| 10 August |
We picked our first ripe figs last week, only just beating the blackbird to them. They have never bothered with figs before but this year one particular bird refused to budge from the bush, (ours hardly counts as a tree), until the last possible moment. We are going to have to keep a close watch for ripening fruits.
One crop that hasn't done very well this year, is broad beans. We usually have plenty to freeze but not this year.
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| 10 August |
As far as beans go, the climbing French beans have saved the day - or should say season? We are still picking from the Cobras and the purple Cosse Violette are not in full production mode. It's a pity that they revert to green when cooked.
I thought the sweet peas would be over now. Some have very short stems but they are still flowering and providing picking material.
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| 11 August |
The Oullins Gage plums are ripening quickly with many needing to be cleared from the ground around the tree each time we visit the plot. The first plums to ripen seems to do so prematurely and most of this first ripening seem to contain a plum moth larva. Later ripened fruits tend to be relatively clear of infestation but just in case we always cut the fruits in half before eating. To be honest we do this for most fruits other than of course berries! Oullins Gage are always the first of our plums to ripen and they are delicious. So far no wasps have found them. I'm not sure whether this means that the wasps are finding other food at the moment or that the waspinators are working.
On Saturday, Martyn decided to lift the potatoes growing in our trial variety bed. As some crops had finished we were managing to water the potato beds. We didn't expect this to help increase the yield but rather to soften the ground so that the potatoes could be dug up easier. In that it seemed to work but as expected the actual yield was poor.
We had decided that this year's trial was hardly a fair test and so we would try out the same varieties next year. There are a least enough potatoes for us to have a taste test and we have doubts about some varieties so this may change. The colouration of Apaches is interesting.
Finally I cut some flowers from the annual and perennial beds. I was in a hurry and didn't have time to arrange the flowers in the vase so don't look too closely.
This week I am linking to harvest Monday hosted on
Dave's blog Our Happy Acres
Posts
It's always hard trialing new varieties in a difficult year. Adverse weather seems to affect not only yield but taste too. Our excess of rain has made for blah flavor of some of the fruits. I do think there can be several reasons for blossom end rot. I have noticed some varieties are just more prone to it, plus like you said the nutrients can also be a bit off. Those purple beans really colored up nicely!
ReplyDeleteThe flavour of fruits especially deteriorates in wet weather, Dave which is why we didn’t water the strawberries. The result was that the plants died! It’s strange how blossom end rot wasn’t a problem a few years ago and now everyone seems to complain about it. generally commercial compost these days isn’t what it used to be - too much use of dubious green waste.
DeleteYou are getting an amazing amount of produce and it is just beautiful! Flowers too!
ReplyDeleteWe have to enjoy it while it lasts, Shawn Ann.
DeleteOur red onions never do very well and I often wonder if I should not bother growing them again. This year the brown onions are also smaller than usual
ReplyDeleteI think this year is the year we finally decide to call it quits with red onions, Margaret, we once tried white onions and they were rubbish too. We are also thinking of not growing the flatter varieties as the rounded ones are more kitchen friendly.
DeleteDespite a bit of a push the alliums have had a bad year with us too. The autumn planted sets did as well if not better than the spring but all flowered in unison. I still have hopes for some grown from seed, although quite a few seem to have vanished after planting out. My final hope rests on the Zebrunne shallots from seed, although there will also be leeks, currently getting more than enough water. Are you really still experiencing dry conditions? Your watering efforts were definitely worth it.
ReplyDeleteWe actually had a downpour on Monday afternoon when we were at the plot, Mal so we have had a break from watering.
DeleteForgot to mention that one of our allotment neighbours was on Gardeners Question Time asking about splitting Sungold tomatoes. (It is the first question - He didn't sound too impressed with the stock answers he got, but if there was a golden bullet I guess we would all know already)
ReplyDelete`We were on the radio too last week - Radio Leeds. That’s three times this season. Apparently on Radio Leeds this week the gardening expert stated that once an allotment was cleared and sorted out that there was too much work maintaining it, He also said that most allotments only cost a peppercorn rent! I wouldn’t call ours a peppercorn rent and I know yours is even higher than ours.
DeleteSounds like you had our man visiting radio Leeds for the day!
DeleteI just heard this morning on Radio 4, no less, that this is national Allotments Week. Was that why you were on?
No it was the regular Rsdio Leeds garden ‘expert’ i’m Surprised that the wanted us on last week rather than this being as you say Allotments week.
DeleteI always love seeing your fat carrots, and your cabbages and broccoli look amazing. What do you think of the Tigerella tomatoes? I tried a lot of different cherry tomatoes this year, but will probably go back to the tried and true Black cherry and Fat cherry, as well as Sungold.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure about Tigerella yet Phuong but the trouble is that after Sungold other tomatoes seem bland.
DeleteWhat beautiful harvests again this week, Sue. I was thinking about the blossom end rot tomatoes, as only the Orange Banana grown in pots have been affected here, watered the same as ones grown right next door to them. It is something to do with a deficiency of Calcium... can some varieties need more than others perhaps?
ReplyDeleteI'm not really sure Kathy. I just can;t go along with that it is the way we water the plants. It's just strange how nowadays it is more prevalent.
DeleteThose french beans do look good! Shame the others didn't do so well. I love all the tomato varieties too. My sweet peas are just beginning to flower, I did sow them very late, I wonder how long they will last.xxx
ReplyDeleteOur sweet pleas are still flowering, Dina but now I can’t keep up with cutting then - especially as many now have very short stems so I guess that they will start to set seed and then stop flowering,
Deleteoh my! I just put up a post on our harvest and now I feel silly for being so overexcited at the amount we brought home, haha.'If only', springs to mind but we have done what we could this year and on top of that we are half a plot down now. I am incredible impressed by your consistently impressive hauls - I hope you are feeling smug and proud - you deserve all this bounty with all the work you have put in xxx
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely no need to feel silly, Carrie. Remember we have more space and more time so it is all relative. I never feel smug as things can soon turn the other way! I just feel lucky.
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