Is it REALLY the end of August?

I really had to keep reminding myself that it was August and that meant it was summer. Summer (what little we had of it) seems to have been over and done with for a while now. Last week was miserable and fairly cold so we only really visited the plot to harvest and we're still being bitten to death by antisocial insects. One thing that is really annoying is that it's rained lots of days in August and yet the ground is still bone dry. Most of the time it's either that 'mistly' stuff or pelting down so hard that it just runs off the hard soil!

I’ve cleaned up one lot of shallots that were drying off on the greenhouse staging. All the loose dry skins have been removed and the shallots put into string bags – the sort that you get from the supermarket around the plastic trays that peaches and nectarines are packed in. I’ve also graded the bulbs as small, medium and large. We grew two varieties Pikant and Topper. Pikant has produced a much better harvest than Topper.

Dahlias still aren’t exactly falling over themselves in their eagerness to produce cut flowers but at least they and the sweet peas are managing enough to provide some cut flowers. They haven't really got going at all yet this year and the weather forecast mentioned the dreaded 'F' word this week. FROST! At this rate some plants will have been frosted before they manage to produce even one flower. I've added a photo of the new colours that emerged last week.

Other annual flowers planted amongst the fruit bushes are not only very popular with bees but also seem to encourage us to feel that summer hasn’t quite finished with us yet.

Can't believe that I've just completed the entries for this year's August diary on my website here.

I've also uploaded a video of how our plot looks at the moment. It's here if you are interested in viewing it.