I hope you are ready for a new soap opera (to be honest the TV soaps aren't really my cup of tea - although maybe they are as I don't like tea either - shock horror - she doesn't like tea or soaps!)
Anyway I've drifted off track so back on the rails - I have decided that I will split my update of what is happening on the plot into sections. An episode for each area.
Anyway I've drifted off track so back on the rails - I have decided that I will split my update of what is happening on the plot into sections. An episode for each area.
After a good weekend harvesting, tidying and weeding, the area of the plot that I am going to feature in episode one is looking fairly neat and tidy (except I seem to have missed the area around where the cucumbers are planted). Martyn and I are often gardening in very different parts of the plot and have to search for one another but Sunday we both concentrated our efforts on this part.
If you browse the photo album you can take the tour. Our plot ends behind the far lavender border - our neighbour has grass paths and a similar style to our plot and so you may be deceived into thinking that everything you can see in the distance is a continuation of our plot.
We are harvesting raspberries and blackcurrants from this area and some of our gooseberries. The strawberry bed that was set out last year and the runners planted this year are also in this part of the plot. Unfortunately after a great start to our strawberry harvest the rain is spoiling lots of the fruit. I just hope we soon have less rain and more strawberries. There are borders of alpine strawberries which seem less susceptible to rain damage and providing some pickings.
A salad bed planted up with radish, beetroot, spring onions, celeriac, celery and the odds and ends of left over onion sets is in this section of plot. For some reason we have had trouble growing spring onions - not just this year either so we can't blame the weather.
The bed of recently planted leeks seem to be doing well and the sweetcorn growing close by also seems to be now growing away strongly. It looks better than last year when it didn't like the dry conditions at all.
Growing up bamboo teepees in the same bed as the sweetcorn are mangetout and runner beans. French beans also share this bed. After planting the beans were looking a bit shabby but surprisingly they have started to look better and are even starting to flower - now whether the flowers will actually set beans is another matter.
We are harvesting mangetout which we didn't managed to do at all last year. Like the sweetcorn, they didn't enjoy the dry conditions last year and any pods that did form were disfigured and mildewy.
In the centre of this area potatoes - Winston, Nadine, Nicola and Charlotte are growing well.
Courgettes are looking better and seem to have some 'fruits' set. We planted lots of courgettes as we thought that they had little chance of survival but we could end up regretting this if they all produce a crop.
The sweet peas are thriving and producing masses of flowers which need cutting regularly in order to keep them going. On the opposite side of the sweetpea frame outdoor cucumbers are planted which if they survive will be trained up the bamboo struts. So far the cucumbers are still alive so maybe we will be lucky and have some sort of a harvest.
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Sue, your gardens look incredible! One would never know you are having such a time with the weather.
ReplyDeleteEverything is behind though Robin but I must say I've read blogs where they are suffering far worse than us so I suppose we should count our blessings
DeleteIt's all looking great. I had a great crop of mange tout last year but the slugs have had them all this year, munched them right down to the stalks so we'll be without them unless my late sowing comes to something. I've got a couple of courgettes on one of my plants, I'm hoping they don't rot in all this rain.
ReplyDeleteAre your mangetouts tall growing like ours, Jo - strange isn't it ours were useless last year. They did take forever to start growing away though.
DeleteAre you sure you're English? Funnily enough my English mother-in-law fulfills the English stereotype beautifully spending much of her day drinking tea and soaps perhaps you are the exception that proves the rule? How are you on pubs? Fish and chips? and Sunday dinners?
ReplyDeletePubs - we go there for lunch and a coffee. I didn't like them when they were smoky drinking places. Fish and chips - I like homemade fish (not in batter though) and chips but don't like fish and chip shop ones. Sunday dinners - I like so called Sunday dinners but we don't usually have a Sunday dinner on a Sunday - we eat the same sort of things as the rest of the week. I'm not English am I? We once had a meal with a French couple who's gite we were renting and it turned out she was more English than me in her tastes!
DeleteSo jealous of your leeks. Mine wont be transplanted until the broad beans have finished.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to think of a short name for you awholeplotoflove - maybe 'awpol' It is a problem when you haven't enough space for everything isn't it - believe it or not it sometimes happens to us but this year having now squash to romp around has helped - space wise.
DeleteAll looking great as per usual. Is your soil as good as it looks? :0)
ReplyDeleteThe onions and garlic from previous posts don't look too bad either!!
Martin
Our soil is a clay soil Martin. The salad bed has had old grow bags etc emptied on to it and is a bit lighter not but generally it is the sort of soil that bakes hard when it is dry and goes claggy when very wet. I try to keep hoeing it to loosen any crust that forms and also control the weeds.
DeleteClay soils do tend to be fertile but have a difficult structure - we also have quite a lot of stones which with all the heavy rain have ended up on the surface.
I think that we have to admit that the extra rain has been beneficial to some crops. Weather forecast today is starting to talk about a change and the prospect of some sunshine after all. Hooray!
ReplyDeleteThe Sweet Peas and the Strawberries prove your English ancestry, surely?
I'll believe in sunshine when it happens Mark. I think if it had been warm with all this rain then everything would have grown fantastically well although no doubt blight would have also thrived!
DeleteVery nice piccies of your nicely laid out plot. We are still getting oodles of rain here in the West country except for last Sunday and today. I'm with you on soaps but my day wouldn't be complete without at least a dozen cups of rosy lea??
ReplyDeleteOodles of rain here too, Rooko - our weekend and Monday wasn't too bad though. Looking forward to summer next week as they are promising
DeleteMy courgettes and pumpkins really aren't thriving in this weather either. They just need some hot, bright sunshine. Leeks on the other hand are loving it! Swings and Roundabouts!
ReplyDeleteYes it's always a case of win some, lose some in gardening, Matron isn't it? Our squash didn't even germinate.
DeleteYou have to have the biggest plot I've ever seen - I don't know how you keep up with it all. Looks like you are going to have bumper crops.
ReplyDeleteWhen we first took our plot, Elaine the site was semi derelict, (well more like seven eighths derelict), and the council were going to redesignate the land status of the unused part of the site to grazing land so many of us took on extra plots to the allotment status and the council were only too pleased for us to do this - in fact they actively encouraged us to, Elaine. There are two of us working the plot and after years of getting it sorted it isn't too bad to maintain - we just have to make sure we go regularly which is something some of the newbies don't realise. It's amazing how quickly some come and go! We have several plots at the moment that really should be reallocated.
DeleteThat's a lot growing in your garden! Is it for your own family use or you sell it to wet market? Amazing!
ReplyDeleteIt's for our use Malr, You're not allowed to sell produce from rented allotments anyway. It's amazing what we get through as much of what we store for winter is growing now too. Most of the vegetables and fruit we use throughout the year is growing now. We do share with family and friends too.
DeleteYes, the mangetout are tall growing ones. They just never got going though after the slugs had finished with them.
ReplyDeleteWe grew our first batch in pots and planted them out - at least they were a bit taller to try and survive slug attack
DeleteYour plants are looking really healthy. I'm thinking later harvests this year - well I'm hoping for later harvests.
ReplyDeleteYes that's what we are hoping for too Kelli
DeleteIt's all looking great Sue...I think a lot of your crops are doing better than mine though I have noticed them picking up just lately. I think you should take some 'weedy' photos to post though...will make me feel a lot better!!
ReplyDeleteDon't worry Tanya we have lots of weedy areas some have beds completely gone under and need a lot of work on them to bring them under control. This page on Martyn's blog should make you feel much better - see the second photo!
DeleteI went over and checked it out Sue...I now feel much better and realise that you and Martin are not super humans after all so thanks for that!! :-)
DeleteGlad to cheer you up, Tanya. I promise you'll feel even better in future posts!
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