Wednesday, August 28
Monday, August 26
All change
The end of last week certainly saw a change in our weather. Instead of our excuse, for not getting enough work done of the allotment, being that it was too wet and drizzly we had the excuse that it was too hot and sunny. Our weather is nothing if not changeable.
We spent a fair bit of time watering. The drizzly rain that had kept us indoors had done little to quench the thirst of our plants.
We did manage to fulfill some tasks. I planted some All Year Round cauliflowers to fill up one of our brassica beds.
This year is very much going to see a deep divide between plants that have done well and those that have failed, but that topic is for another day.
The brassicas seem to be one group of plants that are thriving, that is if we can protect then from munching machines.
It didn't help that the gales of previous weeks blew the enviromesh from one bed, on two occasions, giving free access to the white butterflies. At least one had seized the opportunity to lay eggs and the resulting caterpillars had been feasting. As many as we could find have been removed but as they were the offspring of the small white they were green and difficult to spot. On the plus side at least the small white lays eggs singly rather in the clusters laid by the large whites which produce a voracious army of progeny that make short work of any plant within their reach. See them in action here.
We may not have removed all of the caterpillars so will have to be vigilant.
If it isn't problems caused by pests feeding on our plants or weather making them struggle, as you know we have a problem with our compost. The photos below show the difference in the tomatoes growing at opposite sides of our plot greenhouse. Granted the varieties are different, so some may argue that this isn't a fair comparison, however, the difference is dramatic. Some of the failing tomatoes are Sungold that usually produces a prolific harvest
I have spoken to the manager of the garden centre from which we purchased the grow bags and he has passed my complaint to their buyers who have contacted the manufacturers and have also offered to refund the cost of the grow bags as a goodwill gesture.
I am wondering now whether the problem we have had with one bed of onions is compost related but more of that in another post.
At long last we seem to be having some success at growing spring onions. As a last ditch attempt, I sowed spring onions seeds into a crate filled with compost and they are growing strongly. They're not yet ready to harvest but I am hopeful, so much so that I have sown more in another crate.
We did manage some jobs last week. I removed all the runners from the strawberries for the third time. The plants had been so prolific that, I filled a wheelbarrow with discarded runners.
Martyn dug more potatoes. The Rocket potatoes that were grown as a clearing crop were rubbish and badly eaten. We thought at first this was to be expected and didn't hold it against the variety, but looking back at notes and blog posts, we found that this variety had been targeted by pests when we grew them previously which was why it was dropped from our list of potatoes to grow. As it happened it was one of the few varieties available in the garden centre when we went to buy some for this bed. As we didn't expect much of a crop from the newly cleared area we didn't care which variety we planted.
The the other varieties, Casablanca, Vivaldi and Sarpo Mira, had produced a good crop. Casablanca is sold as an early potato, but we have found that it keeps well too and obviously hasn't suffered through being left in the ground longer that usual for an early variety. We had expected Sarpo Mira to carry on growing for much longer. The photos above are not a direct comparison as there are still more Sarpo Mira to lift.
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| 22 August |
The leaves in the bag above photo are coriander, (cilantro). I sowed seeds in another crate and they produced a good crop. Rather than risk them going to seed and being wasted, I cut the leaves and have frozen them. The frozen leaves are not as good as fresh ones, but are better than nothing. I've sown more seeds to try and get another batch. I also sowed more spinach seeds in a grow bag.
One fruit that has produced it's best ever crop this year are the All Gold late raspberries. They have produce more berries, larger berries and hardly any spoiled berries this year.
One of the varieties of beans that we picked last week was climbing French bean - Python. This variety has matured a little later than the Cobra beans and seems to have the potential for extending the season of climbing French beans.
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| 24 August |
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| Victoria plums |
Finally, I've seen lots of peacock and painted ladies feeding from our buddeias but hadn't seen any tortoiseshells, which are usually one of our most abundant species. Last week I spotted this one along with a red admiral which disappeared before I grabbed my camera.
The camera is great at capturing details that are usually not apparent to the naked eye. This year one of the things that has struck me is that the different species of butterfly have different faces. I'd never noticed that before.
This week I am linking to harvest Monday hosted on
Dave's blog Our Happy Acres
Thanks to those who responded to my invitation to make a comment. I appreciate you taking the trouble to say hello. I know I get lots of visitors who never comment and I'd love to know who you are - unlike the annoying spammers who can't seem to grasp that their comments go straight into my spam folder and never see the light of day. I am getting lots of Anonymous spam comments which go straight into the spam folder and then deleted so I'm afraid that if you comment anonymously this may happen to your comment.
Wednesday, August 21
Monday, August 19
Casualties of the gales
This week we have had gale force winds and wet miserable weather. It's supposed to be summer but the conditions contradict that theory. We managed a couple of afternoons at the allotment when most of the time was spent harvesting like squirrels caching stores for winter. A video of our plot post gales is here.
On the allotment we escaped the worst attempts of the winds to wreak havoc. Many things had developed a lean and enviromesh had been ripped of some brassicas, inviting in the white butterflies that are constantly on the look out for suitable leaves on which to lay their eggs.Their offspring later emerge to devastate cabbages and the like. We will have to be vigilant and try and remove any caterpillars that emerge as a result.
The worst allotment casualty was one of the cardoons which has been battered flat. Each year it suffers this indignity whilst its sibling which is given some shelter from a neighbour's shed manages to remain upright. Fortunately the plant regrows each year to the relief of local bees who adore the flowers.
What we didn't notice until later was that an apple tree in the garden had been felled by the gales. This catastrophe was hidden behind the greenhouse and only spotted when Martyn went to water the cold frames.
Trying to find a positive slant to this, at least it will be easy to pick the apples. We picked the ones touching the ground before they were spoiled or nibbled.
One of my jobs last week was to prune the Glencoe, purple raspberry and generally tidy up its bed. It's pruned very much like other summer fruiting raspberries. All this year's fruiting canes are cut down to the ground and this year's new canes are tied in.
One of my jobs last week was to prune the Glencoe, purple raspberry and generally tidy up its bed. It's pruned very much like other summer fruiting raspberries. All this year's fruiting canes are cut down to the ground and this year's new canes are tied in.
When I'd cut out all the spent canes, it became apparent that the posts holding the wires had broken. The raspberry had been supporting the posts instead of the other way round, so new posts and wires had to be put in place before the job could be completed.
Martyn dug another couple of rows of potatoes. This time the varieties were Osprey and Nadine; as usual there was some damaged tubers but generally the harvest was good.
I've posted a video of our afternoon on the plot here but be warned its a long one.
Martyn also dug the Rocket potatoes most of which had pest damage. This wasn't unexpected as they were planted as a sacrificial crop in a part of the allotment that was overgrown and uncultivated for several years.
Martyn also dug the Rocket potatoes most of which had pest damage. This wasn't unexpected as they were planted as a sacrificial crop in a part of the allotment that was overgrown and uncultivated for several years.
Growing on our apple hedge, the apples that we think are Discovery look lovely so, when we had a coffee break, we picked one to try.
Although the pips hadn't turned brown, so the apples technically speaking were not fully ripe, they were ripe enough to taste delicious so we picked a few.
We also picked several punnets of greengages, a fruit that we particularly enjoy. The green colouring belies its sweetness.
This year the onions that we planted last autumn have done particularly well. We have been using them for a while now. There were still plenty left so I lifted the rest. It's very unusual to be lifting autumn onions at the same time as the summer planted ones, usually by now the autumn ones are long gone. 
The size of the bulbs was variable, some were very small but others were monsters. For some reason autumn planted onions are not supposed to keep well but I hope these keep long enough for us to use them or I'll need to make lots of soup to freeze.
The spring planted onions and shallots have been lifted and left on the ground to hopefully start the drying off process. These onions have puzzled us as one bed has produced a good crop ...
The onions were left on the bed for a day until I prepared a better place for drying them off. As we have nowhere undercover, I rigged up some grids under one of our trees. Hopefully, the tree will provide some shelter from the inevitable rain.
The blueberries are doing really well this year. The bushes continue to produce larger than usual berries and there are still plenty more to ripen.
They are also producing some strong new growth.
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| 12 August |
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| 15 August |
One surprise addition to our harvest boxes was a small cauliflower which is shyly hiding its face in the photo below.
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| 17 August |
Another batch of cabbages - Kalibro - are now starting to be ready. The first one we picked was a monster weighing in at 2.7 kg
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| 18 August |
The sweet peas have been disappointing this year. Usually we are picking armfuls on an almost daily basis and almost every room in the house is home to a vase. This year they don't seem to have really got going.
This week I am linking to harvest Monday hosted on
Dave's blog Our Happy Acres
