27 June 2009 - Hot hot hot

Blimey, it's hot. As I type, we have officially entered into a Heatwave. There's swings and roundabouts associated with heatwaves - swings are that crops like corn and beans get plenty of incentive, but roundabouts are that you have to water and be extra vigilant for things drying out. We try not to do it too often so as to encourage a proper spirit of sustainability - for some crops (e.g. parsnips), it's actually better if they are not watered so that the roots go down really deep. On the left is my first ever attempt at strawberry jam - 1.8lb of strawberries = 1.5 jars of jam. It's a very messy and tense business but tastes delicious. This is because we have that most joyous of things, a strawberry glut, many more fruits than last year. We even had the Neighbours over for a summer bbq and plied them with strawberries so as to use some up (and to see them as well of course).

Other developments include harvesting of the first broccoli and freezing it; removal and composting of both the noble chard and spinach as they had given way entirely to the reproductive urge. In their place we have sown rainbow chard (a rainbow of chard) and overwintering carrots as an experiment.

Overwintering onions, sown so long ago now, were harvested. A few of them (4/5) were of decent size but otherwise they are tiny. We decide to pickle these. Perhaps starting them in the greenhouse in the autumn will give us a better result next year as the yield is quite disappointing given their long gestation. Likewise some shallots, though we are not sure whether it's time, to see what happens. All laid out in our greenhouse, a far cry from last year when Jan and Pat kindly lent us their.s

We have reluctantly concluded that the various sowings of peas in the dodgy bit are not yielding the required results at all, so dug them up and reconfigured that area into two runner bean wigwams. After anxious consultation of the authorities, we conclude that it isn't too late to sow them direct. Orthodoxy be damned.

As you know, we dug up some new potatoes a couple of weeks back and have decided to leave the rest for a little while longer. The second earlies are definitely looking healthier as plants, so maybe the bank is not the best start for first earlies (this is about yield not quality).

But - other bank news - the giant pumpkin however is doing well and there is one baby fruit already - not bad. The rhubarb seems to have got over its teenage angst and has produced truly majestic leaves. And there is ONE proper asparagus spear.

The courgettes are showing their first flowers, though the plants are still fairly small. The other - main - peas are so nearly ready to pick. Someone already has sampled them to assess readiness. They are not quite there yet. But very soon will be. Carrots and parsnips are blossoming (well not actually but you know what I mean).

The brassicas are doing well, though the transplanted red cabbage still look not entirely comfy in their new home. We inspect the last remaining brassicas (excepting kale) in the seedbed and see that they are now summer purple sprouting broccoli. Yikes. Other recent sowings of winter cabbage (yes I know there are some already in the main bed but I like to be sure) and kale have come up. Summer raspberries are also beginning to ripen and one majestic loganberry is daring us to pick it. Blueberries are still an intriguing shade of green rather than blue.

The corn is definitely having a growth spurt and we hope that the french beans will catch up. They are in the game but seem a little shy. The onions have rallied and are getting weekly doses of magic juice. We have great hopes of rivalling Mr G in this year's show.

We have been experimenting with making a shelter to provide shade over our bench, as it is very hot in full sun and there is no shade elsewhere. The search for Sir N's perfect shade solution continues.

24 June 2009 - Viral carrots

We are entering the season of plenty.

Brought carrots to work for Sally and David. See their feedback here (if necessary, scroll to 24 June 2009).

6/7-13/14 June 2009 - 24 Hour Rolling News

Two weekends' worth in one blog. There is simply not enough time to garden, do allotment, tend greenhouse and now blog. But we must try. The greenhouse is very beautiful and even has some things in it, mostly tomatoes which is ye traditional greenhouse croppe. However, we have enlivened the proceedings with a melon (cripes!), cucumber, chili and sweet peppers. Whether any of these will survive the mysterious rituals of "damping down", raising blinds (wot blinds?), temperature control and ventilation who can tell. As far as our loyal readers are concerned, the chief value of the greenhouse is the opportunity it affords us to get more developed stuff on the plot at an earlier point.

(There may be editorial changes to this post along with pictures.)

Rather than go Bed by Bed as in recent blogs, we'll just give you an overview of proceedings.

Seeds sown - more Winter Cabbage and Kale in the seedbed, additional remedial peas for what we had fondly hoped would be a flourishing pea/mangetout area but is sadly not (fear not, the other peas at the end of the plot are doing great). This is a mystery, as we did dig in two trenches there of household compost.

Plants moved/planted - practically all the brassicas have been moved from the seedbed to the brassica bed. These are broccoli (2 sorts) and red cabbage. Not much space left so the winter cabbage/kale can only be moved once the summer crops are eaten. Everything on this bed looking very healthy, including the first broccoli which are now developing their calabrese heads, so here's to the Power of Lime. And the new netting solution not only looks great but seems (touch wood) to have prevented any Cabbage Whites from invading and laying their dastardly brood. But we mustn't count our eggs (or cabbages/broccoli). We donated two broccoli seedlings to Jan and Pat. Sunflower seedlings planted at the end, along with a couple of runner beans.

A few french beans and corn, sown directly into the ground, have come up. However, there are large gaps. Plan B (sowing some at home, buying from Homebase) has been put into action. The weird thing was that by accident and certainly not be design there were exactly the right number of seedlings to fill the gaps - spooky.

Weeds - weed weed weed weed, along along the bank and a huge effort in the Pagoda, where the many tall grass stems were getting seriously out of hand.

Construction - we began the assembly of a temporary shade shelter thingy to affix to the shed roof, as we have no shade on the plot.

General progress notes - all appears to be doing well, other than the peas mentioned above. We have been carefully selecting carrots as delicious hors d'oevres. Munching a just picked carrot is true joy. One of the first early potatoes made an early entry into the world due to the vigour of the weeding exercise and it was duly served with supper. We take a bite and are instantly rewarded by the sublime taste of early potato, a reminder of why we got so much into growing our own in the first place. There is really nothing like it - no butter or salt needed, just the true taste of potato.

The recently planted broccoli and squash appear to have survived, bar one which went to the slugs. We purchased a large pumpkin seedling and have defiantly planted it on the bank, surrounded by a temporary plastic pot and many slug pellets. And strawberries! We have now picked our first bunch and they are lovely, though evil mice have had a go at a few of the ripe ones. We put down traps baited with strawberry - which are completely ignored. Rats (ho ho). Onions, shallots, parsnips and garlic all looking healthy, and indeed, the overwintering onions look almost ready for eating.

Unfortunately, the runner beans sown into the Pagoda seem to have been consumed which is sad for me, who likes eating them. Although we remain hopeful that one or two might defeat the weeds and rise up.

Soon we will be eating, on a regular basis, broccoli, onions, garlic, cabbage, carrots, strawberries (and blueberries), potatoes and peas. Yum. And that's before all the bean and courgette frenzy.

Weather notes: very rainy few days has made a huge difference to the plot. Plenty of sunny days, some quite hot. We now have a sprinkler device (we have to keep up with Jan and Pat after all).

Philosophical note: I ponder as to what our harvest will look like this year, in comparison to last year. We did so well last year, knowing very little. Now we know more, but will this in itself make any difference? There is no doubt that we will have a different kind of harvest - more garlic and onions, less peas. But that is part of the "fun" and a cost-benefit analysis (hours worked/output) seems totally inappropriate under the circumstances.