Everything is producing well, even the thinning out of the carrot row has produced a good crop. I have frozen 950 grams of the thinned carrots.
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| Carrot thinnings 240712 |
The tomato season has begun! Two small but very tasty Tumbler tomato's have been picked (and eaten as soon as they were!). Quite literally kilos of haricot vert have been harvested. Cucumbers? How many can you eat!! I should have a cucumber eating competition there are so many. Chrystal lemon, Marketmore 76 and La Diva! In the garden haricot buerre have been sown. I have given up with parsnips. I have sowed three lots and not one has germinated and this is from two seed sources so I cannot blame the seed. Likewise red cabbage grown from seed has been a disaster so I spent 4.20 euros and got some from the local market. Guess what? I foolishly left them on the ground and the chickens took a fancy to them. Fortunately they did not eat the hearts out of the cabbages so I am expecting them to recover. Boy. Sweetheart melons are developing all over the vines! Looks like my melon bed is working.
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| Sweetheart melon |
Sweet peppers are growing albeit slowly. Not enough sunshine. Summer peas and sugar snap peas are not doing as well as I would have wished. Chickens? Mice? Poor germination? Who knows.
In the poly tunnel tomato's are red and ready to pick. Celery is good, cucumbers are just great and I still have four varieties of lettuce! White fly has been a problem this year and I am looking into ways of controlling the infestation without using chemicals. Winter sowing plans are being slowly developed.
Next years brassica bed has been identified and some muck added. More required though. So on we go, weeding, grass cutting , harvesting, planting, watering.... phew!
It has been a mixed week weather wise. Some sun, some rain, some cloud. Not the most enjoyable from my point of view but for the veggies...they have loved it!
I am now harvesting a whole host of stuff! Potatoes, cucumbers (x2 varieties), onions (red, white, bedfordshire champion, Spanish) shallots, french beans (haricot vert), borlotti beans, cabbage, celery, lettuce (x3 varieties), cauliflower, kohl rabi, carrots, melon, celeriac, sweet pepper, courgette, pumpkin, butternut squash..all in all too much but hey, rather that than too little I guess!
So what has been going on? In the poly tunnel my overhead wire to which the growing string for my tomato's was attached broke! Fortunately no damage to the plants and the result is that I have had to tie the strings to the crop bars. This has meant that there is more space between the plants so that is going to help with keeping them aired and ripening the toms. A disaster turns into an advantage. I have planted out more primo cabbage which is being my most successful summer cabbage. White fly is a problem and I need to research some sort of bio control I guess. Swarming ants which have not been a problem other than a couple of birds have decided that they are good to eat and are coming into the poly tunnel. More lettuce sown in modules and I need to decide what I am doing as regards to winter crops. Generally I am not happy with the results from growing plants from seeds so I may just buy some in, in particular red cabbage and winter cabbage. In the "tomb" a gourd is growing away and the tomato's I have planted there are doing fine.
Outside the garden has gone nuts. Of course, the weeds are there too and are a continual issue. The chickens are still being a menace but in the end the damage they do is not too great and it is good fun throwing lumps of dirt at them. Rosebelle potato's have done well again this year and I am looking forward to digging up the Desiree main crop. They should be great. Borlotti beans and haricot vert are producing a lot of beans. I have a melon with many more coming on. I reckon they need a little bit more sun and they will produce an awlful lot more I am sure.
Preparation for next year has started. The onion/shallot bed will become my brassica bed for next year and I have already forked it over and piled on some muck. More muck is needed and it is one of many jobs to do. I have more leeks to plant out and that is a priority as I need them to be established before autumn. The carrots urgently need thinning or I will not get any big ones!
Right. I am back to the garden before the rain that is threatening starts to fall. Weeds to pull as always and seeds to sow!
Once more a couple of weeks have passed by before I realise that I have not posted a blog. Sorry about that folks!
As is the way of the world I just about caught up in the garden and then it was time to depart for the UK for a week. Boy! I wonder what the garden will be like when I return? More weeds no doubt. I have found the UK wet although I have been fortunate enough to be able to do the things I wanted to do without getting myself wet.
In the last couple of weeks in the poly tunnel I have transplanted Pak Choi cabbage, All the Year Round cauliflower, Webbs Wonderful lettuce and Little Gem Lettuce. I hope my lettuce gap is filled! Marketmore 76 and Chrystal Lemon cucumbers are starting to become prolific producers. Any ideas what to do with spare cucumbers? The tomato's are doing well and I am looking forward to a good crop. I have manage to grow some celery for the first time and it is going well. My giant cabbage is now so large I am going to have trouble moving it when I decide to cut it. It would feed the five thousand!
Outside the poly tunnel weeding has been a major item and my weed pile continues to grown. Those weeds do not slow down! Outside Rosebelle potatoes are being dug, haricot vert are now being picked and some black currants gathered. Most crops are looking good. The Early Onward peas have now been cleared and a row of Borlotti beans sown in their place. The next lot of peas are now showing along with the sugar snap peas. I have cobs on my sweet corn and it will not be long before I am picking some I am sure. The onions grown from seed are doing well, far better than the ones grown from sets. I have again sown another row of parsnips. This is the third and final attempt. The carrots look good and the fourth sowing has now germinated. Probably the first job to do when I get home will be to sort out the carrots and freeze the baby ones. I have Borlotti beans! Another first for me. Brassicas are not the most successful crop outside. I need to work on getting the soil conditions right I think. Butternut squash, courgettes (round and long), pumpkins and gourds all look good and the courgettes are now being cut.
All in the all the warm damp conditions have in the main suited the garden. A little more sunshine is now required I feel. Fingers crossed!
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| Weed pile |
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| Borlotti Bean |
