Tuesday 13 August 2013

Humming the desert song..........

   ...and it thunders and rains! The Belle de Fontenay main crop potatoes have been lifted. Man, that was a job and a half! I must have perspired a pint. Nice looking potato and a good crop though and very little bug damage. Lifted a few Vitelotte purple potatoes. Very strange having a purple potato on you plate especially when you cut it in half and it is purple all through!
  There has been a thunder storm and a light to heavy rain fall. I reckon about half an inch over a couple of hours. This has refreshed everything and I am sure everything (that means the grass as well) will grow. I took the opportunity to weed and fork the ex-shallot bed which brings that plot back into probable use. I have beetroot and swede growing in modules that will need a home soon. Now I need to lift the main crop of Desiree potatoes! 
Violette (purple) potatoes in flower
   The first lot of sweet corn has come in flower, if that is what you call it and cobs are forming on the plants.  There is a cucumber on the La Diva plant. This is an outside cucumber and looks like a large courgette when ready to eat. The rain will have help it for sure. The courgettes are becoming productive with a second lot picked. How long before a pate pan squash appears I wonder? Found one on the 23rd July. Melons are beginning to set. Could be a good year for melons. Started to pick the dwarf peas, variety Hatif d'Annonay.
   Sanguira beetroot, grown in modules, has been transplanted to an outside bed. I fear it will be too hot and I will loose a lot of them. Another row of carrots, Long Lisse de Meaux, a good storer, has been sown. Rosi de Trento, a smooth leaf lettuce, has been transplanted to an outside plot and the chicks found them! Darn. The Champion of England pea has finally germinated well. Once I started to water them they started to appear. I will need to keep up the watering to make sure the achieve their full height (6 to 7 feet!). No need. It has rained frequently!!! More Great Lakes lettuce has been transplanted to pots and I have had to resow the Minidor yellow dwarf french beans. Only a few germinated. The replacement celeriac has been transplanted and I keep my fingers crossed for these. They may not have enough time to fully grow.  In  the poly tunnel Great Lakes and Little Gem lettuce are growing well. The sweet peppers are looking good with peppers setting. The cauliflowers are looking a little sad as are the tomatoes. The leaf mould on the toms in the poly tunnel is really starting to have an affect although I am still hopeful for a reasonable crop but not the bumper one that I was expecting. Broad leaf and curly parsley is slowing growing, cucumbers and basil are doing well. No sign of of salad bowl lettuce or corriander yet.
   The beast (lawn mower) has had an outing. The grass was not particularly long but need a trim and I really needed to do it before the rain effect kicked in. 
   It has been a busy time at Watermeadows and I am late in publishing my blog. This copy brings me up to the 24th July and I am working on getting the next  one out as soon as possible!
Lots to tell.
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