Here one day gone the next

   In my last blog I said I had started to pick the cherries. Well, I picked them and we ate them and now they are gone, all within ten days! Damaged cherries, even slightly bruised ones, will go bad very quickly so its eat eat eat while they are still good. The chickens enjoyed eating the ones that I threw down while up the tree.

Second picking of cherries

   In the outside garden all is grow grow grow. The weather has been good with some hot sunny days. The ground is still quite damp an inch or so down so warm damp soil, hot sunny days equals lots of growth. I have transplanted red cabbage having managed to find a space in the cabbage plot. The tomatoes required side shoots being removed and tying up. More tomatoes are setting. Oskar peas are now being picked. There is still lots of cabbage! Last week I said that the haricots were not looking very promising but I am pleased to say that more have germinated and now look a reasonable number of plants.
Melon beds have been prepared and the main melon bed planted with Petit Gris De Renne. The potatoes are in flower which must mean they are all but ready to start digging up. 
   A really big job done this week was to wash the outside of the poly tunnel. With the farmers churning up the soil and there being a lot of pollen the outside was getting very dirty. Took most of a very hot day to do and I renewed my tan! Within the poly tunnel I have transplanted Prescott Round Blanc melon as an experiment to see how melons do in the poly tunnel. Lemon and Mammoth basil has been also transplanted. I have made up a real Heath Robinson affair to support the Wautoma cucumbers. 
  My white sage cuttings were unsuccessful and I suspect that the poly tunnel was too hot. I have take a couple more cuttings and I will try to get them to take by having them on a window sill in the house.
   This years turkey's and geese have arrived and are settling in.

Running to keep up!!!

   Another week has flown by! The cherries are now ripe and I have started to pick them. Summer leeks have been transplanted to an outside bed as have pumpkins, buttercup and butternut squash and bush courgettes. Failed Gigante runner beans have been replaced with Scarlet Emperor "normal" runner beans, so I have half a row of each! Maybe I am was a bit early but the haricots have not germinated well. I also maybe being a little impatient!
   In the poly tunnel Wautoma cucumbers have been transplanted along with Sweet Genovese and Lemon basil. My over winter peas in the poly tunnel are now at an end. I have managed to gather some seed so I will be trying again this autumn.
  The herbs are in full cry with some flowering and others not far behind - Blue Sage, Golden Oregano, Common Thyme, Chives, Bolls mint, Marjoram, Moss Curled parsley, Coriander, Black mint and Rosemary. I have been taking cuttings to dry and made my fist lot of mixed dried herbs (golden oregano, curly parsley, marjoram). 

Roma Tomato

   The tomatoes have taken me by surprise. There are already many set and the one in the picture is the biggest I have spotted so far. This plant is outside! In the poly tunnel there is plenty of growth and good numbers of set tomatoes but nothing as big as this one.
   The Rosebelle potatoes are in flower and are on course to start to be harvested by the end of June. Oskar peas are well set and are starting to swell. The Latvian soup peas have finally flowered well and are also showing signs of pods. The Champion of England peas are at last starting to grow vigorously. On request from the family I quickly got hold of some sugar snap pea seed from the UK and sowed them. They germinated within five days! I have started to cut summer cabbage, variety Louvier and Golden Acre Primo.  Least this year I have cabbage! Seems that the plot I used last year was really lacking in what cabbages need. Fingers crossed, my Brussels sprouts are well established and look good. Long way between cup and lip!
   Grass cutting continues and unfortunately I have once again managed to break the mowing machines. Luckily I had managed to complete the mowing before they gave out. 
   Lots and lots to do, not enough time to do it but hey ho what gets done gets done and what does not get done does not get done!