Ain't half hot Mum!

   The weather continues to be hot. No rain at all. Even the morning dew is light. So every evening I am watering all the melons, pumpkins, squash, chili's, aubergines. celery and celeriac with now and then whatever else takes my fancy!

Troubadour melon

 The melons are loving the hot weather. Water melons abound (current count is 7) and Troubadour melons are just prolific (current count 17). The photo does not do justice to the number of melons there are. 

Nigels Outdoor green chili

  My Nigel's Outdoor green chili's are doing well in and out of the poly tunnel. It is going to be a bumper year for chili's I think. Maybe next year I will try a different type as well.
   About half of my celery has gone to seed despite regular watering. I have left one to gather the seed from but I have dug the rest up. It did look good but I guess once again its the weather that is playing havoc with the veggies.
   My rotation of lettuce is still going well despite that fact I lost a number when I transplanted them and the next day the air temperature hit 42C. They just shrivelled up and turned to dust. I had to wait for a cooler day. Still at the moment the lettuce bed is fully occupied with lettuce being pulled as required. 
   With the rapid growth on the pumpkins, squash and melons I had regularly checked for set fruit and then cut off the growing tip. Hopefully this will encourage larger produce but I fear it will also encourage side shoots.
   Despite the weather I still had to bush whack the grass and ferns down by the river.    The grass was not overly long but I had to use the bush whacker to get the ferns down. That activity desired beer I can tell you! 
    The sheep, geese and chickens (meat and hen) are holding up well. Unfortunately we lost a ram lamb to reasons unknown. Our speculative thought is that there is a congenital problem as we lost a ram lamb at the same time (week earlier) last year. 
    The weather forecast is for continued hot weather with a possibility of a thunderstorm and a little rain. I will believe it when I see it.