Tom diddy tom tom...

First picking of tomatoes

   The tomato season is upon me! The first tomatoes have been picked all 205g of them, followed a couple of days later with another 220g. There are many more to come and fingers crossed they will ripen before anything gets them (chickens, blight, fungus, slugs etc etc).
   In the outside garden it is water, water and water. All the melons, cucumbers, squashes and pumpkins all need to be watered at least once a day. That means every three to five days I have to refill my water butts from the well. Despite the chore of watering everything looks good. Very pleased with the basil, early radish aubergines, chili peppers, courgettes, pumpkin's, potatoes, tomatoes, melons, french beans, shallots, onions, cabbage, early purple sprouting, lettuce, potatoes and disappointed with the runner beans beetroot, carrots, parsnips and peas (damn them chickens!). I have undertaken one more attempt at growing Champion of England peas and this time I have put up a netting fence to keep my two legged egg laying feathered friends off. The shallots have been dug up and are being dried off as I type. The weather in La Creuse has been sunny sometimes very hot with no rain and little cloud. Plenty of weeding done and I have all but caught up with it and I now wait for the next rain fall to germinate the next lot of weeds. Another sowing of french beans has been made this time just plain old green ones rather than "gourmet" fillet type beans.
  In the poly tunnel cucumbers are being picked along with the tomatoes. Beetroot seedlings have been planted out. Pipache, Mexican coriander, has been transplanted with some going outside the poly tunnel to see how they do.
   In the squash come pumpkin come courgette bed the pumpkins (particularly the 100 weight variety) are just going mad. Lots of pumpkins setting along with many strands of vine! The job I need to do soon is to cut off the growing tips. I have watermelons set with one the size of a tennis ball. 

Shallot harvest