Ain't half hot mum!

  The weather continues to be dry. There are been no significant rainfall for quite some time. That means two things. One, the grass stopped growing (hooray!), two I have to water more of the garden than I would like.
   In the poly tunnel nothing much has changed. I am now picking a few tomatoes and the number is increasing every day. I am picking cucumbers and pulling beetroot. Even managed to cut some cabbage. It has been a poor year for cabbage.
   Outside the poly tunnel weeding continues albeit with difficulty as the ground is now becoming very dry. The last of the Bonnette Noumoutier potatoes have been dug up and I have moved on to the Belle de Fontenay bed. The onion crop is going to be very poor this year. Lack of rain has meant the bulbs have not swollen as much as they should have. The shallots have been harvested, sorted and topped and tailed ready for pickling. Nice crop. Still need to look at the tree onions to see what crop I have there. Winter leeks have been purchased (150 plants) and most have now been planted. The are more than enough round and straight courgettes! I have not yet pulled any carrots. Must do so and see what they are like. They look good. The first ripe tomato has been picked from the outside plants and guess what? The chickens have already noticed. In the melon bed blacktail water melon and troubadour melon are springing up all over the place. I guess as long as I keep watering they ought to do well. They have really liked the hot and sunny weather.
   On the animal front I accidentally killed one of the chicks. The other two are thriving and growing fast. The sheep are being sheep and are enjoying being able to wander over the large field. Looks like the chickens are getting back into laying eggs. It has been a poor month for eggs, only some one hundred and thirty eight eggs in total (includes broken ones).

Troubadour melon

Blacktail water melon

Those feathered pests!

Caught in the act!

Newly planted lettuce bed. What is that I see?

   Well those feathered pests finally got their own way! They have managed to destroy my lovely lettuce bed. I have now cleared the bed and replanted with bought (oh I hate having to buy lettuce plants) lettuce plants. See that chicken in the lower picture? Already eyeing up the lettuce.
   In the outside garden the round and straight courgettes are now starting to come in. Also the outside cucumbers, La Diva, have produced a couple of cucumbers. I do like the la Diva and Wautoma cucumbers. Digging of potatoes continues with the Bonnette Noumieters just about finished now. Next lot are Belle de Fontenay. I have protected with netting my fledgling haricot buerre and a planting of savoy type cabbage. The cauliflowers are now well established. I am watering every day at the moment. Soon be time to pull carrots methinks and harvest the shallots.
   On the animal front the chickens are being a pest, the mother hen and her chicks are sweet. The mother hen is now not so aggressive with me and the chicks have really grown some. Finally we have finished sheep shearing. 
  Least with the sunny weather the grass has stopped growing. No so the weeds and I am playing catch up.

The last fleece

Sun but it brings its problems!

Green Top Swede

   The sun has really got his hat on. The weather has turned to being hot. Now we turn from the ground being too wet to being too dry! I tell you you cannot win in this gardening lark!

Water Melon patch

   In the poly tunnel the cucumbers go from strength to strength. The Wautoma variety has produced two cucumbers and more to come. The Chrystal apple variety has lots of male flowers and very few female. Still, I am hopeful for a good crop. The tomatoes are well formed and have turned from dark green to light green. Cannot be long now before they are ripe. Blight is a problem but I think the fruit will ripen before the blight gets a real hold. I am now regularly pulling beetroot and I have cut what little cabbage there was! Not the most successful effort this year. More beetroot sown in modules along with Great Lakes iceberg type lettuce and Little Gem lettuce. The chickens managed to get into my lovely bed of Great Lake lettuce and destroyed at least six beautiful lettuce. They do like their green stuff these chickens.

Wautoma cucumber

   In the outside garden the tomatoes are really suffering from blight and I am not hopeful of getting many tomatoes. Potatoes are being dug and it is a good crop. The melon patch is exploding with water melons and troubadour melons which are growing madly. The onion patch looks ok and the swedes and parsnips well established. I made a mistake with my first sowing of sweet corn. I bought seed that was to grown sweet corn for animals! Looks good though. I have now sown a "human" variety and it is established. Hopefully there will be enough time for it to mature. Should be. Gaps in the sweet corn and the haricot buerre patches have been filled. Hopefully I will keep the chickens off the haricots! I have picked sugar snap peas and haricot vert which the chickens had missed! Winter cabbage, Piacena, savoy type, has been transplanted along with some early sprouting purple broccoli. So here we are about the middle of summer and the winter crops are starting to be planted. I need to keep an eye out in the local market for leeks as they need to go in in mid August.
   The weather is set to be sunny and no sign of rain in the forecast for at least a week if not longer. That means hauling about watering cans full of water to not only water the plants but the animals too. All is calm on the animal front. The chicks are now developing bigger feathers and are becoming more adventurous.

From rain to drought...

   The weather over the last week has been hot and getting hotter although as  write this the forecast is for cooler, more cloudy conditions. I do not want to say this too loud but a little rain would help move things along. Despite the hot days if I turn the soil over the soil is damp so plants are not yet suffering from lack of water. I am watering the melons and lettuce but that I expect to have to do. I also water the cauliflowers because that is what is advised to do. Cauliflowers like to be kept damp. The squash and courgettes have now taken off with small "8 ball" and straight "bush" courgettes showing. It will not be long before I am cutting them I am sure. I am now picking sugar snap peas. The melons have flowers on them and the outdoor cucumbers are looking good although I have yet to spot any. I have, as is usual at this time of year, more potatoes than I know what to do with. The onions I reckon could have done better but hey they still have a month to swell. Fingers crossed. Looking at my garden log most of my time has been spent weeding and there is still more to do. Also the never ending task of grass mowing. Hopefully the hot weather will have slowed it up. I can but hope! The lettuce look good and unfortunately blight has set into the tomatoes. It will be a race to see if I get any or not. Finally managed to get to the grape vine after the new septic tank  system had been put in and prune it. Does not look like there will be much fruit this year. The cherries were a complete wipe out. The apples are looking reasonable but we are only just coming into the "drop" season.
   In the poly tunnel cucumbers dominate along with the tomatoes which have also started to show signs of blight. These plants are far more advanced with lots of fruit already set. The jalapeno peppers look good and the cabbage a little sad but I should get some! The beetroot is ok and I have started to harvest it.
   On the animal front the sheep continue to be sheep, ducks are being ducks and meat chickens are being chickens. Our adopted chicks have adapted well and are now free to roam the garden with a very attentive mother hen. I can only guess that the hot weather has put the chickens off laying and of course the septic tank work was being done right outside their coop which would not have helped. 
  So as always too much to do, not enough time to do it. Hey ho!

Bonnotte Noirmoutier potatoes

Courgette bed

Green top swede

Melon flowers

Good grief!

   I cannot believe over another week has gone by. The weather has been kind and the rain has stayed away. So lots to do, lots done!
   On the animal front sheep shearing of the ewes is well under way. Half of the woolly jumpers have been done. Some of them are proving to be a challenge! Three cockerels have been processed. Three new arrivals, three chicks for our broody Sussex! She has taken to them well and fingers crossed they will be ok.

   So what has been going on in the garden? Grass mowing, of course, beer drinking..ooops and lots and lots of transplanting and even some sowing.
   This years garlic crop has proven to be good. The bed used by the garlic has now been sown with sweet corn and haricot buerre.  Four varieties of sweet peppers have now been transplanted to outside the poly tunnel beds, some fifty plants all told. I have started to harvest the Bonnotte Noirmoutier potatoes and am starting to pick the sugar snap peas.
      In the poly tunnel Cheltenham Green Top beetroot has been transplanted from modules. I am fed up with the chickens eating the beetroot leaves so I am growing it in the poly tunnel instead.  The first lot of beetroot, grown in the poly tunnel, variety Sanguire, is now ready to harvest. The tomatoes are doing well with fruit set and swelling. I have noticed some spots of blight but I am hopeful that I will get ripe tomatoes before the blight takes hold. Cucumbers are now in flower, however, the are mostly male flowers! I am sure they will come eventually. Having written that I checked again and yes there are cucumbers!

Flowering cucumber

Violet garlic crop

   More carrots sown. I have three rows growing so far each at different stages. I am going to continue to sow more as each row germinates in the hope of getting lots of carrots!
   Of course there is more weeding to do than I can catch up with and that dratted grass which has not yet slowed up! The weather is getting better with day time temperatures now in the twenties.