Gardeners are good at nurturing, and they have a great quality of patience, they're tender. They have to be persistent.

    The title for this weeks blog is a quote from Ralph Fiennes. Seems appropriate.

The sun has got his hat on! Hip! Hip! Hip! Horray! Well that was fine a couple of weeks ago but now not so. Water restrictions are in place and the river that runs along my property boundary is low although looking back a couple of years not was low as it was then. Still a couple of years of not enough rainfall, drying winds give cause for a water shortage. I still have water in my water butts and in my one thousand litre water container but it is getting low.

   Cutting, pulling, picking, gathering, digging all being done this week. Carrots, courgettes, cucumbers, potatoes, the odd tomato, onions and lettuce. Coriander, parsnip and moss curled parsly seeds all gathered and put into little labelled bags for next year. Not only harvesting but also planting done. Plants bought from the local market, leeks and Batavia Blonde lettuce, have been planted out. A few beetroot seedlings transplanted in the poly tunnel and some moss curled parsly also spaced out in the poly tunnel. Beetroot has been a disappointment this year with very few plants managing to avoid the chickens to be planted out. The first Blacktail Mountain water melons have appeared. That is good. They have four to eight weeks to grow. I grew bush courgettes this year not really knowing what they would be like. They are producing small but very nice tasting courgettes and being a non hybrid variety a number are strange shapes! 

    So there we go. A busy week but hey ho as always plenty to do and the sun keeps beating on. Beer, pass the beer....

1st Tamra cucumber

Blacktail Mountain water melon

Sun, sun and a little rain

Giant Pacific pumpking 130720

      The week has started well. Sun is shinning and its not too hot. Looks like a little rain to come mid week. The Giant Pacific pumpking is swelling up nicely and I will publish regular updates on its progress. Last measurement made it 25cm long and 25cm diameter (bigger that the picture!). I am expecting to see ripe tomatoes any day now. There does not seem to be many at this point in time but they are mostly heritage varities and home gathered seed too.

     Mowing grass is now too much fun! The ride on is saving me time and energy. Makes me wonder why I did not buy one before now.

   I am starting to harvest the over winter onions. I guess they are about three to four weeks earlier than the spring sown ones but i am not so sure that it is really worth while doing again. Started to gather parsnip and moss curled parsely seed.The beetroot is not yet in flower but is close. Started to dig up variety DOWLEEN potatoes (a spud from Brittany) and they do have a distinctive taste compared to the AGATA variety.

Row of tomatoes

Grasshopper

Grasshopper

   Friend of foe? This large grasshopper was spied on a water butt.

   Ok got some jobs done this last week despite the high temperatures (31C one day!). Dug up the last of the AGATA potatoes. I have been pleased with this variety and now eargerly wait to see what the DOLWEEN Brittany potatoes produce. Tied up tomatoes which are starting to recover from the hail storm the other week. The last of the tomato plants have been planted out. These may be more of a hope than anything and may not have time to reach maturity. One never knows! 

   Having a grand old time with new ride on mower. Lots of grass cutting done and I have even managed to mow a small field! (the proper term is topping). More lettuce transplanted along with the remain three replacement Marketmore cucumbers. Again these might produce something. I have had to cover up my swedes as the chickens have taken a fancy to them and destroyed a row. That bed is one of the chickens favourite dust bath areas. I have harvested the banana shallots as the leaves were pretty much dead and I need the bed for winter leeks. A resonable crop, just about three and a halve kilos of shallots. The Giant Pacific pumpkins are spreading over the garden and there are a number of pumkings set. Hopefully they will grow big!

   On the chicken front Mrs Buffycross is sitting tight despite the hot weather. Her previous brood are growing fast especially the coqs of which there are four. They are over eight weeks old.

Banana shallot crop

Giant Pacific Pumpkin

Where did that week go?

   Ok I have no excuse, not even the weather! Not a lot done this week. Cannot figure out why other that maybe a beer to many one day? Naaw surely not. Anyway little done in the garden and weeds keep growing. So what little did I do? Cut grass. Weeded. Transplanted some moss curled parsly and gathered some ealry purple sprouting seeds. Tomatoes tided up and shoots removed.

    Big event at Watermeadows. The ride on lawn mower arrived! My eldest grandson was a great help in putting it together and after a mis-start (we did not think we had to put the cut grass cutter on but you do!) the machine is up and running and I now have a ride on lawn mower shared with my next door neighbour.

Ride on lawn mower being unpacked

   Another event has been the arrival of chicks. Six hatched out of twelve and are doing well. The chickens are being their destructive self and are having a go at my tomatoes and dust bathing amongst my swedes!! Time to put up some protection.

   I guess I need to get the old nose to the grindstone before the weeds take over. Onwards and upwards!