Time to enjoy the fruits of ones labours

   Well I am glad to say that the last lamb has been born on the 1st August 2017. We are really going to make sure the rams are kept away from the ewes this September!

Last lamb to be born 2017

   August is a magic month. The garden produce is rolling in! Tomatoes, cucumbers (by the tens!), potatoes, beans, beetroot, onions, shallots, tree onions, carrots, sweet peppers, chili's, water melons, 5 dessert melons, cabbage - wow!).  The outdoor cucumber Wautoma has exceeded all expectation this year. I have picked over forty since returning from New Zealand.
   The end of July and the start of August is the time to think of the winter crops. I have planted white cabbage (dutch type you make cold slaw with), savoy type cabbage, leeks, sown swede and beetroot in modules for planting out in a week or so and lots more carrots! I am determined this year to have lots of carrots in the ground over winter. As an experiment I have sown some peas and more haricot (Bollotti) to see if I can get another crop in before the frosts come.

One bed full of weeds

  The picture on the right shows what the vegetable beds were like when I returned from New Zealand. I was away for four weeks at the start of the growing season! Weeds, lots of weeds, some almost four feet high! Now after a couple of weeks I have pretty much regained control and all beds are now weeded. Lost a lot of sweat doing those weeks. Beer shandy has never been so good! I have to thank my son in law for cutting my grass short while I was away. It gave me time on my return to get on with the weeding and the planting of the winter crops.
  Here is a picture of some of the tomatoes that I have picked. Gardeners Delight (grape type variety) has been particularly successful this year, followed by Roma (plum type variety). Others have grown are a Ukrainian purple tomato, Jens orange tomato and a couple of french heritage varieties.

   Haricot vert (french dwarf bean) and buerre (yellow french dwarf bean) have not been very successful this year. Probably because it was too dry when the beans were setting. Also the cauliflower has not been as good as it promised. The sprouts are still on course to produce a reasonable crop. Still, one cannot win them all!