Getting active at last

Collection of sweet peppers

     The frustration of being ill continues. I have had little inclination to do much in the garden bar pick or pull some vegetables. Much to my surprise the few Touchon carrots that germinated are proving to be really good sized carrots. The most I have done is to clear out the cucumbers from the poly tunnel and tidy up the winter cabbage patch and put a net around them to keep the chickens off. Oh I did cut some grass too.
     So what else have I been doing on my road to recovery? Well I have pickled shallots, made several lots of pasata and made a cake. I have now pretty much caught up with the tomatoes. Should be a few more to come if there is not a frost. So far 34+ kilogrammes harvested. Not sure if I am pleased or disappointed with that total. As you can see from the picture the sweet peppers are coming in strongly, again much to my surprise. This is the first time I have grown chocolate sweet peppers. Quite amusing really.
   The chickens have continued to disappoint. On average we are getting three eggs a day out of eleven hens. One of the hens is still broody and if she does not buck her ideas up soon she will have to go. I am sure that many  of them are molting as there are lots of feathers about. So far this year they have produced some 2096 eggs. 
   Hopefully by the time I write my next blog I will be fully recovered and hard at it in the garden and trying to catch up with all the work I have that has not been done over the last three weeks. 

Nothing done!

   It has been a bad week. I have gone down with bronchitis and it has knocked me for six! As I write this I am getting better but energy levels are low. Of course, sod's law dictates! The weather has been good enough to get things done over the last week and now that I feel that I can get on with something it rains! The rain is welcome but it is so frustrating! Looking at my gardening log over the last week there is only one entry for the 21/9/15 - Picked tomatoes and peas. 
   What is going on then? In the poly tunnel most things are now gone over and there is a few autumn/early winter crops growing quite well. I have missed out due to being sick! In the outside garden the leeks and winter cabbage are well established and growing well. I managed to get them in before falling ill. What is left of the celeriac looks good and the pumpkins are fantastic. The french beans are coming to an end. Who knows if they will do anything but there are some carrots. Might get a few small ones, you never know! The tomatoes are entering their final stages but as long as it stays mild I ought to get a few more. Chilli's are looking good and many are going red. What do you do with lots of chilli's! Lol! Aubergines have done well. So far I have managed to crop (poly tunnel included) some thirty one kilos of mixed variety tomatoes. It could have been so much more. The apple crop is looking good. Certainly there are plenty of wind falls. Hopefully I will be able to get some picked before they all fall off.
   It will be a few more days before I am back in the saddle properly. I have lost some three weeks at least and it will be hard to catch up.

Yes it rained!

  Soon as I write that is has not rained for a while, it rains. The rain is welcome and will perk up the winter vegetables I have no doubt. Still need more though.

RAIN!

   Autumn jobs are piling up. I have been unwell this last week and continue to be so. I am desperate to get outside and get on with these jobs. Along side outside jobs I need to make pickled onions and process some tomatoes and help to deal with the remaining meat chickens. Must get better soon!
   The melons have now come to an end as are the cucumbers and tomatoes. I need to clear them from the poly tunnel and plant some Christmas potatoes. It is getting a little late for those but hey ho I will give it a go.
   In the outside garden the winter vegetables (cabbage, cauliflowers,leeks) are well established. Who know if the swede will do anything. Carrots are not good despite sowing four rows over the summer. Hopefully I will get some small ones at least. Squash, melons and pumpkins are also starting to come to an end. The dip in the temperature switched their growing clock I fear.  I have some good examples of Hundredweight pumpkins this year. The celeriac continue to be attacked by little burrowing critters and I think I will be lucky to get two or three. They looked so good and I have spent a reasonable amount of effort watering them! The remaining tomatoes are struggling to ripen and it will not be long before I pick those that are turning and put them in the poly tunnel to hopefully ripen.
   In the poly tunnel the cucumber plants are now finished and need removing. The sweet pepper results will depend on how long the weather stays warm. I have had a few but the orange and chocolate ones have not liked the heat at all. Cauliflowers and the latest transplanting of lettuce is now established and they have welcome the cooler conditions. The basil is looking long in the tooth and it will not be long before it comes out. Nigel's Green chili continues to do well.
   On the animal front the sheep are fine but the grass is a little thin to say the least. The geese are getting fat despite lack of grass and I have introduced wheat in buckets of water to supplement their diet.  Still have three "meat" chickens, all hens, all looking good and happy to be without their male counterparts! It is the time of year for egg hens to be fussy. I have one hen that insists that its wants to hatch out an egg. Another is in moult and I suspect several others are too. Currently getting fiver or six a day out of eleven but if you take out the two moulting hens and the broody one I guess that is not too bad.
   I am looking forward to being well enough to get on with the garden. I have lost a week so far and likely to loose a couple more days. With the recent rain I should be able to get the garlic in. The bed is all but ready just to rake and plant.

Where is the rain?

   Here we are past the first week of September and still no rain and no rain forecast. For some plants in the garden it is becoming desperate and I fear I will loose some soon.  The temperature has generally been in the mid twenties and as low as six by dawn (centigrade). The grass needs mowing, more likely tidying up as it has grown in sheltered spots and not at all in exposed areas. 
   In the outside garden the watermelons are now all picked, the brambly apples are now all picked (trying to get a few before the insects do), buttercup squash has been cut, more haricot vert picked, more troubadour melons cut. There are only a couple of these melons left now.  Finally I have managed to get some Champion of England peas to grow to the point of producing peas. A real effort of love I can tell you.
   In the poly tunnel the cauliflower has settled in well. The cucumbers are all but over and the tomatoes have now been removed. A few sweet peppers are being picked and the beetroot looks like it might do something. The basil is probably now past its best. The chili's continue to produce chili's and they are turning red.
   On the animal front three meat chickens are now in the freezer. Three to go. The sheep are ok but are on pasture that has not seen serious rain for weeks. The geese are managing ok but even their patch of ground is starting to look bare. The hens have been sentenced to three days behind doors due to them not laying in the coop. Found over twenty eggs in a nest outside the coop. I suspect it is something do one of the Limousines who just will not give up being broody!
   You know autumn has arrived when the wood man calls. The wood has been delivered and stacked. A two day job of huff and puff. It heralds cooler days and nights.

Water and water and water again

  The weather continues to be hot. There has been a little rain but nothing of any note. So the main work in the garden has been to water. It has been too hot to do much else.
   Water melons, cucamelons, cucumbers, tomatoes, haricot vert, wind fall apples, "local" peaches, aubergines, cabbage, potatoes and even a few small carrots have all been dug, pulled, cut, picked or picked up over the last week. The major crop to harvest has been the Desiree potatoes. While digging them up I have added yet more of my sweat to the soil!! A good crop though.
   The weight of grapes on the vine caused part of it to fall down so repairs were in order. Minor damage done to the grapes. The grapes are swelling nicely despite the lack of rain 

Ripening grapes

Winter leeks

Chou Milan (Savoy type)

and are now showing signs of ripening. 
   Another disaster in the garden has been the celeriac. Voles have been burrowing under the plants and eating them. One does not notice that they have been attacked until the leaves go limp!
   There are plenty more tomatoes ripening and I am hopeful that I will get a lot more before they give up completely. 
   Buttercup squash has been a disappointment despite watering the plants. One plant had lots of squash on it but they all just shrivelled up!
   On the animal front no issue with the sheep or meat chickens. The hens have for whatever reason taken it upon themselves to stop laying. I am only getting up to three eggs a day instead of six or seven. I have not yet been able to tell if they are laying elsewhere. Maybe it is just the weather.
    As I write this it has rained a little but it was just a little and really not enough. Forecast is for cooler days and nights but no rain. I fear for my turnip, carrot and turnip/swede cross seedlings.

The sun continues to shine

      The sun continues to shine although there is rain and thunder in the forecast for the week end. I hope it does rain yet despite everything the ground once you get through the top couple of inches is still damp.
   The summer harvest continues. Gardeners Delight, Galina, odd Ethel Watkins best and Millefleur tomatoes are being regularly picked along with cucumbers, courgettes, lettuce, haricot vert and Troubadour melons! Onions have now been gathered in and sweet peppers are close to being big enough to cut. Aubergines and chili's are now ready to cut.  I still have potatoes to dig up. The biggest disappointment this season has been the Gigante runner beans. I had high hopes for these but the chickens thought otherwise.
   In the poly tunnel the cucumbers are coming to an end as are the tomatoes. The sweet peppers are very close to being able to be picked. Of course Nigel's Green chili's are thriving! Beetroot and lettuce is now well established. I have sowed some winter lettuce seed in the hope to continue having lettuce available at least into the autumn. Bought cauliflower plants have also been planted.
   In the outside garden more Great Lakes lettuce has been transplanted. I am eating these lettuce before they are mature but hey ho there is enough of them. Winter vegetables have now been planted which included winter leeks and two varieties of savoy type cabbage. My winter cabbage and swedes grown from seed have been a total loss. 
  On the animal front the sheep are now more happy having been moved to better pasture. The geese continue to grow. At least one of the cockerels amongst the meat chickens is trying to crow. Processing date is about two weeks away. The hens are going through a non laying phase and the average egg laying is down to about five a day. One hen has now been broody for about two weeks despite being thrown of the nest regularly.
   The steady march to autumn continues. Our wood man has called and we will no doubt get the wood delivered in a week or two. My back aches are the thought of having to move it into the hanger.

Summer suddenly seems to be ending...

    Well the weather has gone from hot to hot and humid, to warm and wet, to cool, cloudy and wet. It has been a while since I posted my last blog. We have had visitors here at Watermeadows and have been have a great time enjoying the sun, food, beer, wine and messing about in the river!
    What has been going on in the garden? I have had to water regularly through July and well into August. That has meant pumping water from the well to refill the water butts on a regular basis. You would think the poly tunnel would benefit from the hotter weather. It did not. Temperatures in the poly tunnel got so high plants were just turned to dust (almost literally!) Fortunately the weather has changed just about in time to cooler and wetter. Some crops have benefited from the hot sunny weather and I am reaping the result of my persisting watering. The cucumbers in the poly tunnel have not done well. Outside they have been amazing! I have picked lots and lots. I have also managed to keep a succession of lettuce going so we have had enough lettuce. The tomatoes inside the poly tunnel have done well with copious amounts of watering with lots of Milfleur, Gardeners Delight (Irish) and Calina being picked and eagerly devoured by adults and children alike! Outside not so good. Not surprising really as I have not watered them, however, a reasonable amount is starting to be picked. One success this year is that I have managed to grow Couer De Boeuf tomatoes to a point where I am picking plumb ripe red fruit! One up to Rodger over the chickens. The potato crop has been good with the Binje and Charlotte potatoes now harvested. Desiree still to be done but the tops are still green so I am leaving them for now. Haricot vert are now coming on stream with over one kilo picked in one session. Plenty more to come. Good ole Nigel's Green chili's have come up trumps again this year with the poly tunnel and those outside cropping well. I grew a different onion set this season called Sturon. They have done really well despite the dry weather. Hindsight says I should have planted more! The shallots have also done well and are waiting to be turned into pickle onions! Squash, pumpkins, courgettes and melons are doing very well having been watered every day with the first Troubadour melons being pick on the 14th August. It should not be long before the water melons are ready. 
    Sowing for the winter has at last started with carrot, fennel, Gilfeathers turnip-swede, and Giant Limousin turnip sown. For once I got the seed in just before the rain started. 
    On the livestock front for the first time since we have had the sheep we have fed them hay and they ate it. The pasture has suffered badly in the hot sunny weather. Having said that as I write this blog the weather has turned cooler and wetter and the grass is already growing again. The geese are growing well and the second batch of "meat" chickens are thriving and putting on weight. One of our laying hens has gone broody and has to be removed from her nest as often as possible until she snaps out of it! Egg production is fast reaching the 2000th egg laid this year.
     So the summer is coming to an end and autumn is fast approaching. Blackberries are being picked and the apples and grapes are swelling. It has been a good year for my apple trees that I planted with a good number of good sized bramleys. I am hopeful for a good apple crop among the older trees assuming the bugs do not get them first of course.

Shallot harvest

First picking of tomatoes

Nigel's Green Chili

100wt pumpkin (its bigger now!) One of 5!

Sweet pepper in the poly tunnel

Troubadour  Melon