I like this time of year

A couple of days ago, I picked courgettes, lettuce, beetroot, carrots, garlic, broad beans, French beans, runner beans, cabbage, potatoes and broccoli. This is largely because the weather has been a lot warmer and drier - everything is coming on. The downside of course is that I have had to water frequently. The leeks that I planted out recently have been soaked regularly, and the beans have needed a lot of water. But everything looks well at the moment - let's hope the warm weather continues.
Some of my sweetcorn have started flowering - a very short, early variety which I am pollinating by hand - and the butternut squash have suddenly exploded into life. These are the last couple of things for summer (apart from the onions, which are ripening) - the leeks, some of the cabbages, parsnips and white sprouting broccoli are all for the winter.

Harvest time

The last few weeks have been hectic (even without visiting the plot) hence the lack of blogs. My visits to the plot have been largely fleeting, and mainly to pick up produce. Strawberries have finished now - they were super - and I've started clearing up the strawberry patch and planting runners. I've put these in small pots, set into the ground, and filled with compost. They are still attached to the parent plants, but when they have rooted, they will be detached and the pots moved to where I want them. Since the weather has been dry for the last month (there seems to be no happy medium : either it is continuous rain or we have none at all and the ground develops large cracks) I have had to keep everything watered, especially the small pots of runners.
Otherwise, I have been picking French beans, runner beans, courgettes, potatoes, broad beans, garlic, carrots, beetroot and lettuce, as well as the odd cabbage and broccoli when required. The potatoes have been excellent, with no slug damage at all, and no blight etc, with good yields. They boil very well and are extremely tasty. It's a new variety - Sarpo Mira - and I will certainly be growing them again next year. Peas are now finished and have been pulled up. However, I have just planted some more small plants - I sowed the seed in pots under cover at home - and if we get some decent weather, they should give me a late crop. I have also sown some more beetroot, and have at last planted out my leeks. I dug the ground over for them a month ago, but have not been able to plant them out because it's been so dry. In desperation, I watered the patch very thoroughly, broke up the clods as best I could, then dibbed some holes and planted out the leeks and watered them in. They will have to take their chances!

Not more strawberries!

This is one day's worth of strawberries. They have, as I previously said, been very good this year, although with the amount of rain there has been, many have gone mouldy. However, the flavour is excellent, and I have made jam and compote as well as giving many away and eating lots raw.
I now have four large metal hoop frames, with which I will make  a cover for the strawberries next year. This will be covered with bird netting, so they will be protected but easy to pick.
I recently picked my first (yellow) courgette and have dug a couple of roots of spuds, all of which were very good - no slug damage at all, so I shall be planting that variety (Sarpo Mira) next year. Extremely tasty as well.
Peas have been a little disappointing this year - not so many as last year, but no damage at all - so I have sown some more in pots, hopefully for a late crop, also some more beetroot seeds. We will see - it depends on the weather!