Desperate remedies!

 Very few people have grown sweetcorn on the allotments this year. This is not surprising, as the badgers eat everything as soon as it is ripe! But I decided that I would nevertheless try, and have put up defences to try to save them - we will see! This is a battery powered system, which involves a PIR and two LED lights. When anything breaks the PIR beam, the lights come on for about 6 seconds, which hopefully will scare off any intruders. There is also a solar powered battery charger to keep the battery topped up. The sweetcorn will be ripe in a week or so - fingers crossed!

I have two apple trees and two pear trees on the allotment. Last year, the apples were abundant, but there were no pears. This year, it's the opposite way round - lots of pears but very few apples. It must be something to do with the weather at the pollination stage : perhaps next year we will get both apples and pears? 

At last we have had a day of rain, the first rain for many weeks. It was by no means enough of course. We really need at least a week of rain to make up the deficit - we're on a hosepipe ban, and if things don't get better soon, more restrictions may be introduced. In the meantime, we keep on with the watering cans ....

With the continued warm weather, things are growing quickly. we can't keep up with the beetroot - the largest one so far was 950g, or 2lb 2oz! But they've been very tender and taste excellent, so much so that I have made several lots of beetroot relish, which will keep well and should last us through the winter. I am also picking a lot of runner beans (and freezing some) courgettes of three different kinds (again, we can't keep up with them, but courgette chutney is delicious) lettuce, spring onions and I've just harvested my onions, which look good.

Too hot, and far too dry

 For as long as I can remember, daily temperatures have been at least in the upper 20s°C, with several in the low 30s°C and a few in the upper 30s°C. And for at least the last 6 weeks, we have had no measurable rainfall. Records being broken all over the place! Needless to say, I have had to water the plot (using a watering can, not a hose) every day. Many areas already have hosepipe bans, and we will have one in the near future. There is little (if any) rain in the forecast, and the temperatures will be up to 36°C for each of the next four days - at least! However, the plot is continuing to yield well.

I started harvesting onions today. The largest so far (there are bigger to come) was 560g. I have also picked beetroot up to 780g, the large circular squash in the picture is 1640g, and there are also spring onions bigger than golfballs, another type of squash (delicious stuffed and baked) and plenty of courgettes. We now have lots of runner beans, although the high temperatures have caused many not to set. I have sprayed them with water every day, which helps the setting. And in a couple of weeks there will be sweetcorn - provided I can keep the badgers away! 

One side effect of the dry weather has been on my bees. I was hoping for quite a good honey harvest, but there is practically no nectar around - just too dry - so the bees, far from producing honey, are eating what they have already made! When the weather is cooler, I will put on my (very sweaty) beesuit and have a look.