Lots of flowers on my broad beans, and with the promise of fine weather for the next week or so, there should be a good harvest, if I can keep the blackfly at bay! None so far, but I will spray them with soapy water to discourage intruders, and I will probably also have to pinch the tips out. 

Potatoes are also coming on well, as are onions, shallots and garlic. I put out runner beans last week, also a couple of climbing courgettes - never tried this type before - and I also have rows of beetroot, carrots and lettuce. I planted runner bean seeds (my own, from last year) and French bean seeds (purchased) on the same day using the same conditions, but whereas all of my runner beans germinated, none of the French beans did! Peas have been a failure - very poor germination - and it will be a week or so before I plant out sweetcorn and leeks. My own leek seedlings have done very poorly, refusing to grow, and I always buy sweetcorn seedlings, after a couple of failed germination attempts a few years ago. On the other hand, strawberries are looking quite good, but with no rain for the last two weeks, and none in the forecast, I must water those. Other than that, it's weeding - a never-ending task!

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.

High Summer

 It has been very hot recently - in the low 30sC - with no sign of rain, and none to come in the near future. In fact, it will apparently get hotter - up to 37°C - so will make growing things quite challenging - we have to water every day, in the evening when it's cooler. Having said that, this year has already been much more productive than last year. From 2kg of seed potatoes, I harvested 80kg of Vivaldi, with practically no slug or disease damage. They are delicious, and should keep well, until at least Christmas. And we have had plenty of beetroot, lettuces, mange tout peas, spring onions and broad beans, and now the courgettes have started. Strangely perhaps, I have a lot of pears coming but very few apples, whereas last year was the opposite. And strawberries were few and far between, but the plants were very small, so should be much more productive next year.

Sweetcorn are looking good so far. They should be ready in September, but before then I must put up something to stop the badgers. They know exactly when it's ready to pick, and last year, in one night, ate the lot! Last year, I protected them - to no avail - by hanging CD's from string round the plot, which is already surrounded by green mesh, but they are very strong and determined. Mind you, a lot of people tried a lot of things, and nothing worked! So this year will have to be something quite extreme, like an electric fence! It's either that, or sit up all night with a shotgun! 

Before that, there will be shallots (which are looking excellent) and onions to harvest, and in the next week or so the runner beans will start, so we will be going vegetarian! Bit different to last 'summer' ....

Vegetables for harvesting in the winter are also coming on strongly - leeks, parsnips and kale - and we're looking forwards to them.

Sorry for the absence!

 It's been a year since I last posted, for which my apologies. 2021 was a terrible year for the allotment. The weather was cold and wet, and most things did not germinate. Most of the few that did germinate were promptly eaten by slugs, or were affected by mould, or (like the potatoes) by blight, or (like my sweetcorn) all eaten by badgers! As a result, yields of just about everything - except (for some unknown reason) runner beans - were disappointing. This year, however, things have been much better. For example, today I dug up most of my garlic, which was ready for harvesting.

The bulbs were large and look as if they will store well, after I dry them out of the rain. I started digging potatoes a few days ago, and the results were equally impressive. 

This was from one row, out of the five I planted. They are Vivaldi, a multi-purpose potato that is good for boiling, roasting, chipping and baking, and has an excellent flavour. I dug them early - the others will be next week - so although they may not be quite full size, they showed almost no slug damage or disease. 

I have also been picking mange tout peas and lettuce (top picture) plus beetroot, spring onions and broad beans, and would have been picking carrots except they were all eaten by badgers! In the lower photo, where the potatoes came from, I have planted beetroot, spring onions and lettuce for successional crops.

There will be courgettes next week, then runner beans, and sweetcorn (if I can stop the badgers eating it) and for the winter I have parsnips, leeks and kale - all looking good. 

Surprising what a bit of sunshine and warmth can do!

May

 

It's been a cold, wet May. The temperature has been above 14°C on a couple of occasions only, and rainfall has been twice the average. Unsurprisingly, most things have hardly grown, at a time when they would normally be racing away. My broad beans (at the back of this plot) are still only about a foot tall, with a few flowers but no pods yet. In front are my kalettes, grown from my own saved seed, which are very hardy - they will stand (and crop) throughout the winter. They will eventually get to about 4' tall, with stems an inch or more across, so need good stakes.

Elsewhere on the plot I have sowed garlic (planted last October as they need a cold spell or will not give good bulbs) onions and shallots, peas, lettuce, potatoes, carrots, beetroot, spinach and spring onions, but none is growing as well as it should! However, strawberries have a lot of flowers - they will be late this year though : last year I started picking at the very beginning of June. Apple blossom was amazing, so we might do well there, and I have picked lots of rhubarb, which has been encouraged by the amount of rain we have had. At home, I have planted runner beans, French beans and courgettes - but it is still far too cold to plant these out - and leeks. Let's hope for some better weather!

Just starting up again

 

It's been extremely dry recently - no April showers! - but also not very warm, so not much is growing. This is my onion patch. I started them off in modules, so could keep an eye on them and water, but now they're planted out. Also here are shallots, which have not yet come up, and garlic which I planted last autumn. In other areas I have sown beetroot, carrots, spinach and spring onion seeds, and have planted out some broad beans (which are very hardy) and some peas. This is a special variety which is a bit more hardy than most, but they're not doing a lot yet. I've also planted out my potatoes. These are not at all hardy, but as yet have not come up, which is just as well, as frost is forecast - and although the weather for the next two weeks looks bright, it's going to be quite chilly during the day, and no rain either!

I've also given the strawberry patch some attention - weeded, a bit of blood, fish and bone fertiliser on each plant, and wood chippings to keep the fruit off the ground. And that's another area that will need watering soon!