Continuing Harvest

Last Sunday was very hot and humid, in fact there were very few allotment holders on site. It was also very dry in spite of the rain we had during the week. We have been fortunate this year as there hasn't been a hosepipe ban and we have been able to water freely. This is clearly a problem as we are all very conscious, these days, of water shortages and, for that matter, all environmental issues. Talking of which, the composting loo is nearly ready for use. It has been built for some time now, but as the concrete apron in front of the toilet had not been constructed and the floor inside had not been painted, it has not yet been commissioned. Apparently, the only thing now holding up the grand opening is the lack of a chain on the toilet brush.

WATCH this space for the announcement that the loo has been declared officially opened!

I have been protecting the corn cobs from the squirrels with plastic water bottles with the tops and bottoms removed. I have only protected half of them owing to shortage of bottles. Up to last week my corn had not yet been attacked but the squirrels are eating the ripe ones first. As mine were planted a little later, they will, no doubt get round to eating mine in due course, once they have eaten the riper ones.


Unfortunately the tomatoes have all got blight even the ones in my greenhouse. I have removed the diseased plants, and tried to salvage some of the apparently unaffected fruit even if not yet ripe. With luck the fruit will ripen without blemish. June is saying she is thinking of banning growing tomatoes outdoors for a year, in an attempt to break the cycle. I am not sure that it is proven that this works. I heard somewhere that watering the tomatoes thoroughly after a rainfall serves to wash the spores off the leaves and this is an effective means of preventing blight without spraying with chemicals.

Bountiful Harvest

Everything is bearing fruit and I can hardly carry the stuff home. My colleagues at work are benefiting from the glut of summer squash and round courgettes. and I have to take them to work in a wheeler as it is all so very heavy.

Beans are really taking off too. I have grown an Italian yellow climbing bean which is completely stringless and very attractive growing over the archway I constructed this year. It is not as tasty as I had hoped it would be but it is perfectly acceptable; however, I probably will not grow this variety again. I have some dwarf green French which are also starting to crop now and these are tastier.

I have harvested all of my overwintering onions; they are mostly large and juicy. I 've had some go rotten but on the whole these have been extremely successful.In particular the red onions are the best I have ever grown. I will definitely be growing these again and I will increase the number of sets I plant too.

This is my mum checking and cleaning the onions for storage.

I have had a few cucumbers, Burpless Tasty Green are my favourite outdoor cues. They are all female and without any bitterness and the skins are not too tough so need not be peeled if sliced very thinly.

Cabbages and kale are doing well too as are beetroot.

I have also started digging up some new potatoes, Linzer Delicatesse, these are delicious. I haven't started to dig up the Desiree or Kestrel yet. The experiment of growing potatoes in a large pot was relatively successful for LD, the potatoes were a bit small; they probably could have done with more water whilst I was away on holiday and possibly they could have done with a bit more chicken manure. It still worked quite well and I still have two more pots to turn out.

We had the bbq two weeks ago and who should turn up but John Ram, all the way from Oz, by lucky coincidence at the right time for the barbie. In addition to this Jim and Imelda also turned up. It was quite a surprise. There were probably 50 or more people who came and it was a great success. I was really pleased that both mum and my Aunt Evelyn were able to come, auntie is just about to celebrate her 92nd birthday and I thought she might not have been up to it; but she really had a great time.