Sunday, August 11, 2013

Summer update

I had a lovely couple of hours at the plot yesterday.  My main task was to dug over the patch in the top right corner that I'd uncovered the previous evening.  It was full of black mares tail roots and couch grass so it was quite satisfying to clear it.


The freshly dug patch can be seen in front of the potatoes in the top right corner of the piccie above.  It is worth giving an update on the crops right now...


  • Potatoes: I have harvested 2-3 plants of small potatoes so far.  I planted them at the very end of April/beginning of May so they still have a few weeks of growing to do.  
  • Leeks: These are growing well with their blue flags looking quite healthy.  
  • Onions: I pulled one up accidentally yesterday but the rest look good.  Bigger than any of the ones I grew on the original Plot 35 on the clay soil.  A couple even look to be the size of tennis balls.  I think it down to the soil and feeding.
  • Broad beans: Finished now really but one of the plants has a few pods left on.  These weren't the healthiest looking plants so some of the pods were very short and/or oddly shaped.  Tasty beans though.
  • Tomatoes: 6 plants all very sturdy with green tomatoes looking good.  Variety - Shirley.
  • Sweetcorn: Looking good with the frilly bits on top.  I need to fence around them very soon to defend them against The Badger.
  • Courgettes: I've had a single yellow one off one the plants and am waiting to see more fruit.  The plants are like triffids and are shading the tomatoes unfortunately.  I am hoping that the removal of the lower tomato leaves will at least help the air to flow around.
  • Sunflowers: 3 nice sturdy plants with main flowers open but looking toward the ground.  Smaller satellite flowers are budding up nicely.
  • Jerusalem artichokes: 4 plants next to the potatoes.  Looking ok.
  • Parsnips: Starting to fill out and they probably need more thinning out.  
  • Celeriac: The two surviving plants look strong though I can't tell what is happening beneath the surface.  I'll take a look soon.
  • Squash?: Someone kindly left 3 squash plants for me last week and I've planted them out.  I think they are squash as someone did mention that they may have some spare ones but I can't remember who it was.  Very kind.
  • Horseradish: Looking good but hard to tell if it is happy or not.
  • Mange tout: Growing strongly after a late-ish sowing.  A couple of gorgeous crimson flowers in places.
  • Hyssop: Looking very striking in blue next to the broad beans and peas.  A clump of it came off in my hand when I touched it last week and I hope this isn't a bad sign.
  • Cucumber: There is a single plant climbing up one of the end canes of the pea frame.  It has 2-3 flowers on it some fingers crossed for my first cucumber.
May have forgotten something...  The piccie below shows the top left corner of the plot.



I've applied organic chicken pellets 2-3 times on the various beds and have been watering frequently (every 2 days in the very hot period in July).


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