Harvested beans (pulled up the runner beans), potatoes (about half now up), leeks (the first mature ones) a few carrots, broccoli, some sweetcorn, turnips, courgette & marrows.
Grass needs strimming, otherwise looking good.
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First visit after about 3 weeks due to holiday, during which time there has been lots of sun and not much rain. We weren’t expecting good things, but were very pleasantly surprised. For one thing, looks like a friendly neighbour had been doing some watering for us. Thanks! We did lots more today. Pretty much everything looks good. Potatoes are healthy and flowering. Most of the beans are looking OK (though the dwarf beans haven’t really got going), and the lettuce is ready. The garlick is ready, the leeks OK (thinned out the musselburgh that we started on windowsill, the last lot sowed direct into the ground failed), radishes were ready a week or two back, but still (just) OK, the spinach is heading to seed but still (just) OK, chard, turnips and beetroot looking good. The brassica and parsnips are looking good, but needed weeding. Berries and currants looking good, though we should have tied up the raspberries as some of them have keeled over. Sweetcorn, squashes and first lot of carrots all good (but later sowing of carrot have failed) Brought home loads of lovely red currants (4.5lb!), strawberries and raspberries. Lots of broadbeans, a courgette on its way to being a marrow, baby leeks and small carrots (thinnings), and giant radishes, some garlick, and a couple of lettuces. Big difference to last year.
 Leave a comment nbsp;  Beetroot, Black currant, Blackberry, Brassicas, Broad Beans, Cabbage, Carrots, Chard, Climbing beans, Courgettes, French beans, Garlick, Leeks, Lettuce, Parsnip, Potatoes, Purple Spr broc, Radish, Rasppberries, Red cabbage, Red currant, Runner beans, Spinnach, Squash, Strawberries, Sweetcorn, Turnips, Weather Planted out all the brassica we had sown indoors, in bed E. Also planted out courgettes, squashes and sweetcorn in bed I. Were given sprout plants which we also planted. Of all the brassicas the red cabbage which were planted direct in April are looking the strongest Were given some lettuce plants which we planted under bean wigwams. Sowed Musselburgh leeks direct into ground next to other leeks in bed D. Also sowed radishes, spinach, chard, beetroot and turnips to fill bed. Caged the fruit. Which are looking rather good. Thinned out the carrots and sowed a second tub of Nantes 2. These are planted in some sandy soil I got from the excavations to bury a power line through the car park, with some leaf mould at the bottom, and mixed with ashes. Earthed up potatoes and weeded. Bought a strimmer, so now (after a few frustrating false starts) the allotment is a bit more photogenic.  Currants coming along nicely  The fruit side  The veg side
Sowed third row of broad bean (Bunyards Exhibition, should come on later than those sown earlier). First row look OK, one or two of second row just beginning to show. Sowed row of Leeks (Pandora, same as sown in modules, should be read in late summer / Autumn) next to garlic in bed D
Sowed carrots (Nantes 2) in raised container to be clear of root fly.
My fist trip to the allotment since coming back from hols. Quite overgrown but not as bad as last year. Mostly weeded, but also harvested some beetroot, parsnips (which needed thinning) and a courgette and a few assorted French beans.
Brassicas (bed E) look good, those are the red cabbage in the front, behind them the broccoli and at the back the purple sprouting broccoli. Root crops (bed D) also look good. The parsnips at the front are getting a bit crowded. Beetroot and turnip are ready. The carrots are under the fleece, with carvolo nero and celeriac behind. Onions (bed A)look OK, but were getting over grown with weeds. The onions grown from sets are ready, so I broke their necks. The courgette is OK, sweet corn may fruit if we have a long summer like last year but pumpkin and aubergine look very doubtful. Potatoes are fine, anya are done. But the tares sown as green manure on bed I got swamped by fat hen (which I strimmed, probably came from the compost, I suppose it’s a green manure of sorts). There’s also a pretty looking plant next to the shed, which we certainly didn’t put there.  What was where in 2009 Bed A & B : potatoes Bed C: Onions & garlick, plus odds and ends like parsnip and salad later Bed D: Sweetcorn and courgette at one end, leeks at the other Bed E: peas and beans, with some lettuce and salad in between Bed F: comfry (permanent) Bed G & H: planted various squash, but they failed. Had load of compost buried and was kept covered w/ black plastic. Bed I: Brassica, incl. purple sprouting broccoli which overwintered to 2010. Bed J: Globe artichoke + sorrel (permanent), planted black currant off-shoot from Donald in summer . Fruit: Rhubarb x 2 (one near fence ~1yr old, not cropped) Red currant and Black currant had been over pruned so didn’t bother cropping, Strawberries in containers by currants, Blackberries and raspberries. In November planted: Bed A: onion sets (failed, frost) and garlic Bed B: broad beans (only two survived) peas (failed) and lettuce (did surprisingly well) under fleece. |
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