Sizzling Summer Bits and Bobs.

[PLUMPUDDING]

Watering has made a big difference to the size of the onions but the shallots are very puny. Good sized garlic though. I wonder what I could have done to help the shallots or perhaps they just don't like the heat.

[Pa Snip]

Mine are smallest shallots we have ever grown but still a decent size for roasting or pickling, I'd blame heat as well

[Geoff]

Primrose, be careful what variety you buy, I wouldn't put Centenary in old ground. If yours were good buy the same variety if you know what it was. I grow Symphony which is doesn't seem to get disease, is good flavour but isn't the earliest. Just prepare the ground as well as you can, if you have a bit of veg space empty at the same time swap some soil round.

[retropants]

Still no rain, and some idiot was jet washing his drive a few days ago a couple of doors along......

[Stephen]

I'm back! My apologies for wandering off. I've still got the same 'lottie, the same under-gardener and the same problems with finding enough time.
Rain, we have had none for weeks; it feels like months here in the Chilterns (like Peter and Old Herbaceous) but the gooseberries yielded well. I instituted a technique of pruning as I pick, the bushes needed to be cut back very heavily because they had grown through the netting so much. The currants similarly need to be cut back very heavily too, because they were not pruned sufficiently last year. If this means I get no or a light crop next year is something I expect but can not let any of the soft fruit get any larger!

[Primrose]

I found several manky cucumbers in my fridge salad tray today. Am growing far more than I can eat and give away so on the basis that every little helps, am going to chop them up and drop the pieces in holes near the roots of some of my runner beans which are wilting badly.

My thought is that every extra drop of liquid in the soil is now of some value and I,m wondering if, consisting largely of moisture as they do, whether doing this will help to help to retain some Moisture in the soil for a little longer Maybe with luck and a bit of magic I might find myself growing a new "beancumber" rather like those strange tomatoe plants we saw advertised which produce a small crop of potatoes from their roots

I also found a long thick net curtain in a charity shop for pence today which will do nicely to throw over the pepper plants on my patio to stop the ripening peppers being badly scorched by the sun. I already have one of these covering the roof of my mini plastic greenhouse which is doing a great job in protecting my chillies from the fiercest rays of the run.

[Primrose]

Took the opportunity this morning to give all my thick heavy duty grubby gardening gloves a thorough wash. It,s a job I never seem to find time to get round to and as they take ages to dry this heatwave should be a good opportunity.

However part of the fabric seems to be very leathery and Imm wondering if there,s anything suitable I can rub Into them to stop that part of the gloves feeling stiff and crackly when they,ve dried. Any ideas?

[Stephen]

I remember 1976 but in some ways for the wrong reason! That summer, from Somerset we went to Muck (one of the small isalnds) on holiday and it rained 6 days out of 7 (or was it 7 out of 8?). As we drove south, the countryside changed from green to light green (Lancashire) to yellow (in the midlands) to pale yellow and fawn (in Gloucestershire and Somerset). Clatworthy reservoir in the Brendon Hills was mostly mud, cracked into large segments.

[oldherbaceous]

Evening Stephen, would you be able to post the July comparison, when we get to the end of the month...it would be appreciated if you could, thank you.

[Stephen]

That's up to the BBC, but if it is availiable...

P.S. stuck indoors and have been for the last fortnight.

[MattW]

Morning all.

Scorching here in north Shropshire though there are dregs in my water buts from the minimal amount we had last week.

I partly blame myself for this hard going weather as up until this year I only messed about with a few Tom plants in pots, last year I did carrots and parsnips but this year Saw a subscription to KG magazine, a greenhouse, two beds and 14 gorilla tubs of excitement so my 3 year old daughter and I could spend some time outside together - I fear I jinxed the weather with my new commitment to growing.

[retropants]

thanks for the comparison Stephen, I was 5 in 1976, so I do remember playing out in the sun for weeks on end! (with no sunscreen!!)
My houseplants are about as happy as I am, having the curtains closed all day, particularly the large Calathea, it's looking very sad.

[oldherbaceous]

Are you stuck indoors because of work, Stephen?

[Stephen]

Oh yes. And away from home until tonight, so the under-gardener has told me it is my turn to water tonight.

[oldherbaceous]

There's always something to look forward to, Stephen....