Kitchen Garden Forum

Well it's that time of year again....we will soon be harvesting too many vegetables...

I am hoping to be, however, the local urban fox may have other ideas !

That must be one of the quickest replies, Retropants....

Today's constant rain doesn't seem much like summer!

We already had a hot day with temperatures passing 30°C but it cooled down to 20°C with a thunderstorm immediately the day right after. A lot of rain fall too. That's great because I don't have to water the plants every day except for indoors. I'd love to see a little more sunlight soon and so do the pepper plants. Oh yes, cabbage white is peeking through the window so watch your kale! The first few strawberries are harvested and the lettuce is fully grown I believe, time for a good salad. Most berries are visibly growing and will soon be full of color and taste.

Raining hard here at the moment and very welcome it is, too. The broad beans are slowly forming and I have cut off all the tops to encourage them to fill the pods and avoid the aphid onslaught. Planted our two courgettes out today, into large pots with really rich soil, so hoping for a glut!
That reminds me: somebody told me the other day that they use the broad bean tops as a vegetable. I must admit I didn't fancy them, but has anybody else tried that?

We have flood warnings for tomorrow, but they've been forecasting rain all week and we've not seen any yet, the garden is looking very green just now, broad beans are flowering and red duke of York tatties look like they may flower soon too.

I find it amazing that Elimigo is so far ahead of us. He must have a micro climate but whether it is the building or his location is the question - loads of micro climates here as well but no-one posting from Cornwall - yet!

Elmigo, whereabouts do you live?

I imagine Elmigo's apartment walls soak up the heat although I don,t know which direction he faces. If it's south facing flat balcony it should be quite a sun trap and if there is another balcony above him that will also, I imagine, trap the heat in too and help keep the plants warmer.

Monika wrote:Elmigo, whereabouts do you live?

Oops, I am not from the UK. I keep forgetting about location completely...

Westi wrote:I find it amazing ... from Cornwall - yet!

It must be the island of the UK holding up all the clouds for us Or maybe it's because we live in the polder of the Netherlands. It's all drained land below sea level so maybe this affects the weather for this region too. At the moment it's very much cloudy again and it cooled down some more. Wouldn't say we are far ahead, the real summer has yet to start.

Primrose wrote:I imagine Elmigo's apartment ... keep the plants warmer.

This place is definitely a sun trap. Large glass windows make it even more so. Indoors it's a struggle to keep it cool but the tropical plants do love it! I'm willing to sacrifice a little comfort if that allows me to grow out of zone

Thank you for flagging that up Peter. I watched some of the ceremonies and they were very moving. We should never forget what a huge debt we owed that generation.

Well said.

Well, a dull wet day, so excellent for the 'lottie. Not a downpour, just steady moderate rain. Tomorrow looks a bit dryer and Sunday decently sunny. Everything will be growing wonderfully.