Early Summer Bits and Bobs.

[WestHamRon]

That's what a Psychologist calls "Positive Re-framing.

I'm afraid I'll need help working that one out.

You changed being unhappy (not getting hearty cabbages0 into being happy (you grow fantastic cabbage leaves for wrapping).

[retropants]

Clear skies until 10:00 hrs, rain by 13:00 hrs at Pinnar. Well....... rain with sunshine for the remaining day.

Please let me know how wrong I got it and can I send you some cabbage ?

We used to have sausage-meat wrapped in cabbage leaves but you can't buy good-clean large cabbage leaves so that was my personal remit. I'm now very happy that I can grow large-clean leaves.

Tasty, par-boiled then sauteed with olive oil, chilli and a grating of cheese with some nice garlic.

It was sunny and scorching hot all day, now it is oppressive and humid, no rain so far

[peter]

Sunshine from 11ish till 5ish, now just had a thunderstorm.
First sunshine in days and it prompted an explosion of thunderbugs around 3.

[Westi]

Dry as a bone down here, hot & humid, but gaining satisfaction watching the clouds roll in from the west & have everything crossed we get some rain with it! Of course pint in hand on Mudeford Quay did help the optimism.

At lottie, which I haven't been able to get down during the week & astounded at the growth of my outdoor tomatoes. Foliage completely joined up & every plant has fantastic trusses of of good sized toms with some even ripening! In fact I'd have to say they are more advanced than my greenhouse mollycoddled ones at home!

Westi

[Ricard with an H]

It was sunny and scorching hot all day, now it is oppressive and humid, no rain so far

It probably rained somewhere, in fact we had light rain all morning after a heavy-heavy dew and that hadn't been forecast.

Farmers are out hunting fox and badger again, they throw them into the road-side as if they were road-kill.

[oldherbaceous]

The village fete was a great sucess, lovely weather and a good turn out....we raised £2000, what is really pleasing since we are a tiny village.
I also got so many lovely comments about the garden, i found in very touching. The owners of the house also looked very pleased with all the people relaxing and enjoyng there tea and cake.

All in all, a lovely day.

[alan refail]

Glad the fete was such a success, OH

While you were enjoying the deserved lovely weather, here in Wales I spent the day willing the forecast rain to get started. Eventually it came, lighter than hoped, but still enough to do the business

[peter]

Really humid here again, 70% chance of rain with warning of downpours. Puddles on roads, soil very sticky.

[peter]

Outside my front window this year I have five teasel plants and there more than fifty hoverflies either supping at the flowers or hovering around them. Lovely.

[oldherbaceous]

Heavy rain last night, and another heavy shower just now, so i'm going to keep off the soil. I did want to plant 54 runner bean plants, but it will have to wait. There's always tomorrow.

[Westi]

It didn't rain, Hose out at lottie which takes about an hour of precious time I could be doing something else had it rained. Just watching Country File & may be doing a bit more watering this week it seems!

Westi

[Monika]

Please do send some of your rain up here, OH! Heavy rain was forecast for last night but we just had a sprinkling which dampened the surface but never even penetrated the foliage. After lugging more than 100 full watering cans last Thursday, I was absolutely jiggered, so from now on I am just concentrating on things which absolutely need the water. We can't use a hose because the only water supply is from a dipping trough!

Picked some more broad beans today - the pods are plentiful and large but the beans inside tiny, no wonder. And the broccoli is showing no sign of secondary growth.

This growing season seemed to start so well, but this lack of rain is going to make it one of the worst in our history of this allotment.

[PLUMPUDDING]

I've just had to cut a baby blackbird out of my strawberry net. The parents were dive-bombing me as they thought I was trying to kill it it was making such a racket. All OK now. They seem to be training their young which fruits are tastiest and complain when I pick the raspberries, tayberries etc.
I haven't enough nets to cover everything so share some with the birds. Unfortunately the cherries ripened while I was on holiday so I didn't get even one.

The top fruit is a bit mixed crop wise. There was masses of blossom on everything, but the rain and wind when they should have been pollinated has meant fewer plums and very few pears. How have you done? The apples are producing a good crop again though.

[Westi]

I've got a blackbird family living in my ?Jostaberry bush , I haven't a clue what it is, it's usually laden & was about a week ago but looking bare now with just some unripe ones left & quite a few black currants looking mangled like they've been taste tested!

I'm regularly startled by the female dive bombing me when I'm any where near that area then she goes on the ground in front of me scolding me as I'm picking the fruit! Love the little thing's character.

Westi

[robo]

When we where in spain last week we had a fox come around most nights checking our grapes out to see if they were jucey enough for his liking, you can bet when we go back in September he would have had the lot