Summer Bits and Bobs.

[tigerburnie]

White fly in the greenhouse worse than I have ever had it, a couple of chillies don't look they will survive.

[oldherbaceous]

I had that a few years ago, Burnie, and what a nightmare….every time I went in there, I spent 10 minutes killing as many as I could….I did get on top of them in the end!

[Westi]

I think I got too much sun on Friday, I've been lethargic all week end. Not full on heat stroke as had that before & not pleasant. Fortunately no signs of temps near that for the next couple of weeks, but must be careful & just stay short periods to water if any repeat in these temps in the future. Probably more dehydration as I had to wait to other growers had finished watering to fill up my water bottle which only holds under 500ml.

I did consider visiting them to top up from their hose but noted the closest guy had his hose laying in his chicken coop while scrubbing their bowls & hosing down so thought I might wait until the tap was free as his hose looked pretty mucky covered in mud & poop.

[Myrkk]

Not good Westi, hope you recover soon. It can be deceptively sunny even in the shade.

[Westi]

Much nicer down there temp wise today, but a light drizzle almost continuous, but it truly was light & did not bother me at all - well when my specs were off anyway.

Another day of weeding mostly as the weeds just keep coming up so quickly, I just started on Plot 2 without my usual walk around but during a break went for a wander, I call it a wander but it was a dog ball collection so had a supply to hand to keep her amused & out of the way. Good job I did as the all the main crop spuds on Plot 1 had blight, caught in time to cut them down & that's all of the spuds cut down.

Just cutting them down when the chap up the road came round to advise everyone the whole site is affected, including the varieties with some resistance & some toms also affected. Fortunately I put a sheet of the thick tunnel bubble wrap around the tom beds in the tunnel which is about 5' high so hopefully should deflect any blow throw & it is taller than the crops currently, but back door might need closing at some point if the rain continues.

[Clive.]

Harvested some Radeo peas this evening, now shelled out and in the freezer.
Luckily I had enough energy in stock after a busy day in the big garden to get this job sorted, as thankfully a reasonable warm day today and not too silly hot....

C.

[Myrkk]

Well chuffed. Dinner tonight was entirely home grown (apart from the ham). Nom, tasted delicious.

[retropants]

you lucky lot, we've not had much yet, due to terrible weather and awful germination rates, plus the slugs. I must pick some blackberries later though, there might be a handful.

[tigerburnie]

My growing is fits and starts, some stuff failed(carrots eaten by slimy critters) whereas some stuff is looking really good(Broad beans, tatties, onions, even my umpteenth go at growing bulb fennel looks promising).

[Myrkk]

Retro and Tiger… a lot has failed in my garden too but happily enough has survived that I am happy. Off to get some netting to cover the fingers crossed second sowings on Wed. Started some stuff off in the conservatory to hopefully plant out later.

I think not having had a garden for such a long time has made me grateful for even the littlest of wins.

[oldherbaceous]

My biggest failure this year has been the first lot of Charlotte potatoes, (very small) and Broad beans, decimated by black fly!
Things that are going exceptionally well are, Carrots and Runner beans….strange, as the other plot holders are really struggling with theirs…..the Autumn planted Onion sets have done exceptionally well too, with really big Onions and only a couple went to seed, out of 180 sets!
It’s really muggy out there today so, a little concerned about blight rearing it’s ugly head….

[Westi]

First time ever the blueberries have not been stolen by the birds; they usually nick them as soon as they colour & beat me to them. I think I understand why they are way too small to interest them or me, so looks like it's time to give them more room next year. To date even the slimy things are ignoring them, but's probably as they are too full up eating everything else they can find, mainly my flowers!

[tigerburnie]

My biggest failure this year has been the first lot of Charlotte potatoes, (very small) and Broad beans, decimated by black fly!
Things that are going exceptionally well are, Carrots and Runner beans….strange, as the other plot holders are really struggling with theirs…..the Autumn planted Onion sets have done exceptionally well too, with really big Onions and only a couple went to seed, out of 180 sets!
It’s really muggy out there today so, a little concerned about blight rearing it’s ugly head….

OH do you pinch out the growing tips on your Broad Beans? I do and although the Blackcurrants were hit badly by blackfly, I have had zero on the Beans.

[oldherbaceous]

God morning, Burnie, I pinched the tops out of the early sown Aquadulce but, the Monika, Stereo and Bunyards exhibition, never got anywhere near that stage and were only half grown when totally infested from top to bottom….

[Stravaig]

We're currently renting a house. Gives us time/space to relax and get to know the area before buying somewhere. There's a nice enough back garden but we have everything in containers on the patio. That way we can take it with us when we move on.

Mixed results but nearly all good! We bought some plants in pots from a supermarket. We now have a coriander 'tree'. The curly parsley is similar. The Italian basil is a no-hoper. And even the stinging nettles, planted from seed, are at last starting to show promise. I know it might seem odd to grow nettles - most people think they're weeds - but they have some interesting culinary uses. I've never cooked with them before and am looking forward to trying some new things.