Summer bits and bobs.

[Geoff]

My wife is complaining I make the place look untidy, as the weather seems to be picking up again I've taken the fleece off the runner beans but it needs to be dry to store.

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[Westi]

Nice day on the plot so plodded on with the chores finished the weed of the front strawberry bed, tidied the compost bays of nettles, Strulched the rest of the runner beds & cleared one of the onion beds & filled the butt with the dripper for the tunnel crops. Very, very poor onion specimens, out of the whole large bed only about 20 were not soft & many were small looking like they started out OK but went on strike. I'm sure the survivors won't mind being moved into the new prepped end of that bed with some extra feed granules to help them settle. Found some firm sets in the shed still in the net & popped them in just to even up the rows, whether they will do anything is anybodies guess but won't irk me as much looking at full rows.

The next bed to tackle is garlic & shallots which through the weeds look happier than the onions were. Will be easier to sort as well as rain tomorrow so should be able to pull the weeds on Fri, not dig them so could get the end bed with the Kelsae in sorted as well. Then it's just sorting the 2 brassica beds opposite, which look OK except for the caulies which have bolted so will do a re-sow as time yet. I just might be winning, but deffo going to beg the dairy farmer for some muck for next year! Might need to spend some £'s to convince him to drop off some but will be worth it as the commercial bagged stuff is just not up to the job!

[Colin2016]

See you only cover the top of your strawberries Retropants, does this keep all the birds off?

[retropants]

Honestly Colin, it’s only because the netting is actually meant to shade the greenhouse behind, and I just drape it over them as a deterrent. Ideally it would be longer and cover them.

[Westi]

I'm glad onions are cheap to buy as all the 2nd bed were pants as well, only 1/2 doz saveable & they were small. There was a mix of white rot & some where leaves had succumbed & gone slimy black with the bulb the same size as planted but slightly soft which I assume is lack of leaves to feed +/- same disease.

Well just the Kelsae to save the day then! The extra Kelsae popped in the little raised bed are not showing any issues & growing slowly but growing, will see what the full bed of Kelsae is like on Monday when I weed. Not optimistic!

[retropants]

Fingers crossed Westi! I’m still picking strawberries

[oldherbaceous]

Missed all the rain again!

[Clive.]

Just enough for one puddle on the big garden drive this morning...

Planted out a few bits of bedding...then home where loads needs doing but out of steam... So watched a bit of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway Diesel Gala via their live video link whilst flitting across to the adsb tracker to watch the London flypast forming up....all whilst listening to Radio Caroline North from the MV Ross Revenge

C.

[Clive.]

...forgot to say. In the back field the soil erosion prevention barley is continuing to wither away..looks awful really. The carrots are not exactly moving along at any pace yet..but are ahead of mine, that never escaped the seed packet....

C.

[oldherbaceous]

Just picked the first lot of Runner Beans, so really looking forward to dinner tonight!

[Clive.]

I've sown some rows of wallflower seed this morning and then dug some Casablanca potatoes...very clean and even sized.. Whilst at home here I ought to try my Maris Peer...they look to have run a bit dry, much lighter land and there's some large shrubs and trees tight to the fence to their North.

C.

[Westi]

Finally cleared the last of the onion beds & the very last bed had nice onions growing in amongst the weeds. No sign of any onion white rot on them! This is my Kelsae bed & they are supposed to susceptible, but these missed the e-mail! Very mixed sizes which I assume was dependent on how greedy the weeds were around each one, but all sorted & fed so will look forward to see how they progress without all the weeds.

That is finally all the onion beds cleared & I will move onto weeding & sorting the 2 brassica's beds when down on Wed. The cauliflowers have all bolted & I note some of the calabrese are thinking of following them so they will get the attention & tlc to see if I can get them a bit bigger or at least take them when edible. I have a bed closed & prepped waiting for some new residents so think I might try a sneaky in-between sow as well as a winter sow. They are all club root resistant so no worries with rotation, but following onions anyway.

I will move onto the outside when these chores done as it is irking me being untidy. I will finally will get the chance to play with the new mower thing. Hope it works as still no site strimmer & not sure I want to cut the grass with scissors again; blisters are real pesky & annoying!

[Cider Boys]

Planted my leeks out today, the soil was quite dry. I am very pleased with my potatoes this year, Maris Peer, I have never grown them before. The yield is good despite all this dry weather and they also taste good. No way near picking my runner beans OH, but they are climbing the sticks. I have grown my usual Enorma and Scarlet Emperor for a comparison.

Barney

[Geoff]

I'm ahead of you, planted my leeks yesterday after clearing a row of Orla potatoes. Perhaps could have expected a few more, about 12 kgs from 9 seed but they are even sized and good flavour. My runners are halfway up the sticks with one low down flower showing colour. No problems with dry ground now, 6" of rain in June so far.

[Westi]

Finally the targeted beds are all cleared & fed! It's been a long old haul when I add in all the extra work with the compaction & the time it took making the beds usable on Plot 1. On reflection I would have been more in line with my growing if I did the easy Plot 2 beds first, especially when I hear & see folk are picking veg when some/most of mine are tiny but they will catch up. Just a wee bit of plant envy!

Had a chatter over the fence to my neighbour who is heavily involved with the sailing in the area, I think he is the chairperson of the posh club. Anyway deviating, our chat was about decent muck especially the organic milking cows farmer's muck & it's unavailability as he won't deliver as had to relocate on another patch of his land several miles away while the rail work was on. Rail are still there even though that section is complete as it is now their HQ for the whole upgrade.

He is going to drive round & pop in to the farmers home to have a chat about just us 2 having a delivery. Was a long conversation about the farmer supplying the whole plot but neighbour indicated committee would not pay, nor want to put up with the spats of over 150 plots, so understandable! Fingers crossed his quiet demeanour & intellect work for us. I'm pretty hopeful & so is the neighbour who is already talking about putting up camera's when the pile is delivered. Fingers crossed for me guys, I need this 'proper' muck; nothing in a plastic bag is near as good & no other supplier in the area !