Kitchen Garden Forum

OH

I see what you mean about holes

Dear Alan, what always gets me is that they probably cost her a lot of money. Now i would have done that for her with my callusey hands for nothing.

Forgot to say, had my first Broad beans of the year today for dinner, truly scrumptious.

I'm thinking of giving up the allotment and vegetable gardening!
We've had no rain since the very beginning of May, the northeasterly gales have been battering everything on the allotment and in the garden for the last few days (albeit in brilliant sunshine). Everything looks absolutely parched. In the garden, we can put the hose on, but on the allotment it's a steep hill down from the only tap and a full watering can just sinks in without having much impact.
Could you send us some rain up north, please?

Dear Monika, if i could i would.

Please don't get too despondent Monika, i think we all get the odd time when we really think is it worth it. But a few days done the line things can change and then we realize why we keep gardening.

We seem to be getting all the rain at the moment, i think we will end up with nearly 48 hours of it.
Maybe too much of a good thing.

Hi Monika. I feel for you at the moment as the weather is terrible. We too have had the worst wind today and yesterday. We have built a frame to protect our cabbages from the cabbage white. Then we had to put fleece around one edge to stop the wind. My sweetcorn are being battered flat so yesterday we put the soil in a mound round the sweetcorn hopefully they will be okay.

We have not had any rain since 1st May. I am worried that my polytunnel will blow away the sunflowers that are in there and getting quite tall and with the wind in the direction it is at the moment they keep getting blown down. Hopefully it will be calmer tomorrow.

It's been quite calm here today, but there is a strong easterly wind forecast for tomorrow and more rain. Hopefully they will be wrong about the wind.

Cheers, PJ.

oldherbaceous wrote:Forgot to say, had my first Broad beans of the year today for dinner, truly scrumptious.

First pods just forming on mine, so I've still got them to look forward to

Cheers, PJ.

we had a few beans and a cabbage today, oh and about 20 quids worth of strawberries at tesco prices.

Thank you for your sympathy, OH and Catherine. It really is so disheartening when you've worked your socks off to get everything cultivated and then it's bashed down and you can't stop it. I remember when others on the forum have had vandalism and thieving on their plots and, I suppose, it's a bit like that feeling. You just want to take your bat home and give up.
But, as you say, hopefully the wind will abate and the rain will arrive this week.
One funny outcome of the lack of rain: our local birds are desperate for water and our birdbath at home and the small garden pond are constantly used for drinking and bathing, sometimes the birds queue up to get in! And the young ones are really funny to watch how they hop round the birdbath before daring to get into it! The blackbirds actually come on the windowsill and into the open backdoor begging for currants.

There normally is something to brighten up the odd dull days of life, it's just that you have to look a little harder sometimes.

Theres a strong North Easterly wind blowing everything about this morning, poor old plants are not enjoying this very much.
I might even give work a miss this morning.

oldherbaceous wrote:Theres a strong North Easterly wind blowing everything about this morning, poor old plants are not enjoying this very much.
I might even give work a miss this morning.

Good morning OH,

That same wind has reached here as well, and the heavy rain. Everything's getting battered about. It doesn't look very inviting out there this morning does it.

Cheers, PJ.

Well another bright and sunny morning with no rain again. Still windy but not quite as windy as yesterday. We are off for a walk before going back to the allotment to plant stuff. We planted out 50 odd marigolds which we have grown from seed yesterday and have just realised that we didnt put any slug pellets down. My oh has just nipped downstairs, as we are sitting in bed with a cuppa, to check on them. Woe betide any slug which has eaten my plants.

OH back to say they are ok.

Catherine wrote:Well another bright and sunny morning with no rain again. Still windy but not quite as windy as yesterday. We are off for a walk before going back to the allotment to plant stuff. We planted out 50 odd marigolds which we have grown from seed yesterday and have just realised that we didnt put any slug pellets down. My oh has just nipped downstairs, as we are sitting in bed with a cuppa, to check on them. Woe betide any slug which has eaten my plants.

OH back to say they are ok.

Hi Catherine,

What's it like to have a lie in

Cheers, PJ.