Kitchen Garden Forum

I suppose that's one advantage of not getting any rain: hardly any slugs or snails about.

At least the poor lettuce get the night off!

It's quite weird not having to water all the plants. At this time of the year I'm usually setting the alarm & getting down to the plot ultra early to beat everyone to the tap so I can water properly while it is cooler. If you get down later, the hoses are lined up you have water quickly & less effectively as you can feel the stare of the next person in the queue. I used to go in the evening but with so many working during the day it is even busier then.

Mind looking at the long range weather it does not appear I will have to worry about that for a couple of weeks.

We have had a three year battle with the council over new water taps ,when they extended the allotment they did not put taps for the new plotters to use ,we applied for a lottery grant and got £10,000 to renew the existing pip work and put new pipe work to the new plots ,after a lot of arguments and debates they started in September last year by January the taps were in and working but the state they left our track in was laughable if it wasn’t so bad we had numerous site meetings with the council and contractors after a lot of arguments and threats from us they agreed to re do the top of the track this was done on Thursday 250 yards long track redone in one day with a top class Finnish we were told to keep all vehicles of it until we have a decent amount of rain which is happening now

Does anybody else have a rain gauge?
The rainwater collected in ours this past week has been a light raspberry pink colour. Perhaps dust particles from the Sahara being blown in the wind again.

Our rain has been clear (10mm since last night - thank goodness), but then we are a few miles further north than you!

Jolly glad I didn't try to leave my white laundry out in garden to dry. Don't think my dear husband would appreciate his white underwear turning strawberry pink !

The week's tally was 6 Cobra beans. We had them for dinner yesterday with the roast. Had to involve shop broccoli I'm sorry to say, as I've not the space to grow any.

I'm sure the six beans were duly eaten with the correct amount of ceremonial Retropants,
The first picking of the season for every crop in this house is always given special recognition.

I'm sure those who've opted to grow too many courgette plants will have their own special double digit recognition for later crops !

I am glad you mentions courgettes, Primrose: we only have two plants, on each in a large pot, and I am picking courgettes every day. Have even started to freeze them because there were too many to cope with!

I only got my first courgette on the weekend & took a baby one yesterday as it will be too big when I next go down. Planning courgette, mint & feta fritters with them. Anyone on FB will know you get a 'memories this day' thing pop up when you sign in each day going back about a decade or so, & it is defiantly showing my crops are way behind from previous years. At a guess I'd say nearly a month & I use the same sowing & planting out chart for guidance.

Weather is upside down this year as I am generally a bit jealous of those further north who seem to get rain more regularly than us down south, but I now appreciate your challenges & no doubt total frustration with me posting about harvesting this & that! (No guarantees that I will stop posting if next year is better though)!

Westi, my garlic shows no sign of withering leaves, the sure sign its ready to harvest. It's still growing green & strong. How much longer do I leave it? Lettuce (little gem) either bolted when it was dry or are now skeletons post slug attack. I think we've had about 4 out of the 20 or so I planted out. Tomatoes are only just beginning to set and the green beans, as we've already discussed here are very slow. Sweetcorn, only time will tell, it looks OK, very healthy, but no sign yet of the grassy flower heads in the centre.

autumn/winter crops: Kalettes look good, but the leeks, although growing, are very small.

little gem next sowing have been very slow & small, I sowed the seeds when I was harvesting the first crop, now the second crop is ready or skeletal, and this lot are only just showing the first true leaf, it's been weeks! I've been diligent with successional sowing of these, but I will probably have to buy lettuce until the last lot are ready, if they ever are.

Beautiful wild orchids on the road verge, counted about 40 walking the dog this morning.

Really pleased with the way the Charlotte potatoes are cropping....so different to last year ,when the very late frost knocked them for six.

Hello Old H'
I had a check of the Charlotte at work yesterday....they look to be going to be good Foremost has done well as have Cassablanca..except Cassablanca broke up in my cooking... Maybe just my cooking and I was not gentle enough.? I like a potato as the skin is starting to lift but these were a bit too broken....might try them again and they might be just the job...as I'm minus that errant tooth as of today, don't think i would have got it out myself it seemed to take some tugging at and in a series of bits....

C.