July Already

 3rd July 2022 - 2nd month of summer and everything is going well

Back in the polytunnel, a few more lettuces now planted out. Everything else is very nice and green, and growing well. Looking forward to eating this basil as we enjoy al fresco eating on the terrace this year… will be amazing along with bountiful tomatoes.

Outside of the polytunnel, on the new small raised bed we have planted cucumbers. This is the first time either of us have tried growing cucumbers, so we shall see how they turn out. We have also filled some of the space here with everlasting lettuce - just keep picking the leaves and they keep producing new ones.

Down on the sweetcorn patch, the sweetcorn is beginning to grow, but so are the runner beans. Looks like the beans might win the race, which could cause a problem with how we train the runner beans. The butternuts are also settling in… interesting to see how this plot develops with this 3 sisters approach.

These vertical pallets provide not only shape to this patch of land but they are also proving useful to store these blue water pipes, which we will be using when we find a use for them.

We have some of that orange builders' netting spare too, so we have used it to extend the netting between the pallets, which we will be using for some other cucumbers that are currently being hardened off.

The raised beds around the polytunnel are looking really good: plenty of peas, the Lobelia / lettuce bed growing nicely, leeks, beetroot and strawberry plants doing very well in the large raised bed too.

Down in the recently netted brassica plot. Hopefully this little lot won’t be overrun by the slugs. A mixture of cauliflower, red cabbage, white cabbage and pointed cabbage here. 

Up by the polytunnel entrance the tomatoes are doing really well, the courgettes have had a bit of a difficult start with the slugs, the first two plants nearest to the polytunnel doing the best. Desi has brought her easel down with her to see if she can get some drawing in while the weather is good. That is sitting on top of the table. It's one of these unfolding easels. 

Looking across the plot in the next photo, what a green picture! We are very grateful to have been able to get most things in the ground now but still quite a bit to go …

What a difference a few months makes to the front of the plot. The horseradish is requiring constant maintenance to stop it taking over, and the sweet peas require deadheading to stop them going to seed, which will then stop them flowering. The herbs are going well too!

On the other side of the workspace, these are the plants yet to go in the ground, there are some 40 cabbages or so, melons, and some sprouts. The scent is lovely here as the sweet peas are peeping over the fence and gracing the work area.

In the last picture this is the scene as we walk along the path to our plot(s). It is really awesome to see everything growing so well… perhaps early July is the best time? Everything is growing nicely, few if any pests or diseases are established, and first pickings of salad leaves, herbs, peas and broad beans, very delicious.

“The Haven” is Being Filled Up!

 30th June 2022 - “the Haven” is being filled up!

A couple of months ago you would have been forgiven for being depressed… the winter mess just being cleared away, everything either brown or grey. All there was to see really was infrastructure and little in the way of growing things, this is after all the objective, to grow things.

Now life has returned, and the first picture settles the anxiety as it truly is a very lovely picture. To know that without our efforts and hard work, this picture wouldn’t even exist!

Desi getting down with the ground here. We are now planting a whole load of neeps (or swede as they are more commonly known). 

In the polytunnel things are also hotting up. Tomatoes doing well, peppers in, recycled spring onions (cut off the tops, take the root and just pop it into water or moist soil), basil growing nicely and Marigolds looking good. Over on the other side… peppers also in, and doing well.

Looking through the chicken wire…

Around the back of the polytunnel is a picture too. Everything is filling up and looking so 

green. We do love this time of the year as nature takes over from our initial hard work. 

Back on the terrace, check out the clematis next to the brickwork and pole on the left hand side of the picture. Not too long ago this was just a couple of indistinguishable shoots. Now it is making its way to a climbing frame! The Alyssum is now in the front of the raised bed. Hopefully this will grow nicely and flow over the front wall a month or so from now.

Check out the industrious Desi… all 50 swede plants planted out in the plot. Well done Desi, a good job jobbed. 

The lawn is also enjoying the nice weather, it’s a pain having to keep watering everything now but there hasn’t been a lot of rain thus far. Good for the tomatoes (avoiding blight) but now that we have a whole plot there is more and more to water, if it remains dry. It has become a blessing if it rains nowadays.

Looking through the forest of tomatoes, we are abundantly green!

In The Full Swing of Summer

 29th June 2022 - We’re in the full swing of summer now

There wasn’t very much on this plot when we took on the responsibility for it. Nature would argue differently, there was plenty going on. What it was though had no input from Desi and I (Chris) and nowadays, look at these first two pictures! What an amazing flower this Passiflora has, so delicate, so intricate, so amazing (the bees love them too). The second picture shows you how they look on the shrub itself. There are going to be hundreds of flowers, or so it seems, this year.

We have removed the peppery salad plants from the area near the fence. In their place we have placed chilli pepper plants. We’ve not grown chillies before, let us hope we have got the right plants here.

Across the way in the work area, you can see the bag of harvested plant mass. Hopefully we can get some seeds from these and grow again next year. We have reorganised this area, to “grow on” plants outside. Easier to water if they are altogether like this.

We have also put all the salad leaves on top of the compost bins. This one is currently not used as the "infinity" bin next door has a huge appetite and keeps emptying itself.

The peas are doing well. We have removed the netting so we can harvest the peas, very nice and sweet, we’re eating half of those we are picking raw.

In the new plot we have put the remainder of the peppers. We know they are not ideal conditions and it is quite late in the season, but we may get something from them. A Marigold has been planted here too, in an attempt to keep the aphids away.

Down on the sweet corn patch, we have buried some empty beer cans in order to add beer as slug traps. Allegedly, the slugs find beer irresistible, fall in the can and then enjoy a happy ending. We’ll see what happens. Low cost lager is option 1, or reasonable cost lager, one for the slugs, one for Chris… mmm perhaps option 2.

Notice the Runner Beans are now beginning to emerge and plants already establishing themselves. 

Where the brassicas were last year (or at least a good part of it) has now been dug over, cold frame (small box) removed and the concrete slabs also, along with the small pallet… now ready for some planting.

The terrace area is now beginning to fill up nicely. It is amazing how it looks so empty when the small plants are initially planted, and the thought crosses your mind, maybe we need something else… and then!

Out front, roadside, things are shaping up nicely too. We have some Begonias in there, along with the Marigolds and Mallows. The Apple mint around the corner is growing well, so is the strawberry and Eau-de-Cologne flavoured mints. The sweet peas in the distance are starting to show themselves, they are having to grow tall - look at the horseradish!

We Love Gardening

 28th June 2022 - Back to the “gardening / growing” … what we love!

Around the side of the polytunnel, check out these high flowers on stalks. I can see three of them, two taller ones and a shorter one. These ball-shaped flowers are those of the leek. Many of the onion family have similar purple flowers which are kind of round, certainly chives do.

The raised bed is now yielding some beetroot, and behind there are some strawberry plants on the ledge. The challenge with spring / summer is that everything comes together, so these times are very busy sorting out plants and deciding where they are going. Most of that is already decided but last minute things always change the eventual outcome.

The new plot area (well a small part of it) is beginning to take shape. At least it is less “natural meadow” than it was, with plants organised in the parts we have reclaimed from the wild.

Back at the tidy main tomato bed things are progressing nicely. Flowers are already showing on the tomatoes. Maybe we will start them even earlier next year and see if we can get them planted out with flowers at the end of May… possibly bring the crop forward 3 weeks or so?

In the polytunnel, tomatoes are already forming on the vines, I think all of them now have some tomatoes on them.

In the next photo an excellent example of “planting yoga” where the exercise is all based around planting out plants (in this case peppers) whilst simultaneously incorporating a Yoga session.

On the terrace, flowers are growing steadily, except the horseradish which is attempting a takeover bid. The pink Mallow plants are in and growing well, very soon we will see them hopefully.

In the very next picture, at a different angle, we see a pink Mallow already! Very soon!

Behind the polytunnel, on the makeshift shelf - lettuce everywhere, along with a radish plant that has already gone to seed. 

Plants go to seed when they are stressed and feel like they are near the end of their life, then they are pretty much going to die afterwards. All plants thus far if in small containers have dried out which does accelerate plants going to seed. We shall have to watch all of these lettuce, the herb box and pretty much all the raised beds in case of drying out.

Desi continuing with the yoga in the polytunnel… it is very warm in there this afternoon.

What a beautiful show of blue / mauve in the raised bed (sq box)! The lettuce appears to like it there too, as does the Asparagus right at the top. We have more Asparagus to plant at some point. We like Asparagus although allegedly we need to wait 3 years before harvesting to allow the plant to establish itself properly.

At the back of the allotment, the Purple Sprouting Broccoli appears to have forgotten what it is. Maybe we should rename it Purple Sprouting Giganticus. Perhaps this is due to cross pollination with other brassicas which we are told is very common. All brassicas come from the humble cabbage, a vegetable cultivated for 1,000’s of years presumably because it grows in the winter and offers great nutrients when most other plants do not grow.

Down behind the purple sprouting the onions are growing well, so much so that we have planted some more… hopefully they will catch up or we can replant next year for even larger onions.

In the decorative fence planters we have added some Marigold, but getting in the picture is the Passiflora which has suddenly shot into life “massively”. Clearly it is enjoying the location and this second year looks like it will take over the trellis.

The herb box is showing great signs of life. We have sown Dill, Coriander (Cilantro), Marjoram and Holy Basil (Thai Basil or Tulsi) in this box and all are growing nicely. Next year I shall have to add the second box, so we can extend the herb collection further. 

We’re Back

 27th June 2022 - We’re Back - it was allegedly very dry

Well, we prepared as best we could, but there was zero rain whilst we were away and the temperature was up in the mid 30’sC. So it was fortunate we made things easy for some neighbours to water for us, and we are very grateful that they did water for us. The great thing about allotments is that people do help each other if and when they are able. They know how much work goes into working an allotment, and it is a shame if all goes to waste, just because of one or two waterings.

The Pasiflora has grown massively since we’ve been away. The side where it all started has been pretty much completely covered and it has now gone around the corner on to the next panel. There are so many flowers out as well! A most beautiful flower, one of our favourites.

The whole front section is doing well! What a delight to come back to. Having cut the grass as it was a bit overgrown, it is looking lush and green, the broad beans are nearly as tall as us, and need to be harvested. 

The tomatoes in the top plot are growing well on their stakes and a couple of the courgettes are leading the way. We definitely need to work out how to stake the courgettes this year!

Behind the polytunnel the Lobelia are doing us proud, a lovely show, and the lettuce are also galloping along. I think they have been too densely populated but we can thin them out as we go (this means "eat them")😇

Desi has managed to find a way to plant the extra tomatoes in the new bed / hole we have created over on plot no. 2. It’s a case of find the best looking spot you can to plant out some of these crops.

The peas are doing well. Quite a few peas are on there. Both of us like the peas young so we can add them to stir-fries and use the whole pod.

Further along next to the compost bins, the sweet peas are also doing well, now a good many are flowing and the scent is divine.