Planted garlic. Getting towards end of veggies.

Got some mild garlic, as that was all that was left in the shop, cloves looking well past their best. Planted anyway next to onions, in box at back that had sweetcorn last year.

Getting to the end of carrots, leeks and beetroot but still enough for dinner. Parsnips and red cabbage too.

Digging over as much as can, and digging in last years rotted straw/menure mix to improve the soil. Very wet boggy ground; hardly supprising considering amount of rain on Saturday.

Not much else happening; very quiet down at the site.

The latest box

Completed the latest box. I think it can have leeks next year.



From left to right, top to bottom the sequence is...
1) dig out completely;
2) line with plastic bags stapled to inside of box;
3) fill a layer of straw / menure mix;
4) add a layer of green waste, household waste and some very wormy stuff from the compost heap;
5) add a layer of part composted straw menuure;
6) and another layer of new straw menure;
7) and finally a layer of soil and a layer of part used compost (from the tomoatoes this year) which was 1 year old rotted down straw / menure.

Also, throw over a couple of handfulls of bone meal.

Picked all the squashes

Steve & family down for the day. Picked the last few raspberries and a few carrots.

Picked all the squashes; 11 in total although a couple are pretty small.

Clearing up and planting over-wintering onions and garlic

Picked the last few courgettes and dug up all remaining potatoes; which look very worm eaten. Some of the red cabbage are hearteninig up very nicely.

Cleared up the beans and started cutting back the raspberries. Added to new box at back, and layered with straw/menure mix, plus the soil/compost contents of the tomatoes pots. Then covered that box with the old shower screen, which should heat it up nicely.

Planted onions and garlic in the sweetcorn bed at the back ...used up 3 out of possibly 5 rows.

Little heat wave for the end of summer

Weather suddenly hot and dry, although nights are chilly. I thought the raspberries were done but there's suddenyl a whole load more to pick.

Tomatoes wiped out with blight ...I think I planted much too close together and the netting maybe made them a little damp encouraging the infection.

Sweetcorn finished, all eaten and cleared away. Very successful year for it.

Potatoes not great and the red skinned variety very worm eaten. Possibly as they were planted in poor ground.

Runner beans producing very well, but getting alittle stringy now.

Leaks are excelent even though rust infection on leaves.

Squashes ...about 10 in all ...poor foliage on the plants but the squashes look ok, if a little small compared to last year.

Back from holiday

Back from holiday and plenty to pick. A ton of courgettes and runner beans. Sweetcorn all ready, even slightly past it's best. Tomatoes showing some sighs of blight so "thinned" out the bush and got rid of most infected bits I could see, but could be near the end if the damp weather continues ... only one punnet of tomatoes actually picked. Flat French beans are just about finished - the beans that are left don't look that nice. Butternut squash still fairly small but starting to ripen -- maybe 10 of them in total.

Still not much of a summer but plenty to harvest

Still picking lots of the flat french beans -- and soon the runner beans will be ready too. One cougette plant seems to have died, but the others still going strong.

Picked the first sweetcorn and leeks.

Plenty of raspberries and blackberries - routinely picking one or two punnets every few days.

We had a complete 100% allotment meal (potatoes, carrots, beans, courgette, onions, leek and sweetcorn).

Back from holiday

Whilst we've been away there's been a few days of a heatwave then cooler, rainy weather. Lots of groth everywhere. Loads of french beans to pick, plus 3 very large courgettes.

July starting to warm up

Down for last time before holiday. Plenty of watering to do and not mcuh else. Sweetcorn starting to go to seed rather variably ... hopefully enough at one time to fertilize. Squashes starting get going an plenty of fruit forming.

Pulled most of the onions

Pulled all the onions in the back bed and move a couple of the smaller red cabbages to that space, also with the broccoli seedlings. Then constructed a frame from the red plastic construction toy from next door and covered with a net.



The sweetcorn is coming along -- about 2ft high -- and some are throwing up the seed fronds in the centre.



The first batch of potatoes nearly dug up. Probably wont have time to plant anything following them in that space, so it can stay spare to the rest of the year. Tomatoes in the bag are growing well ... lots of green plant stuff but not too many tomatoes coming thru yet. Runner beans are just getting going.

Garlic, potatoes and carrots

Picked all the garlic -- very rust infected but doesn't seem to affect the bulbs. Plus plenty more potatoes and some small carrots as I thin them out.



Last courgette planted in space around remaining cabbage from last year. Neighbour gave me a load of spare broccoli or other greens, seedlings - planted then around the runner beans and a few at back where the garlic was - not that bothered, maybe they'll come to something maybe not. Everything ticking along nicely; a bit of weeding and watering but not much else to do!

Beadle

Beadle's round with some late seedlings, so found some places to plant them. Runner beans where the onions and garlic were, plus two tomatoes and a pepper on newly vacated space in the potatoes bed ... but dug in completely new compost to try and avoid blight build up.

Nearly everything planted

Planted the butternut squashes into the skip bag. Four in one bag. The soil is very heavy, with rotting straw/menu so we'll see if they can manage that.


Picked about half the over-winter onions and laid them under a plastic cloche to dry out (I think this is what you are supposed to do). Not sure what to do with garlic - very affected with rust and some are still quite small. Tried half lifting them (maybe it gives them a shock to swell the bulbs) and also uncovering the bulb (think they may be planted too deep).



Potted up the tomatoes - they dont look really healthy but maybe they will pick up. The climbing franch beans and starting to take off, whilst the dwarf beans look rather unhealthy.

So, nearly everything is planted. Only 3 cougrettes to go - I think theyt could go into space when the onions and garlic are cleared.

Another raised bed

 
Finsihed another box to go on right side. Dug inside around edge and lined with plastic bags to at least 6" below ground level (which is 6" below top of soil in the box anyway). Layed down black fabric around the box which will get covered with the woodchip. Hopefully, this may keep the grass out.

Planted one half with climbing french beans, and the other with yet more leeks.

More rain as June starts

Constructed a makeshift edge around the large bed at the back and planted out the sweetcorn. Made a sort of cover from the plastic mesh, just in case it gets a little cold, although I think we're pretty safe from a frost.

Michael helped collecting more woodchip to layout the paths around that area, which looks quite nice now.


Some of the onions are going to seed, the garlic is very affected by some sort of rust (fungus I think). Potatoes doing well, they seemed to have recovered from the frost damage and I might try digging one or two up soon.

Late frost - quite a bit of damage

 

Sudden couple of cold nights and I've a lot of frost damage. Potatoes affected but they should recover, and about a third of the dwarf beans killed. One, maybe two tomatoes killed also (but they were a risk putting them out at this time of year).

April started cold but warming up now

Potatoes coming through so earthing them up. The row under the plastic cloche are a couple of inches higher than those not protected.

Some of the seeds (carrots, beetroot) germinated but many did not, so planted some more and took the plastic cloche off the carrots, as maybe this was making it too dry.

Planted leek seedings in the furthest back bed on right, by dibbing a quite deep hole, dropping seeding in, with only an inch or two poking out, and watering in. That is a very highly menured and dugover bed so hopefully should perfectly suit the leeks. Moved the bramble sticks to this area to keep any animals off until stuff gets established.

Dug over the bed for sweetcorn, leveled and covered with black plastic so it starts to warm up.

Emptied one of the skip bags of composting straw mix, partly into the others and over some of the beds.

Planting up for this year

Planted potatoes, carrots, beetroot.