Potatoes

Decided to take a gamble and plant out the early potatoes, in one of the small centre beds. Rahter small bed but got all 20 pack in. Variety Accord (1st early it says).

Onions

Planted out the onions - red, yellow and white as usual - in back right corner boxes.

Thought about potatoes, but decided still too cold, so covered bed with a mini-polytunnel to try and warm it up.

First substantial amount of work this year

Still fairly boggy after recent rain but decided to fill in the new box as its just getting too late. Fresh compost from my bin and straw/menure mix and layers of soil as usual.

Maybe 2 beds could be ready to go quite soon - think I know where onions can go (in last years potatoes at back-right). But others still need digging over and moving soil around that came out of the new hole.

Garlic not looking too bad -- a few have raised themsevles out - or more likely the soil has settled around them leaving them a little exposed.

The year of the carrot?

Pleasant day - clear and cold. Much improved after weeks of rain. My new box is still empty -- about 3" of water pooling in the bopttom so decidning what to do.

Dug up the last of the potatoes and cleared that space in back-right box and dug-over a bit. Today planted out with garlic - both the strong and mild types from this year - reusing my own crop for next year, not always recommended for garlic so we'll see how it goes.

The carrots that were planted late, following the onions in the back left box are stupendous. Still a whole load of them to go. Gave some to the new couple over the road. I dont know if its the late planting, or the (lack of) menure on the soil or the quality of the soil in that bed (it is well dug over, after previous years of potatoes, sweet corn and onions), but these carrots are possibly the best carrots ever grown myself.

Extended dry spell

Seems to be a pattern now where we have wet periods high summer with warm, dry spells either side in spring and autumn. Quite warm at the moment, although chilly at night. The ground is very dry - and I've even taken to watering the raspberries as there are loads of fruit, just very small and currant like, and hoping they'll swell up.

Cleared the front box of leeks - will use that space for piling up soil as I move things around.

Tomatoes almost done. It has been best year yet for them down here. Amazingly there is a alot of blight on the plants but it hasn't spread all over - seems localised to truncks and a little on the leaves and just the odd actual fruit which I clear quickly. Must be the warm dry weather.

Digging up more potatoes than we need to eat, as I want to try and dig out another pit to fill with compost. Will try storing them at home and see if they keep. Aprt from needing the space, concerned if they stay in the ground too long they'll start to do that funny brown thing, or get wormed.

Last of the sweetcorn

Final sweetcorn picked and cleared the plot. Reckon on maybe 24 cobs in total this year. Maybe need to find some way to grow in two banks, so that the season is a little longer, as some of the last ones to be picked are starting to dry out a little.

Picked more leeks, beetroot (and gave some to next door) and potatoes.

Good year for tomatoes - no blight yet - and the "german strawberry" variery seems to be a heavy cropped, although they are a bit fleshy rather than sweet and juicy.

Feels like end of summer

The weather is cool with not much rain - we had a couple of storms blow past but the ground is still fairly dry. The runner beans are getting rather stringy. Defintely feels like the end of summer.

Dug out one of the boxes at the back, that had potatoes, and moved the soil to another. Will now fill that hole with green compost as it comes along (and maybe dump compost bin into it also) and then cover back with soil to settle.

Sorting through the saved onions and quite a few are going moldy - just cant seem to get drying out onions right, as I thought they were done nicley before being put away.

Back from holiday

Not much change after 10 days away, except weeds seem to have taken over. I dont think it's rained much or been super-hot.

Sweetcorn all ready but maybe not going to get as much as I thought ...the smaller cobs aren't coming on. Anyway picked 4 for tea and reckon there will be enough for maybe 5 meals for 4 of us -- 20 cobs in all.

Raspberries not doing much -- any that are left are rather small even though ripe ...due to lack of rain I guess.

Dug up the pink fur apple potatoes that were planted in box at back and very disappointing - as much less than I got from those that were potted.

Sweetcorn

Picked the first sweetcorn and it was lovelly.

Veg in full flood now. Plenty of potatoes, courgettes, cabbage, beans, onions, and tons more beetroot than we know what to do with.

Bought a new under-worktop freezer simply to fill up with produce - and nearly full already with raspberries, blackberries and beans.

Suddenly lots of raspberries and blackberries

Raspberries suddenly coming ripe, blackberries around plot also. Two pots of each picked and frozen already.

Courgettes doing well as ever - more than we can eat. Potatoes, beetroot also. Picked some carrots and not too bad.

Small lettuces I planted started to grow and have all been chopped off to within 1cm of ground ... dont know if thats pigeons (they were covered) or slugs (they were peletted) or something else.

Onions dug up completely, most back home, some left on ground to dry out.

Sweetcorn starting to turn - a few more weeks to go I think - hopefully of hot weather.

Likewise for the squashes ...many of the early set fruit have not taken off and shrivel up and die - presumably down to intermittent cold and damps patches of weather.