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.