August Update - bumper post!

Well, as usual, this Summer I've been enjoying the great outdoors too much to spend anytime inside communicating online. I spent the end of July at festivals in floods, on farms and and in fields. August has involved lots of BBQ's, bike rides and a week at the Heathrow Climate Camp.



Vegetable wise, we've had a few more mange tout, loads of runner beans and courgettes (modelled by Rosie) as well as our first few carrots which were really tasty, and tomatoes which have continued to be dogged by blight. The rocket's still going strong, and I've also sown some Chinese Baby Leaf to compliment it.


Slugs (as featured on the news lately) have continued to gnaw away at everything, and I'm sure contributed to both the early demise of my peas and a lower courgette output (we have to pick them small to get there first). The main casualty has been my purple sprouting broccoli though, which is all on its last legs and riddled with holes. Sprouts seem to be doing alright still though, touch wood.


The big news is that as of Sept/Oct, I'll have my first allotment! Yes, that's right, after an off chance visit to my nearest allotments - where Rosie and I had a look round and were given armfuls of runner beans to take home - I put my name down for a plot. I was delighted to hear only a week later that I have been granted Plot 18!


I'm going to share it with Henry as we're not too sure how much additional work it's going to be. We should be able to have a look round in the next few weeks (having already been down for a sneaky peak) and will take ownership not long after the current tennants have moved away. I'm very excited, we can't wait to measure it up and get planning what top plant!

Day of little surprises

I got the train back from Rosie's today. She's still ill so I've been looking after her for the last few days while her parents are away. On the way back from the station I discovered a whole bunch of full sized rasberry bushes at the bottom of Leigh Hill. I never even knew they were there but will definately go back for more. When I got home I threaded the Fairy Ring mushrooms on string and hung them up to dry in the garage. Will use them in a Risotto when Rosie's better.


Another discovery was waiting for me in the back garden where my tomatoes have produced their first tiny little fruit! It was on one of the plants affected by the mosaic virus. Rosie's plants, which never got sick, already have a number of fruits on them.


Down on the patch, my courgette plants are really getting established. They're huge now. Henry says his have alreay got fruits a few inches long.

The final surprise of my day was being sked by my local Friends of the Earth group to take over as Campaigns Officer for the Big Ask Climate Change Bill campaign. Following all the havok being wrecked by flooding in Yorkshire this week, hopefully the UK government will take this problem seriously and bring in legislation to help reduce future chaos.

Flowering courgettes!

My first courgettes have flowered, both of the ones on the windowsill in the kitchen. I did a spot of late night gardening yesterday and put the rest of the tomatoes outside.

I've been on slug patrol every night this week with my scissors and the body count is mounting up. Trouble is, they seem to be attracted to their own dead friends. I may also have to reconsider my lentient policy on snails, there's hundreds of them out there and something munched my broccoli in pots last night despite the killing spree...

Lucious lettuce and pro-active peas

Bit of a photo update this eve (taken yesterday). First of all, the patch overview. the first spuds should be ready in the not too distant future so this could all look a bit different soon.

My courgettes have been looking a bit dry, with some leaves really patchy white. I took them off and fed them with fertiliser and they seem to have recovered well.



My lettuce which survived the slug assualts have been doing well after the recent rain. Looking quite big and fresh. Not long now. I need to get some more planted in fact!


Some of my Runner Beans have taken a real battering from the slugs, but this one's doing well. Need to tie it to the cane tommorrow.


My peas get veg of the week I think, if only for their little feelers that they wrap round the frame to pull themselves up. They're incredibly strong tenticles that creep up before winding themselves tightly round the first thing they find. I had to help them find the net initially but now they're going great guns. (Click on the picture for a close up!)


And finally, despite their disease and subsequent de-leafing, some of my tomatoes outside are recovering and flowering at last! The ones inside are getting really big and also ready to flower so need to go out this weekend really.

Wet wet wet

What a wet weekend it's been. Started off by picking some of the first rocket for salad on Friday night (as modelled by Rosie). Did most of the work on Sunday. It didn't stop raining all day so I got quite wet and muddy. The first job was to secure my tomatoes. For each growbag, I tied a small stick across the three bamboo poles and then used 4 bricks to weigh it down. They've survived the winds so far so they seem quite sturdy.

Next up I took advantage of the soft soil to push in two stakes and attach the plastic netting for my peas to climb up. I also used small sticks to prop them up in the meantime and keep them away from slugs.

Before lunch we nipped down the garden centre where I got some natural sand slug barrier. I put this round my courgettes after I planted them out in pockets of compost. I also used some round my lettuces and peas. It seems to be working so far - although I did catch one fat slug munching on a leaf that had fallen over it in the rain. I've stepped up the patrols recently and after finding quite a few of the pests on Saturday, numbers seem to be down a bit.

Meanwhile my first runner beans have emerged and my potatoes are beggining to flower. I earthed up around them a bit more.

Finally, if anyone remembers the grub I found in my first post (here) - I found the end product while digging around the spuds. Its a bit worrying though because apparently they eat through things and I thought I'd got rid of them all as I dug the patch over.

Tomato tumbles, slug security and yet more radishes!

Mini- disaster struck last Monday as I tried to carry my last batch of Tomato and sprout seedlings downstairs to get re-potted, only to slip and watch helpless as they tumbled out of my hands and down the stairs. Thankfully I managed to salvage them all - barring a few torn leaves and a snapped stem which seems to have recovered after repotting. I also managed to get a bag of the cherry variety outside, under the portable greenhouse which I took off the other plants. (below) The stairs were only slightly stained after hoovering and fully recovered after shampoo. I did have to suffer an 'I told you so' though. It could have been worse.

To my further horror last week I also discovered that those pesky slugs have started ripping my baby lettuces apart. I went out on Wednesday night and placed holly leaves around them and re-filled the beer traps. I'm not sure how well they've been working, but I assume some of the floating gunk to be late slugs. With the orange peel and egg shells that Mum's been putting out we now have some beefy defences. (see below)

Something else had ripped up one of my little gem seedlings, so I got my first taste of baby leaf lettuce as well - there's one the slugs definately won't be having! mmmm...

Meanwhile, the corgette seeds I planted are coming aloong nicely and should be ready to go in on Sunday.
I picked some radishes when I got home this evening (Tues) and generally worked out what needs doing this weekend. I was away all last weekend at a juggling festival so haven't done much gardening. There's a lot to do though. Need to build a frame for the peas (which are getting quite big); earth up my spuds; sow some more lettuce, spring onions, beetroot and carrots; put the rest of my tomatoes in grow bags; plant the courgettes; and do some weeding. Should keep me busy over the bank holiday!