The non-stop sunshine and no rain is becoming a real bore now and I and my plants desperately need some rain.
Apart from watering the climbing beans - I haven't been working up the allotment - but we did make a dash up there today to pick some rhubarb off what was the end of my plot - which I gave up.
The rhubarb plants are doing fantastically well on there - and I noticed that they were not being picked. So I was a bit cheeky and emailed Michael to see if I could barter some wood for his log fire for some rhubarb. And he said 'yes' - and that he was going to ask me if I wanted it as they don't eat it. Yippee - hence my dash up there today - and we now have 15lbs of lovely rhubarb chopped up and ready to use - in the freezer - and you know how we love allotment mixed fruit crumbles in the winter!
As it is cloudy, I decided to weed my home little fruit and veggie patch in the cage. (Yes of course I was covered in the highest factor sun cream and covered from head to toe as though it was winter)!
Talking of winter - here is Snowy - I promised my grandaughter I would put a photo on here for her to see.
Isn't she just beautiful with those wonderful markings and ink black eyes
Twiggy is doing her model girl pose of course
And the others are just hanging out waiting for me to start digging
They only love me for what they can get out of me - food, worms, treats.
One of the strawberry beds with some mizuna growing around the plants
A couple of pots of strawberry plants - which I hope to get fruit from this year
The blueberry bush really suffered in its pot in the winter, so I have rescued it and planted it here - and it looks like it is rallying
I have squeezed in a few climbing beans into every gap I can because of the drought up the allotment
Last years runners which survived the winter were repotted and now in flower. Their runners will be pegged down into the gaps around the raised beds until they are ready for transplanting
This will be full of strawberry plants - the new babies when they grow
I know what you are thinking - who wants to see a photo like this - but I do, its for my records and it is sown with mixed rare varieties of carrots
Another of last years baby strawberry plants in a pot squeezed into a gap with room for the runners it will produce
The bean bed. I have sown barlotti, yellow, green, varieties of dwarf beans, and around the edges Japanese onions
The 'second sowing' salad bed coming along nicely
The first sown salad bed which I have been cropping - with a strawberry plant in the middle. We will have eaten the salads by the time the strawberry has got runners ready for pegging down
The final bed in the cage. Early sown ball carrots at the front left, behind them mixed coloured carrots. Then there are bunching onions, yellow and red beetroots, and some cherokee beans sown.
Oops, must dash time to serve lunch
I got hungry just looking at this post!
ReplyDeleteI'm growing oriental salad this year, if the seeds haven't been washed out of the box!
We had torrential rain Saturday evening/overnight and everything was sodden.
Oh but, the air this morning ,so fresh and I was able to breathe easy!
The birds are looking good and colourful, love Snowys' punk look...only joking, I know it's a pecking stopper!
Sandie xx
Its good to catch up with your gardening and veg growing progress. Looking forward to comparing notes on the strawberries.
ReplyDeleteYour raised beds are looking fantastic! I'm glad I'm not the not one who plans for next years strawberry runners. You make me feel sane!
ReplyDeleteLovely reading your blog. I lost it for a while *wink*
C x
Hello! I have planted new strawberries this year, I wonder if they will make runners? I noticed that last time I planted new ones, they made runners the first year (and not so much fruit). Not sure where I can put them though if I get baby strawbs!
ReplyDelete