Don't Lose The Plot: End of July Bed Time

Sunny Days

Another week of horizon to horizon sunshine with plenty of harvesting done, down the plot. Watering of my crops has been called for twice this week, a far cry from letting the rain do its thing, only a few weeks ago.

My First Pick of Runner Beans 28th July

Today I picked the first batch of Runner beans which were sown on the 23rd of February. About 80% of the plants have reached their allotted height and been pinched out. The rest have yet to reach the top of their 8 foot canes. I lifted the first full row of main crop Desiree potatoes yesterday, giving me a yield of just over 12kg. Each plant had about 10/12 good sized tubers or 6/7 larger ones per plant. Only 2 plants had been affected by rotting off, from wet soil with 2 tubers showing signs of blight, (both tubers were growing very close to the soils surface), which has been apparent but limited to a handful of other plots on the allotments. The tubers were growing very shallowly, caused by compaction of the heavy clay soil, due to our earlier "monsoon" weather. Because of the hot temperatures and compacted soil, it took me six hours to lift 1 row of potatoes, clean the soil off them, dispose of the haulms and break down the clay where they had been growing. I think I may wait for cooler weather before attempting to harvest the rest of the crop. I need another 4 x 5kg bags of potatoes to break even on costs. Another 2 rows of Carrots have been harvested this week and were prepared for the freezer this afternoon, one event that should be included in the Olympics alongside the marathon?? I now have 3 x 5 litre containers of sliced Carrots in my freezer.

More Carrots Harvested This Week

Spot the Difference (Wild Carrot/Queen Anns Lace) & Carrot

The last of my Blackcurrants were harvested midweek, a grand total of 80lbs of fruit was gratefully accepted. More jam making will be called for as time allows. My Autumn Raspberries have started to ripen this week and a few were picked today with more to be picked tomorrow. The lack of Apples, Pears and Plums this year is a disappointment, mainly blamed on this years weather, but probably also due to my lack of pruning skills as well. All my Pumpkins have been pinched out as they have run amok since the start of the recent hot weather. The ground is now becoming difficult to cultivate due to the sunshine "baking" it, but hey, whose complaining, long may the warmth continue with no early frosts to come.

End of July 2nd Plot Top Bed Runner Beans & Maincrop Potatoes

End of July 2nd Plot Lower Bed Maincrop Potatoes

My French climbing beans are at last starting to look healthy with 3 rows of Borlotties coming along nicely in the sunshine and warmth they love. My second sowing of garden peas is currently flowering well, alongside the Borlotties. Earlier in the year I had just about given up on outside Tomatoes being produced, but the 9 plants that survived are now doing well, so fingers crossed. My faithful old Rhubarb plants are still producing good stalks, although a few are gradually dying back. Maybe it will be a good finale to the growing season after all.