7 - 8th July

By now I am usually picking courgettes which have passed the early fruiting stage and have settled down into a regular production supply. At lunchtime though I was planting out the last of the courgettes, a few pumpkins and one more butternut squash. I noticed that of the courgettes already planted, all are establishing and 2 or 3 are beginning to thrive and go for it. The squashes have settled in now and are beginning to sprawl and the sweet corn are thick and sturdy and reaching for the sky. I am still impressed and amazed by both the onions and by the weeds that have shot up in the gap between the membranes in section 6. The cornflowers look like they will be in bloom soon but the teasels, despite a lush and large leaf spread, have not begun their upward growth unlike the ones I see by the road side on a motorway roundabout I pass twice a day. The carrots are pushing up on their protective fleece which I must fit properly before it becomes pointless being there if it isn’t protecting. The garlic still look thin and pale so I’m not setting my hopes on a bumper crop from them – I still have most of last year’s hanging up in the conservatory. Perhaps in our new kitchen they will be used up. I came away from the allotment with a courgette plant which had no space to go into, but I will keep hold of it as the 2 pumpkins look so weak I think I’ll lose one and then the courgette can go into its space.

8^th July

I returned to the allotment to find that yes, I had lost one of the pumpkins, and the other 2 as well, so in went the courgette and the 2 extra cucumbers that I had bought. The sweet peppers are not looking too good. They are stunted, pale and scrawny. I didn’t get round to making little holes filled with manure for them as a concentrated plot of fertile soil for each of them, maybe that has something to do with it, or the fact that they became a bit pot bound, or that they have been exposed to the weather unlike last year when they were in containers in my garden. Mind you, we have had some still and scorching weather, akin to their native land.

2nd July

2^nd July

The heatwave continues. I cut a bumper crop of sweet peas today. All varieties along the fence are now out and thriving as are the cupanis in the front garden tub, but the ones growing up bamboo wigwams are thin and unproductive as yet. The 3 hanging baskets with the purple surfinas are a glorious ball of colour, they are fabulous – definitely one to repeat for next year – not that I’m thinking that far ahead yet – I’m still waiting for my first courgette! The bedding plants are establishing well with red buds of flower on some of the salvias. The fuchsias and the phlox are all out as too are the lavender bushes I planted out last summer, with the ones I planted out this year looking healthy. The red carnations just keep coming, and as for strawberries, well, despite a recent slowing down in production, we have had 2 punnets worth of sweet, juicy fruit – delicious. We have also had about 2 bags worth of salad so far.

It doesn’t look like I’ve done much in the garden recently judging by this journal. I’ve been watering, deadheading and the like, but thanks to work and some presentations I’m doing in another arena of life I’ve been pushed for time. That and of course the small matter of a new kitchen. The old one has been falling apart for a few years and the lino on the floor has been damaged for a while and the floor underneath has been affected by damp. Last Saturday we emptied the kitchen, then set to work with taking up the hardwood flooring (mostly rotten). Then cleaning down of the walls, ripping off the tiles, and organising my good neighbour, the retired carpenter, to lay new plywood over the wooden floor boards, and latex self levelling cement over the concrete parts. Why 2 different types of floor you ask? Well the back end of the kitchen used to be an old bathroom, and the side had a concrete hearth for a chimney stack. The same neighbour then plastered some great hole in the wall. Then it was my turn to fill holes, my wife's turn to take off a freeze from the top of the wall, and tomorrow the electrician comes to put in some extra sockets and a new electrical point for the cooker. In the afternoon the boxed up kitchen units arrive and then over the weekend and Monday we are painting the walls. On Tuesday the fitter comes to make all the raw materials into a kitchen. Next Friday we have the delivery of a new cooker, fridge freezer and dishwasher and then our handy neighbour can put new floor tiles down and all we have to do is then move everything back in that we moved out last Saturday. Oh, and there was the taking of all the old stuff to the recycling centre not to mention all the research and preparation we have done to facilitate all this. So I reckon I can be forgiven for being not too busy in the garden and not noting down what I have done, especially as this week alone I have had 3 rather late nights in the kitchen in a heat filled environment.

One kitchen nearly gutted

Ready for the build

Finished!

Next post: 7th July

24th and 30th June

24^th June

Today the leeks began to be planted out into section 2. I went to the allotment at lunchtime and planted out 34. Keen observers will note that is the same number as last year. Quite so! Time is of the essence nowadays since my work pattern changed and I can only spend lunchtimes at the allotment, and I did not have time to increase the number of slots cut into the membrane, so last years’ holes are full and I will return to make more and plant them later. I gave them a good drenching, a good dose of slug pellets and went home for lunch.

30^th June

I took my remaining curcubits to the allotment to fill in the gaps/replace eaten plants and planted out all but one green courgette plant, 3 pumpkins and a butternut squash. I spent about as much time watering as I did planting. We have certainly had a good old fashioned ‘flaming June’ and today was an absolute scorcher. I still need to plant out the 2 extra cucumbers and it wasn’t until all spaces were full that I remembered them!

Next post: 2nd July

16th - 18th June

16^th June

At lunchtime I potted on some sprouts plants into plastic cups as I will definitely be needing replacements at the allotment. I must grow them big and strong before I put them out. I planted out the last few ageratums in the evening and potted up some cinerarias for the window box in the playhouse. I gave the garden a really good drenching tonight. Today has been a really hot day and I fear for the smaller plants that have not yet established as well as all the container ones.

Great news! The first sweet pea has flowered. Both the white and the magenta one which has one dark petal and one light petal – very pretty, and very pleasing. There are more of both varieties budding up but not yet from the blue and reds (the ones I sowed myself).

17^th June

Do I have some capacity for tempting the weather, particularly the rain? A lady at work now warns me not to have a barbeque when she wants to be outside of a weekend and today I was just mowing the lawn when the rain started – after the great watering I gave the garden last night! Mind you, although I had just started mowing I had also just stopped, or rather the mower had just stopped after making an unhealthy sound, and a fight for life followed by a steady stream of cloudy smoke which continued long after turning off. For an electric mower, I don’t think this is good news.

Before all the rain (and we had a good downpour followed by extended lighter rain – just what we needed) I had been to the allotment to cover the carrots with fleece, trim some of the long grass round the edges, refill the slug traps (yes they had worked) and sprinkle more pellets about the place. I had also gone to Hilliers this morning and bought 5 courgette plants – 2 green and 3 yellows all for £2.98.

Thursday 18^th June

At lunchtime I forked over section 2 which went very well as the soil is light and untrodden, and covered it in membrane. This is the section for the leeks but then later I read in a magazine of one gardener talking about their produce and saying their leeks were hit by slugs. Last year I assumed the rabbits ate my leeks (they do!) and thought that, like onions, slugs are not interested in leeks. What with the under the membrane slug problem in other sections, should I fear a slug attack on the leeks?

Next post: 24th June

15th June

15^th June

The weather has improved dramatically over the weekend and into today. It’s been very hot indeed. So I needed to go to the allotment and get on with some watering. Looking around I saw that the sweet corn, the brassicas that have not been eaten and the onions are doing well, the onions fantastically so. It seems that just recently the onions have bulked up and their leaves have got even bigger. There are a few that are still small and scrawny but most are doing well with some looking like they will grow into real beauties. On the other hand, the squashes look rather weak and feeble. They are trying to resist slug attacks which never help and I am thinking that perhaps I did not sow early enough to allow them to grow large enough to be planted out at the normal time and be big enough and tough enough to handle the slugs which they usually do. The peppers are also lacking in vigour and again I fear that is because I kept them in smaller pots for too long and stunted them. The sweet peas are still waiting to grab a hold on life, they look thin and pale although one or two seem to be producing a new stem that looks like bolting skywards. The carrots are still there, little sprigs of leaves in rows that have plenty of gaps, such is their temperamental mentality. The garlic looks OK but not as good as they did last year. The leek bed is producing a mass of lovely bind weed and other weeds that I aim to fork out soon then lay the membrane and plant out the leeks from back home where many are ready to go into their final growing places.

Whilst at the allotment I saw Jim from the committee. He was giving out information about a show on the 20^th September for allotment holders. There are 29 show categories with prizes for 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd places as well as commendations. These give you points and the plot holder with the most number of points overall is the grand champion. The cost is 50p per entry per class and it looks like a bit of fun. I intend to enter.

Back at home it is safe to say we are well and truly in strawberry season which, due to our variety being one that crops from May to September, is going to be a long one. Most fruit grow quite large and we picked a couple the middle of last week but that was only the first flush. We have now picked the equivalent of a supermarket punnet. I usually love them with sugar and cream, so much so that my taste buds almost demand the sweetness added on so I’m very glad to say that our strawberries taste really good and sweet just as they are. Other great news from home is that one white and one magenta sweet pea is ready to bloom any day now. The hanging baskets are now in good bloom mainly due to the surfinas in the back garden which look like petunias but without their flowers being as sticky – thankfully. The basket in the front has a mass of red and white petunia blooms which surprised me a little as according to the label they were both red! The white bush rose in the back garden is the best it has ever been having over 50 blooms out all at once – so many the branches are flopping over.

10th - 13th June

10^th June

I managed to get to the allotment to plant out the remaining squashes to find that slugs have had their wicked way with a number of the ones already planted. They’ve completely eaten 2 yellow courgettes, most a green one and a whole cucumber plant. Thankfully they either don’t like butternut squash or were too full after eating the other stuff, or perhaps the butternuts are big enough to look after themselves. I planted out what I had and gave a good sprinkling of pellets. I’m wondering if the weed suppressing membrane is helping the slugs. They live in the soil and so will come to the surface of an evening, meet the membrane and travel round underneath it in the absence of vegetation until they find a nice opening and fresh air and lo and behold, there’s a young juicy plant to eat! At least 8 sprout plants have also met the same fate as too have some cauliflowers. The calabrese however are progressing well. At home I asked my wife to get me some cheap beer from the supermarket when she goes tomorrow. Just in case you don’t know, beer traps are rather successful in catching slugs – I’d hate you to think I was desperate for cheap beer – or even expensive beer, despite how slugs might drive you to it.

12th June

In what may seem like a truly wino-like moment, I found myself on the allotment at 9am cracking open cans of Asda lager. I can honestly say though, it wasn’t for me. I dug 5 holes for plastic cups and filled them with the lager. I have sited them on the edge of a few sections underneath the membrane so that they can entice slugs to their deaths. Cue: maniacal laughter.

13^th June

After a day out with the family I planted out the cineraria and the ageratums into the borders.

5th -8th June

5^th June

I bought 2 rolls of 8m x 1.5m weed suppressing membrane and after work I pinned out one along section 8 and planted my 16 sweet peppers, staked them and tied them in followed by the customary watering. I then laid out more membrane in section 6 in the small brassica section and planted out 10 cauliflowers. There are more to go out but I’ll need a little more membrane first.  Then more watering and the sprinkling of slug pellets.

The Kitchen Garden at Kew Gardens

At home I planted out my last lavender that was still in a small pot. The fathead variety went into the rockery. I potted up the nicotianas, 7 into a large container and 3 into hanging baskets, then I finished planting up the pots for the play house window box with a mixture of laurentias and cinerarias.

It has been much cooler today and my rise in energy is a result. The weather forecasters have been warning of rain at the midweek point, but nothing yet.

6^th June

A lazy day at home where I planted out about 40 salvias and in doing so found 2 slugs in the tray. They must have found their way in when I had the tray out in the border to get some sunshine a few weeks ago, and the slugs, spoilt for choice merrily munched on them back in the greenhouse. I also found space for a few rocket plants in the borders. All the rocket has been allowed to grow lanky in the back of the greenhouse so it does not look appetising or bulky enough to ease an appetite. It just flops over and lies in the sun. I trust in a recovery. What are looking strong are the sweet peas as they rocket skywards – most heartening.

I took the 5 year old to the allotment with a long list of plans, but left it too late in the afternoon. We laid down membrane on section 7 and I cut crosses for courgettes. Two yellow ones went in, with space for one more that has only recently germinated at home, and 3 green ones, one of which I managed to slice out of the pot with the metal end of the tape measure I had used to mark out the right distances so that one went back into the pot with hopes and prayers. We laid more membrane in section 9 and planted out 6 butternut squash with space for more, again, coming on at home. I planted a cucumber plant at each end of sections 7 and 8 and put in a stake for each. The 5 year old did some watering for me but that was all we had time for what with various needs of aforementioned young chap and thus had no time left for planting out the pumpkins, the crown prince squashes or the remaining cauliflowers, or for weeding the leek section and laying out membrane on it, or for preparing some more carrot furrows and sowing carrots or for lining the compost bin with some plastic sheeting I have there. It’s just as well I didn’t take the shears to cut the grass as that would have been another activity I wouldn’t have done. Never mind, it was an amount of work done that was equivalent to a stop off after work so it is all beneficial.

 7^th June

I was woken in the early hours by thunder and the sound of heavy rain and I was slightly concerned about the newly planted courgettes, cucumbers and squashes but grateful for the removal of serious watering tasks and for the fact that it was just as well I hadn’t sown more carrot seeds yesterday. I rolled over and slept well once more knowing my water butt was probably full again already.

Monday 8^th June

Not a great deal of work done, just a resowing of another pot of basil and a shallow tub of rocket, planting out a few laurentias into spaces in the hanging baskets and potting up 7 decent sized basil seedlings into their larger summer pots.