A few possible problems..

We went to the plot after work, only went to pull some spuds but spent 2 hours up there chatting.
We've had some different problems on the plot this year but blight is certainly on site again as it has been both previous years. A few people have started putting Dithane 945 on their potato plants and tomatoes and we may join them this year. So far our plot seems to have got away with it, but it's bound to succumb.

Found this little soldier beetle on the potato plants.

The broad beans may be big enough by the weekend. Took the top off one of the broad bean plants as it was completely covered with blackfly, but the beans will be fine. The peas (petit pois) have started filling out - we tasted a couple of pod-fuls - so tasty.

The french beans have got their first flower buds and the runner beans have started to climb...

Courgette

The onions are looking a bit dodgy - they have mildew on them :-( Hopefully they'll continue to bulb up before they go down completely. The shallot tops are dying off so they should be ok....

Congo flower buds

Pulled another Lady ChristL - 1.43kg. Flower buds have appeared on the Congo spuds - 4 of the plants look good but one is really weak.

Picked some lovely colourful chard to go with chives & spuds for tea. Then beetroot and lettuce to add to lunch tomorrow.

George Clooney allotment story - The Daily Mash

The Daily Mash - Clooney dumps model for distracting him from allotment

It's soooo true :-)

Sunset

Wandered up the plot yesterday evening. It's been rainy over the last couple of days but is warming up a bit, thank goodness. One of the sweetcorn plants leaves had gone brown so I pulled it up and replaced it with a healthy specimen - the stem was broken at ground level so no wonder it didn't look very healthy ;-)

Lovely pink sky ...perhaps we're due for some more sunshine!!

Spuds and Onions

Yesterday evening we pulled another couple of Lady ChristL potatoes - 1.25kg There are lots of little tiny potatoes which could do with growing for a bit longer but we're trying to make  room for leeks and there'll be plenty more spuds for the next couple of months.

White Lisbon spring onions

As you can see, our White Lisbon spring onions (sowed 16th April) are almost ready to start picking. They just need a bit more rain to thicken up a bit.

One of the chard plants had gone to seed - it was one on the end so probably hadn't got as much water as plants in the middle. I pulled it out as there are plenty more where that came from - and Jamie won't eat the stuff anyway!

The sun came out again - yippee!

We spent a few hours on the plot this afternoon. It needed weeding after all the rain of the last couple of days. Apart from the parsnips which have refused to germinate, everything else looks pretty happy.

We put another 7 sweetcorn in - the ones we sowed and left under the cloche on site which had all germinated - much better than the ones we started at home.

We pulled a Rocket potato plant (1kg) and the first Lady ChristL (1.1kg) and a handful of strawbs and raspberries along with the usual salad.

Found a brilliant shiny beetle on our broad beans - I'll add the photo on my Friend or Foe webpage once it's identified...

Worms get knotted

No time to visit the plot today but I found something interesting on t'internet. On occasion we've found worms tied in knots in the ground - not just one knot but completely knotted balls. It turns out that they do this to conserve water during particularly dry spells (so no wonder we were finding them this Spring). They also do it during very cold weather.
Well, I thought it was interesting! I'll try to get a photo when we next spot one - if it stops raining again!

See http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/general-wildlife/30539-garden-worm.html

Evening stroll

We've just got back from the plot. Our shallots (Pikants and Golden Gourmet) have grown really tall - we think our compost may have been a bit rich for them. Some of the golden gourmets have flowered but we've been pinching the tops off so hopefully we'll still get ok shallots from them...

Pikant

Golden Gourmet

On the walk back we managed to catch a bat on camera - under the bridge over the River Dun on Bridge Street. They swoop around and fly really close to your face. We've seen them there before - but didn't see any last year so it's good that they're back.

Peas are popping up!

We went for a quick walk round the plot at about 8pm yesterday. After the rain all day Sunday the plot's looking much happier - the crimson broad beans have emerged and the second lot of peas (petit pois) are growing well.


Succession planting of Petit Pois



Crimson broad bean just emerging

We also found (and ate) the first few raspberries - the birds had spotted them first of course!

Well, it's raining

It's been a weird year (weather-wise) so far - I will update the website with Jan-June information, but the blog starts here!

We spent a couple of hours on the plot this morning - braved the hammering rain and wind. Still the ground isn't actually all that wet.
I planted the 11 sweetcorn plants which have been waiting in the cloche for a couple of weeks. We put the bottle cloches round them to stop them getting blown over or eaten. Noticed that about 5 more sweetcorn have actually germinated too, so that's excellent - will probably plant them out in the next week.

Jamie put the environmesh round the brussels sprout plants - they look happy and no caterpillars or eggs on them yet!!

Pulled a couple of the Rocket potato plants - 1.59kg of spuds