Savour the Flavour

The first strawberry of the year - aah, the taste of things to come...(I should mention that those amazingly straight rows of seedlings in the background aren't ours - they're Neal's, our plot neighbour).

We shared that little strawberry. We both deserved a treat as it was another cool day but we got lots done and by late afternoon the sun came out and it actually felt like June. The Florence fennel are surviving, so far, in their green bins (I don't think the pests have noticed them).

The three tomato plants - Indigo Rose (cordon), Orange Paruche and Aviditas (cordon) - are in their bags in the greenhouse. I need to be sure to remove sideshoots on the cordon plants otherwise the greenhouse will be havoc! The onions seem slow this year, but I think that's because I'm comparing with other plotholders Winter-planted ones which are much more advanced.

Jamie dug two big holes for the Jack-be-little pumpkins on Plot 7. They'll be planted on top of a lovely load of well-rotted manure - that should keep them happy. I sowed a couple of trays of Oarsman leeks and 3 (just 3) Revenge Brussels sprouts. They're waiting in the netted 'nursery' along with some other seedlings and flowers that are waiting to be planted out.

Not what Summer should feel like!

Well, my week off hasn't proved to be the sunshine and barbecue week that I'd hoped for! June started extremely chilly yesterday with a temperature of just 13° in the greenhouse :-( At least I was out of the wind while I was in there though, which is why it looks so tidy. The 3 bell peppers are in their growbags with growpots and a string to take them to the roof (fingers crossed!).

I potted up the luffa cylindra and that is down the end with plenty of climbing space. It wants to be warm and humid so I really hope the weather cheers up soon! The tomato plants are waiting to be put into growbags and will be opposite the peppers. The troughs are planted up with marigolds and the big one will stay in the greenhouse as they're meant to be good companion plants for tomatoes. The small trough will go by the allotment main gate once the plants are a bit bigger.

Two rows of carrots are, at last, in the ground. Primo and Eskimo so they should keep us fed throughout the Summer and Autumn. There's a row of chard alongside the carrot netting and some coriander plants along the end. The rest of this quarter will have sprouts and more marigolds.

These are our Benchmaster runner beans. Protected with fleece, not because we expect frost but because we don't want the horrible wind to snap them off.
The cool temperatures have meant that the mangetout haven't grown very much yet, but it must get warmer soon...probably when I return to work next Tuesday!

Our chairman has strimmed the empty plot next to ours and we found a frog - yay! Scoff all those slugs please froggy!

Homage to Slugs

I've been chastised for using slug pellets (not by an allotment holder, obviously!). I agree they are horrible. They kill horribly and are indiscriminate in the type of slug they kill. Not all slugs are bad slugs. Many of them kill unwanted pests in the soil. Others help in the decomposition of organic matter to make our lovely compost. But lots of them enjoy fresh veg more than Jamie does!

There are other methods of clearing slugs - all just as nasty and painful (I usually regret talking to people about their slug deterrent methods!) and mostly ineffective. Beer traps are probably the least offensive and reasonably successful slug deterrent, though still indiscriminate. We've tried using broken pottery, coffee and sand around plants but they have either been ineffective or the rain washes it away just as the slugs are on the move. Copper tape is only good for pots and we're not convinced it works.

So, we'll continue to use organic slug pellets sparingly. We'll use them under netting to stop the birds eating them.
If slugs eat the parsnips we sowed at the weekend (we've opted for Tender and True this year) or eat the bud off our remaining blue poppy I'll be very unhappy.

If they take out our runner beans (Scarlet Empire) and the squashes the day after we plant them out we'll be very unhappy!

If they eat our peppers which we've just moved up to the greenhouse we'll be very unhappy!

But, I'll try not to hate all slugs. Really, I will!

Ta-Daaaa! 500th Post

"Three of our peppers look fine, but ones's a little chilly". 

Courtesy of Jamie for my 500th post.

Buried Under the Beans

Our plot neighbour, Neal, has been making offerings of bones to us recently. He certainly seems to find a lot on his plot and hopes that we can identify them for him. We can't (sorry Neal) but here's my attempt to create the creature this little lot belonged to and now the skeletal creature is at the bottom of the hole under the Benchmaster runner bean wigwam.

While Jamie was preparing that bean area, I was doing various bits and bobs.

I planted up a tub and small trough with the Night Sky petunia. They are very pretty, such a beautiful deep purple and like paint-spattered white.

I sowed 30 sunflowers. Half are Russian Giants and the others are Big Smiles - these are dwarf ones but they still have big flower heads. That's the pumpkins and luffah on the shelf underneath.

I sowed some more Boltardy Beetroot, Apache spring onions and asparagus pea into the raised bed. And put some slug pellets and netting over the areas where our willdflowers and night stock have just germinated.

The Paris Silverskin onions that I sowed last month look a bit pathetic - We're sure the slugs have eaten them, so, although rather late in the year, I sowed some more in the garlic/onion bed. The potatoes on Plot3 have also fallen foul to slugs. At least two of the plants didn't re-appear after we had earthed them up :-( 

And the ants have found something interesting where the stems have been broken/eaten.

At least this little bee is helping out with the broad beans!