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Saturday:
I dug over a patch we need and got all these assorted early potatoes that we missed when digging up a few months ago: Pentland Javelin, Foremost & Charlotte.
Jo weeded around the Kale and Borocale and planted some more Cabbages in a space left by Pak-Choi that had gone to seed earlier in the season.
So to protect these brassicas I used some water pipe hoops with metal tube legs to give extra hight and covered with netting, protecting the growing Kale etc.
This is the patch I dug over and got that mix of Potatoes, we plan to plant some over winter crops on Sunday.
This patch was left fallow, so a few weeks ago I dug it over and today Jo planted:
Leeks,
Spinach,
Cabbages,
Swede
& Kohl Rabi. (see next photo)
And to make sure the young seedlings, we had started off at home, dont get pulled out & eaten by the birds we netted the whole patch!
So Saturday ended with a good harvest:
Runner Beans, 2x Courgettes, Tomatoes & Potatoes.
We spent a very satisfying 5 hours today!
Sunday:
The patch cleared on Saturday is now full again with:
Kale, Pak Choi, Cabbage, Spinach & Lettuce. Netted of course too.
Inside the fruit cage: Jo weeded around the Raspberries & cut out all the old fruited wood, then I tied up all the remaining canes to the horizontal wires, the autumn ones have fruit on already.
I have been clearing the lane end of our plot ready for the next big change to its entrance, but dug up this massive root! I expect its from the tree on the other side of the lane, will have to remove it as it might interfere with my plans!
Odd that we have a Yellow and an Orange Courgette on the same plant ?
The Patti-Pan Squash is looking good, we hope it gets a bit bigger, needs more water!
Dug up some more Picasso spuds for our meals, we will also have some of the earlies I dug up on Saturday, they store well in light proof bags.
A good weekend of digging, weeding, planting & harvesting, another 5 satisfying hours done today.
A total of 10 hours this weekend and the weather was good too.
Thanks for reading/returning. Ian & Jo.
I'll start with today's harvest:
Foremost potatoes
2x Courgettes
and a Cucumber.
I dug up the potatoes around 5pm and by 6:30 a few were in my tummy, you cant get fresher than that!
In the Greenhouse:
Here is the Cucumber I picked.
Still in the Greenhouse:
The Plum Tomatoes are nearly ready, we will be making plenty of tomato sauces with these.
The climbing Borlotti Beans are doing well, they have reached the top of my 6ft wigwam and the pods are forming well, you can just see the mottled red/green colour starting.
The Coxs Orange Pippins are looking good too, the tree is laden with sweet apples.
This heritage variety 'Woodbrook Pippin' has 3 apples, last year we got just one! So hopefully its now happy in its new location.
I just love these Echinops, the bees love them too when in flower, like this one.
The blue colour is stunning.
So I managed 3 hours today, between the showers, the sun came out and it was lovely, but the sky went very grey and it rained soon after I arrived home to make my dinner.
Thanks for reading/returning. Ian (& Jo on holiday)
Sunday was our annual Open day when we open our gates to the public, have stalls selling Fruit, Veg, Jam & Cakes, we have a Tombola, Raffle and cook food on site, its a great fund raiser for our society. A local radio station did the music for us as it is our centenary year.
So I got busy neatening up our plot, cut the grass and pulled up loads of weeds.
I dug over this patch, removed mainly grass and some persistant weeds! It's now ready for some winter crops, like Kale, Spinach & Onions.
We had lots of visitors, as all plots did, folk loved all the flowers we grow, especially the Poppies & Lavender.
Today, Monday, I returned to finish off some digging & harvested all this, another bumper harvest.
Potatoes, Cauliflower, Courgettes, Kale, Peas, Broad Beans, Blackberries & Sweet Peas too.
I displayed the Canada flag for open day, we have Canadians in our family so was very appropriate.
Thanks for reading/returning. Ian & Jo
Such a lovely day to get busy. This end of the plot is a haven for Bees with all the flowers we grow, in fact flowers feature all over our plot.
I was busy at the other end clearing lots of weeds and getting to the Damson so I could remove all leafcurl diseased branches, which we burnt.
This is the Goosberry bush, sadly it has suffered from swordfly attack.
So we decided to harvest all the fruit and freeze it, so we can decide what to do with it later.
So here is the final crop, approx 9lb.
Although we have already harvested some, Jo added a handful to Jumbleberry Jam she made, I'm hoping to make wine with some and even expriment with adding other fruit for wine too.
So time to dig up more early potatoes, these are Foremost and very tasy they are too.
These are Pentland Javelin, also a nice early potato.
These are our favorite, Charlotte.
They are a waxy 2nd early but have a lovely flavour and cook really well.
Jo's been busy!
A trug full of Peas, Broad Beans & some French Beans too,
Here is the Cougette patch , there is Beetroot too & in the back the Leeks I put in a few weeks ago.
So a bountiful harvest today: Cauliflowers, Potatoes, Peas, Beans, Blackberries, Blackcurrants, Raspberries, Strawberries, Beetroot, Gooseberries & Sweet Pea flowers.
Yes a lovely day, we got lots done, weeding & harvesting. We had Cauliflower cheese, with New Potatoes, Peas & Beans for dinner tonight, only harvested this afternoon & very tasty it was too.
Thanks for reading/returning. Ian & Jo.
The Cauliflower is ready to pick.
We will have Cauliflower Cheese for dinner soon.
Tomatoes doing well in the greenhouse.
I'm managing to water them regularly as its so hot at the moment.
We have Cucumbers too.
Still lots of Peas, they are filling out nicely.
We have had lots so far and still loads more to come.
All of the Cara potatoes are in flower, the Picasso, planted a week earlier havent flowered yet.
Last week I showed the Pheasant nest, so neatly arranged amongst the Broad Beans.
But sadly a few days after, we found the nest had been raided and all the eggs gone, we are sure it was a Fox.
So Jo continued clearing the Broad Beans and tying up any that weren't.
The Apple trees are laiden and the June drop has happened, so we are expecting a bigger harvest this year.
I cleared around the pond, pulling out lots of Ground Elder, Nettles and Comfrey.
You can see it now & while I was pulling all those weeds I could hear the Frogs plopping into the water.
So another great harvest, lots of fruit this time and the Blackcurrants are ready, so Jo picked a punnet full.
Thanks for reading/returning. Ian & Jo.
Last week these Borlotti Beans were 2/3 of the way up, now they are almost at the top, just a few more days and I'll nip the tops off, to allow the beans to form.
Ooh exciting we have the beginings of a Cauliflower, it's the first we have grown for a few years.
The Peas are filling out nicely, we have had some already with our dinner, and there are loads more to come!
I even ate a pod full myself they were so sweet.
Had to take this photo, of all the Poppies, the yellow ones are California Poppies.
It's the view from our rest spot while having a cuppa & lunch.
Another cracking harvest: Charlotte Potatoes, Peas, Broad Beans, Strawberries, Raspberries, Loganberries & Sweet Peas.
A Turnip too was found while clearing weeds in the Broad Bean patch, a surprise too!
So while Jo was weeding the Broad Beans, she disturbed a Pheasant that flew off, later on Jo unearthed a nest among the undergrowth with 7 eggs in it.
So she stopped and re-covered the nest in the hope the Pheasant will return, I'm sure it will.
Anyway we got lots done, even had a bonfire to burn some of the weeds we have pulled out and dried, there are still plenty more weeds, so another bonfire will be needed!
The pond is here somewhere, it's a bit overgrown again and will need clearing next time we are down!
Thanks for reading/returning. Ian & Jo
