#8 |
This year so far.
Probably the first vegetables were early caulis in the polytunnel, sown early Feb. and planted out April. A dozen All-Year-Round variety that developed well and matured in our mini heat wave. I was a bit worried they would just bolt and produce very small heads.
Then another good crop from the Poly is beetroot (which reminds me I need to pick some ).
The Autumn planted onions did well and the maincrop are looking good and need harvesting. The carrots, sown late April in the poly, are also giving a very good yield. I find that they are rarely got by carrot flies in there, especially as I put up environmesh over the door when the nectarines start smelling and attracting wasps. The only poor vegetable this year has been garlic which were very affected by rust. So much so I have ordered bulbs for the autumn for the first time in probably 20 years.
Courgettes have been prolific, as has the solitary cucumber, probably as well the other one died.
The pea crop was good. I harvested what i wanted for the freezer (8kg) and left the rest to dry. Same with dfb, froze what I wanted and then leaving rest for drying. Climbing beans are looking good an well, unless we get an early frost.
Tomatoes are giving a good harvest at the moment but have leaf mould disease again so will likely finish early. The aubergines have quite few fruit on now as do the sweet peppers.
Early/2nd early potatoes need harvesting now. 1 row dug so far gave a good yield of 1kg/foot.
The freezer is well stocked with soft fruit for pies, puddings and porridge: red/black currants, gooseberries, raspberries even though autumn varieties I've had over 5kg on last years canes. The autumn canes will be a bit later (flowering now) and less prolific but I wanted 6kg in total and don't mind the time of year. A good crop of plums, Czar and Victoria, and Nectarines. The Victoria is about 20 years old and was moved 2 years ago by a JCB when we had some work done on our septic tank. It seems to be recovering quite well now.
Apples: the bramley, lord derby, katy and ellisons orange are well covered. None on James Grieve and few on Jonagold. Both the James Grieve and Ellisons seem to be going biennial, alternate years. Pears are being eaten by something, Pigeons, squirrels, crow? One small tree has be broken by whatever it is.
Probably the first vegetables were early caulis in the polytunnel, sown early Feb. and planted out April. A dozen All-Year-Round variety that developed well and matured in our mini heat wave. I was a bit worried they would just bolt and produce very small heads.
Then another good crop from the Poly is beetroot (which reminds me I need to pick some ).
The Autumn planted onions did well and the maincrop are looking good and need harvesting. The carrots, sown late April in the poly, are also giving a very good yield. I find that they are rarely got by carrot flies in there, especially as I put up environmesh over the door when the nectarines start smelling and attracting wasps. The only poor vegetable this year has been garlic which were very affected by rust. So much so I have ordered bulbs for the autumn for the first time in probably 20 years.
Courgettes have been prolific, as has the solitary cucumber, probably as well the other one died.
The pea crop was good. I harvested what i wanted for the freezer (8kg) and left the rest to dry. Same with dfb, froze what I wanted and then leaving rest for drying. Climbing beans are looking good an well, unless we get an early frost.
Tomatoes are giving a good harvest at the moment but have leaf mould disease again so will likely finish early. The aubergines have quite few fruit on now as do the sweet peppers.
Early/2nd early potatoes need harvesting now. 1 row dug so far gave a good yield of 1kg/foot.
The freezer is well stocked with soft fruit for pies, puddings and porridge: red/black currants, gooseberries, raspberries even though autumn varieties I've had over 5kg on last years canes. The autumn canes will be a bit later (flowering now) and less prolific but I wanted 6kg in total and don't mind the time of year. A good crop of plums, Czar and Victoria, and Nectarines. The Victoria is about 20 years old and was moved 2 years ago by a JCB when we had some work done on our septic tank. It seems to be recovering quite well now.
Apples: the bramley, lord derby, katy and ellisons orange are well covered. None on James Grieve and few on Jonagold. Both the James Grieve and Ellisons seem to be going biennial, alternate years. Pears are being eaten by something, Pigeons, squirrels, crow? One small tree has be broken by whatever it is.