Wednesday 18 July 2012

What's Happening on the Plot this week?

I have only managed a couple of sessions on the plot this week - a couple of fine days has enabled me to do a bit of weeding and staking and a bit of harvesting.  Progress is slow on the runner beans - no signs of any beans yet - I have sown some more in a container in the Rosebank garden as a fall-back.
The plot is looking very colourful and full to the brim except where I have been harvesting potatoes.

The brassica patch is coming along nicely and I have been harvesting broccoli and I think the scarlet kale and cavolo nero will soon be large enough to pick.

About a third of the plot is planted with winter veg
Scarlet Kale, Cavolo Nero, Hurst Greenshaft Peas, Cocozelle Courgettes, Savoy Cabbage and Broad Beans

The beetroot patch needs weeding but they are starting to swell nicely and will be ready for harvesting soon.

We have had strong winds these last couple of days and the sunflowers have taken a bit of a battering, this is the only one that has flowered so far and it was snapped of at the base and lay flat on the ground - oh dear.
The sheep-shearer came on Sunday and luckily the rain held off.  Here are Alf and Ed minus their coats - they hate being sheared and have refused to come up the field to see me since it was done.  I bet they're feeling pretty chilly without their fleeces at the moment.

38 comments:

  1. Lovely post as usual Elaine, are the veg netted to keep off birds or wildlife in general

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    1. It is supposed to keep cabbage whites, pigeons and rabbits off - it may not always work but it makes me feel better.

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  2. It all looks fantastic. I had my first pea pod this week. Just ate it, standing there in the garden with a big grin on my face.

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    1. Aww bless - hope you have many more to come.

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  3. Well, it all looks so beautiful; puts my all-green patch to shame. Just picked our first toms.

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    1. Nonsense - I'd swap my patch for Haddocks any day - picked your first toms eh - show off!

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  4. Your plot looks fabulous, very colourful and brimming with crops and flowers. You are certainly ahead of things there.

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    1. I'm not all that far ahead - some things are just refusing to grow and I've lost my french beans completely - so I am doing a lot more re-sowing to compensate.

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  5. Ahhh, lovely to see a picture of Alf and Ed, we just need some warmer weather now that they've taken their coats off. Your veg patch is full to overflowing, it doesn't look like the weather has held you back at all.

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    1. I do seem to have squeezed a lot in Jo - next year I am going to pull out some of the raspberries - they have taken over one of the patches - then everything else will have a bit more room.

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  6. Beautiful colours in your plot Elaine. Your subflower looked stunning. X

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    1. It did look stunning before the wind felled it - I am going to cut if off and bring it indoors so I can appreciate it a bit more.

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  7. Nice post Elaine. Your veg looks good. Things are much the same here in Somerset managed to get down the plot last Thursday, Sunday & yesterday in between the rain, which is coming down as usual at the moment.

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    1. It really has been a nightmare hasn't it - I usually spend most of the summer pottering about - not this year - little snatches here and there is all I've been able to manage - at least we're all in the same boat.

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  8. Well, at least you didn't have to do any watering, Elaine, as you probably would expect to do in July. You have a very nice mix between flowers and veg,

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    1. I used to quite enjoy the evening watering sessions after the heat of the day - it seems more normal - and I do have a lot of stored water ready for the next drought!!!

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  9. Lovely post Elaine, very colourful & it looks very idyllic.

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    1. It would look a lot better if everywhere wasn't so wet and soggy.

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  10. Wow, Elaine! Your plot is looking F-A-B! It looks stuffed full of goodies to eat, no wonder the slugs love you. You seem to have achieved a lovely mix of flowers and veg, shame about your sunflower keeling over, hopefully there'll be more very soon. I found that I, too, have one sunflower yesterday - what joy!

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    1. Thanks Caro - besides there being lots to eat there are also lots of weeds - thank goodness the camera doesn't pick up on them all. Sunflowers do brighten the place up a bit don't they.

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  11. I'm just a touch envious at how good it all looks, and the fact that you've had a sunflower already!
    My plot is so waterlogged and bedraggled! Flighty xx

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    1. You are usually the Sunflower King - mind you it's the only one that has flowered - the rest are nowhere near yet. Sorry to hear about your poor bedraggled plot - it is so disappointing this year.

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  12. Your plot is looking great Elaine - most envious. At the moment just getting to mine is an extreme sport and when I do it's a despondent sight that greets me. Hoping though that this promised warmer, dryer weather materialises so that I can at least have a good weeding and tidying up session.

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    1. My plot would certainly look a bit neater if I could get the grass cut - it is growing at a rate of knots but it is just so soggy underfoot - what a year!

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  13. Well Elaine....for only a few sessions in your garden it is looking really fresh, full and fantastic. Sorry about the sunflower,but enjoy it inside. Your calabrese and brassicas look really healthy and NO HOLES too.. Mine are very bedraggled compare to yours !
    Poor Alf and Ed look a bit lost....leave them alone, and they will come home, dragging their tails behind them...LOL!

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    1. I'm not counting my chickens Cath - there's still plenty of time for everything to go wrong - pessimistic moi!

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  14. Love the photos Elaine, you have a very beautiful garden and it looks very healthy and productive. :)

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    1. Thank you Shirley - it has been very neglected this year due to the awful weather - longing to spend time out there in the sunshine - they say a change is coming - about time too.

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  15. Your plot is looking lovely and colourful Elaine. What a shame about your one flowering sunflower. They are such a powerful image of summer so I guess its demise is a reflection on the awful summer we are having!

    Lots of good things there for harvesting though.

    Jeanne
    x

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    1. Thank you Jeanne - I guess we are all going through the same miserable summer so the sunflowers (or rather the sunflower) put a smile on my face for a while anyway.

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  16. Love the mix of veg and flowers. You say you're not far ahead but we have no courgettes and our first lot of peas failed - now waiting for the second lot to flower and fingers crossed they produce peas.

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    1. When I picked the courgette as shown in the picture - it was all soggy at the end- but there are a few others starting to form - I have also suffered blossom end rot on my cucumbers as well as slug/snail damage - they have ruined 3 cukes so far and I can't find where they are hiding - aargh!

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  17. Replies
    1. Thank you Satu - I haven't been able to look after it much this year as the weather has been attrocious.

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  18. Had my first runner beans from the garden-so delicious and even more so because I’ve had to wait for them-don’t think it’s going to be a good year for them somehow...

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    1. Nothing on mine at all - a few flowers and that's it - I have re-sown another batch to try and get a late harvest - it definitely has been a rubbish runner bean year for me, first time ever.

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  19. Lovely to see your garden in the height of summer, looks great! I just got one of those "I've been mugged in Spain" emails from your yahoo account - might have been hacked?

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  20. Thanks for letting me know - my husband received one too - not quite sure what to do about it.

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