Entries from July 2007 ↓

Well, this year has been a disappointment to me with regard to the plot. The only thing I have done differently is not go up so often to water, yet it has been a harsh year to grow anything.

I know some of you are having a good year, or at least an OK year and have grown some reasonable crops.

However, where we are the plot is on the top of a rise, so it it exposed to the wind and rain more than others. There are no trees around it, fences, tall bushes or buildings in whose lee we would grow something.

No we have to forge on through wind and rain to protect our crops as best we can.

I went for a walk in the local countryside at the weekend and saw for myself just how bad it has been for the farmers in this area. I walked in wheat fields that were just a foot high! The plants that had grown had wet rot. In another field barley was laying flat on the ground – useless to man and beast. Even fields left for hay were flat and wet – no chance of bailing any of that.

We are in a sorry state and we will know it soon enough when food prices go up once the ‘forced’ produce from abroad has passed through and we need to rely on our own.

So here are some of my sorry specimens such as beetroot:

Pumpkin:

The constant wet weather has meant that the spinach has run away with itself. You’d think that it would slow down as it was so wet, but spinach likes it wet and bolts something rotten.

Here you can see a seed head.

If you wanted to keep it down you would need to cut it every week – whether you wanted to eat it or not. At least you could compost it if you didn’t want to eat it.

I had a real shock today when I went to the plot. Someone had been and cut down my large comfrey plant. I had grown this as green manure for the composter so was surprised it had been levelled as you can see in the picture.

They had a general clean up at the plot yesterday and I couldn’t make it, but still, they didn’t have to attack my plants to get their own back. I know how hard it is to cut the hedges and keen the grass down, but you would expect them to have some understanding of what is a good plant and what is not. 🙁

As the weather held off today I went to the plot to see how well everything had done – or rather not done, as is the way this year.

I was pleasantly surprised by the sweetcorn. If you remember we had such a job getting it to grow that I didn’t think they would actually come to much.

OK, it’s not as large as the plotholder next to me – his is at least a metre tall, but at least it is growing, though I worry it wont have a long enough season to come to much now.

Well, I went to dig out the last of the earlies as I wanted them for my evening meal.

Once again they were delicious, light and full of flavour. I also dug up a couple of the cabbages, but they seem to have some water damage, so I didn’t get as much from them as I would have liked. Still, they were tasty and I really must say much better than the shop bought ones.

In the video below you can see me digging the spuds up.

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Hopefully the lates will be just as tasty. Will try some next week or so.

So, it’s no longer unknown, I have found out what the plant is that I posted here.

So, the plant I found on the plot turns out to be – drumroll please – Nigella, damascena, ‘Miss Jekyll’

I went to Gardener’s World Live in June. I thought I ought to go see what all the fuss was about.

One of the early indoor gardens:

The man himself, Alan Titchmarsh:

The Good Homes/Food part. Not really my scene, too much celebrity testosterone for my liking:
A few lovely plants I liked (all indoors):

The outdoor seating area – packed as you can see:

These were a selection of the outdoor gardens:

Well, the broad beans are all gone now. I will leave the plants to rot down as they add nitrogen to the soil so there is no point digging them up and composting them.

This was the last batch we had:

Some were not so great as they had started to go over:

But when we shelled them, most of the beans were still really good:

Don’t they look delicious?:

I saw this butterfly on the plot yesterday.

Can anyone identify it?

sorry about the rotten pic, but only had the camera phone with me.

Update:

I have just found out it is a moth:

The Cinnabar (Tyria jacobaeae)
Wingspan 32-42 mm.

Resembling no other British species, except perhaps the burnets (Zygaenidae), this is a fairly common moth in much of Britain.

It is generally nocturnal, but is quite often disturbed during the day from long grass, low herbage etc. At night, it comes to light.

The distinctive larvae, with their yellow and black hoops, generally feed gregariously on ragwort (Senecio jacobaea) and other related plants.

The flight period is May through July.

You have to be optimistic really, particularly in this weather.

Today I went up to the plot to see the damage done by the atrocious weather this week. I suppose I shouldn’t complain as I have not been flooded out like some and have not had my plot submerged and lost the lot. However, it is a little depressing that the garden and plot this year have taken such a battering.

As far as the plot goes there is really nothing to look at, so I didn’t bother taking a picture. However, the parsnips, sprouts, cauliflowers and onions have all done very well. They have grown and been pest free.

On the down side, the spinach has gone to seed as all the water has given it the spurt it didn’t need. It will recover, but it’s a shame. The runner beans have continued to grown and look good, if a little on the lean side. This is true of everyone else’s runners too. some are in a worse state than mine. The leeks are OK, but covered in weeds and I have been clearing them today. The beetroot are still there, but only just. I cant bear to mention the courgette and pumpkin as it pains me too much – I will photograph these when I can bring myself to do it.

On the up side, the corn has continued to grow despite the rain and looks quite healthy and thick – unlike other people’s which came on early. Their’s are starting to rot in all the wet.

No one else up the plot this weekend – they must all be on holiday to get some warm weather. They’ve probably given up on their plots as they are normally about most of the weekend.

I guess it’s just a case of bow to the weather and wait for it to feel like being a friend to the gardener again. for now I am weeding and waiting. At least my tomatoes are doing well with their daily soaking – for now.