Another week of sunshine, showers, warm and cold. I dont know how the plants put up with it because I can't. Still picking fresh veg every day, plenty of beans, tomatoes and courgettes to name a few. Below are some 'early nantes 5' carrots. These are a good size and very little sign of carrot fly damage so a great success this year so looking forward to growing many more next year. The tomatoes are 'harginger' variety and have done really well this year no signs of disease and have put up with some neglect but i have been rewarded with some nice tasty tom's. The last picture was collected today (Friday) 'cylindra' beetroot, 'parmex' carrots, courgettes and leeks. The leeks have been picked a bit early but we wanted some to eat right now.

If the weather stays dry tonight i will hopefully get some more veg and tidy up and cut the grass

It's a strange time of year. After all the rush and panic of sowing seeds and planting out ther eisn't that much to do except harvest and keep tidy. There will always be jobs to do but not the pressing urgency from before. There is also a sence of impatience waiting for everything to finish so the beds can be cleared and palns made for next year, it's difficult to visualise and plot what needs to go where this year and for next year. I'm not sure where to put these asparagus plants. As you can see they are just starting to produce one globe each, but next year the plants will be much bigger and i have another eight plants grown from seed this year.

These are the first of the onions to be pulled up. They are spanish white and very nice in salads, much milder than normal ones

The leeks and southport red onions are doing well. First time growing them from seed and quite pleased with the results. The proof obviously is in the eating.

Next are the runner beans. I prefare the texture of these over green beans when cooked. The plants and flowers are lovely sight with the bonus of some nice beans to eat



These are some geranium, sweet williams and alpine strawberries in front of the shed to brighten up the place.


And lastly the herb bed. Not to sure what to do next year as they take up a full bed but i havent used any of them this year. There are some mints. oregano, tarragon, sage, thyme, garlic chives and lemon balm with some pot marigolds thrown in. Most of them used to be in pots but tey either outgrew them or kept drying out in warmer weather. They do look really well withn the flowers on so i may pot up the useful one for home and put the rest of them in the borders

Too Busy to Blog

It has been well over a week since i last updated my blog. As you can imagine its quite a busy time of year getting things started, sowing seed, potting on, pricking out, hardening off, too frosty, too sunny, not much rain. As well as those things to think about the allotment is still being finished off with fencing, top soil for beds, cuting grass etc. Hopefully next year will be a little easier. The garden plot is much easier with just a little maintenance and moving plants around.

Wednesday was the start of work for a guy called Richard, a neighbour of a gardning customer who wanted some raised beds building. Unfortunatly the timber suppliers had no suitable timber in but i got seven pallets for free. Thursday was spent making fence panels and another hour at Richards digging over the beds ready for the timber surrounds. On Friday i planted out the leeks and onions grow from seed into a bed prepared for them. The other two photos show the early potatoes and onions growing well but could do with some rain on them as could everything else. The sunny weather means everything is drying out and slowing down, but rain is forecast for next week.

Leeks and onions planted out

Onion sets

Early potatoes

Saturday looked like being poor weather so i stayed at home and tidied up the front garden. Is amazing how much material comes from cutting back and pruning. Later the weather turned reasonable so i was able to finish off the fencing down the pathway, tidied up some beds and took some fuscia cuttings. Sunday i planted out some sweet peas in the border and topped up some beds with seived soil. Later i got some plants from a friend Judith. I got some grasses, huechera and hosta and swapped for some geranium seedlings but i have some other plants to dig up for her later

On Monday it finally rained so into the greenhouse to sort through seedlings and plants. I pricked out the early sowing of brassicas into pots ready to harden off and plant in seed bed for later. Tuesday was more rain but Wednesday picked up and was quite hot and sunny. I finished off the raised beds for Richard and continued seiving top soil to top up borders and got some manure from the farm to mulch the hedging and plants.

Richards raised beds

Salad potatoes in bags now outside

Next are a couple of views, one of the fruit border which has space along the front edge for peas and beans. The tulips are just starting to fade now but have been a welcome addition to brighten up the plot. I have some hardy annuals to put in between hedges and plants to attract bees etc