July 2007 Diary

 

Information, photographs and video will be added throughout the month.

This is just a diary of some of the things we have done or noticed if you want to add your information or observations click here

Weekend 8 July

On the plot

• Picking quite a lot of soft fruit, alpine strawberries, loganberries, red currants, black currants and a handful of blueberries and raspberries. We have had lots and lots of redcurrants and so turned some into red currant jelly.
• The time to harvest vegetables is also underway, salads, potatoes, broccoli, cabbage etc.
• Broad beans are being picked for freezing.
• Some things are really being set back by the weather. It really needs to warm up a bit now.
• The grass continues to grow quickly and need frequent strimming.

In the garden

• The busy lizzies are usually growing well at this stage but this year they seem to be having to try and learn how to swim.

In the green house

• More French beans and peas- Alderman have been sown. The original French beans are struggling a bit so maybe a second sowing will fare better.

•  The slugs or snails have had another party in the cold-frame – wiping out the chrysanthemum cutting and young lettuce plants.

Out and About

• There seems to be lots of ragwort (unless it is just something that looks very much like it), growing on the motorway embankments this year. Ragwort is poisonous to horses and other livestock, I always thought it was controlled because of this danger but there seems to be a great deal of it about this year.

•  Visited Barnsdale (used to belong to Geoff Hamilton), this weekend and interestingly their vegetable crops seem to be suffering in the same way as ours. Even the experts are having problems – I suppose we should gain comfort from this!

Weekend 15 July

 

On the plot

• The plot should be looking at its best at this time of year but the weather conditions that we have been experiencing make it look more like October.
• The out door tomatoes, courgettes, squashes and cucumbers are struggling to grow.
• Started picking peas – the tall growing varieties were battered by the winds and this seems to have affected cropping. The shorter varieties are faring better and have provided enough peas to enable us to freeze some.
• Some potato tops have blackened so we harvesting them and they are providing us with a supply of new potatoes.
• Also harvesting cabbage and broccoli.
• Planted Sweet Fennel, French parsley and chives.
• Weeds at least are growing well, so lots of weeding to do.
• Buddleia Walk is flowering well. We have quite a few buddleias on the plot as I always seem to have too many cuttings for the garden and they do attract the bees and butterflies (well they usually do!)

In the garden

• The plants that we bought at Barnsdale, last weekend are still waiting to be planted.
• The John Downie crab apple is absolutely loaded with crab apples – so much so that the branches are weighted down.
• The clematis Princess Diana is looking good again – it always seems to grow really well and be covered in red bell-like flowers.
• There are just far too many slugs and snails! YUK!

In the greenhouse

• Planted more cabbage seeds – Kalibos (red), Puma,
• Planted seeds of Baby Chinese cabbage – Wa Wa Sai (wonder what that means?) and Pak Choi – Green Revolution
• Planted seeds for Mesclun Salad Mix

Out and About.

• Walking past some gardens it’s impossible to miss the rich, strong, honey smell of buddleias in full flower although there seems to be a distinct lack of butterflies and bees around them this year. If this rainy weather continues then the insects will need to grow tiny umbrellas over their wings.
• The bracken is growing strongly in the hedgerows.
• Did you notice it rained a lot this week?

Not a butterfly or bee in sight!

 

Weekend 22 July

 

On the plot

• Still picking peas, redcurrants, blackcurrants and loganberries.
• The alpine strawberries left in from last year are fruiting well again, some of the berries being fairly large – well large in terms of alpine strawberries. We have some new plants still waiting to be planted but it is just too wet to prepare the bed that they are destined for.
• Actually saw some butterflies and bees on the buddleia – nothing like as many as usual though.
• Planted more French beans
• Lots of weeding is necessary – it is really difficult to keep up with it.
• Gathered a huge bunch of sweet peas – the stems are of a really impressive length.
• Dahlias are also flowering and providing cut flowers.
• The annual flower beds are looking good.
• Harvested broccoli and our rainbow carrots, red, orange and yellow.

In the garden

• Managed to plant the Barnsdale perennials.
• Masses of snails lurking around – we really need the population of song thrushes to increase to try and keep them in control

In the greenhouse

• Trimmed back the grape vine – it grows so fast now that this needs doing weekly.

Out and about

• There seems to be quite a few wildflowers growing in verges that I don’t remember seeing quite as many of in previous years, maybe I am just looking harder. This week noticed that there is absolutely masses of white clover. Also noticed purple vetch, red campion and rose bay willow herb and still lots of ragwort.
• There really is a lot of ragwort, when it all seeds it could cause a problem!
• The trees are starting to fruit, noticed conkers and ash keys.
• Himalayan balsam and rose bay willow herb are also flowering.

 

 

 

Weekend 29 July

On the plot

• Still picking soft fruit, red currants, gooseberries, blackcurrants, blackberries, loganberries and just a few blueberries
• Shrub roses are growing really strongly
• Sweet peas and providing bunches for vases and still have really long stems.
• Pulled up broad beans to make way for another crop. Picked off the remaining beans.
• Harvested more peas, French beans, courgettes (dark green, light green and yellow) and broccoli (which we have framed and popped up on the kitchen wall as a rare exhibit)!
• Started to gather plums – yellow ones – can’t remember the variety as the tree has been planted for a long time. Although some have been spoiled by the wet weather we seem to have quite a few. How come the best seem to be right at the top of the tree just out of reach?
• Ground was still too wet to dig properly
• At last the butterflies and bees have homed in on the buddleias. We spotted four varieties of butterfly at once, peacock, fritillary, small tortoiseshell and large white.
• Continue to pick alpine strawberries and a few yellow raspberries – we even found two very large ordinary strawberries that neither the slugs nor birds had noticed.
• We dug up the remaining winter onions and also our first bulb of garlic. I suppose most people will have realised this as we must have smelled of garlic all week!!

In the garden

• Cut back the raspberry canes that have finished fruiting

In the green house

• Potted up one or two things and that is more or less it!

Out and About

• The countryside has lost its fresh, verdant look – it looks as fed up as we all are!
• It was dry today and I saw my first combine harvester of the season – no doubt the farmers decided to make hay whilst the sun shone.
• There’s lots of dandelion-like flowers in the verges at the moment which I think are hawkbit. Driving past it is easy to be mistaken that dandelions are flowering again.
• The poppies seem to be lasting well in verges – I’m sure that they don’t usually be around for so long.
• Lots of clover too and the rose bay willow herb and Himalayan balsam are gaining in numbers.
• Hedge bindweed with its large white trumpets like flowers looks great in the hedgerows at the moment, but is the last thing that you want on the plot or in the garden as it is a nightmare to get rid of and soon swamps plants that it decides to climb amongst.
• It didn’t rain on Sunday!!!!

 

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