Thunder on 27th July.

When will it rain?

Saturday I picked all my over wintering onions.




Got a good tray of biggies, a good tray of reasonables and half a tray of "why did they not grow" and "oops a mutant".

Also had the police helicopter montioring my progress for over half an hour at very low level, according to a copper in a skoda estate driving through the park, "a youth on a mountain bike had threatened someone with a knife and they were looking for him".

Sunday, was just spent watering, my large pair of cans mean that even if I start at the top of plot seventeen I will empty the large horse trough by the time I get to the last bit to water on seventeen. So did seventeen and then took the dog to chase her ball-on-a-rope, hoping the trough would refill. I swear the dog would chase this ball to the point of fatal collapse, so stopped after about a dozen high speed pursuits.
Returned to find a disgruntled neighbour conteplating a still near-empty tank that they were scraping water out of, complete with what looked like leeches.
Must see if we can get some more troughs if this weather is to become the norm.

Aaarrrrggghhhh!

Went to visit my plot and some plonker has been and strimmed the entire area just outside the main gate, our new hedge included.

Some interesting phone calls will happen on Monday to find out which council sent their contractors to do this.
Town Council, our landlord.
District Council, owners, custodians and maintainers of the park area.
County Council, owners and maintainers of the cycleway.

It wouldn't be so bad, but I already mow sight lines from the gate posts to ensure our driving plotholders do not mow anyone down.

Target achieved, maybe?

Going with clickable thumbnails for a change here.

I finished my tidy up for the Best-kept plot competition on Monday after nearly melting on Sunday. I made two planters from four old tyres, bolting each pair together through the sidewall with three bolts. Completed my weeding to build a huge heap by the Daleks, earthed up all the potatoes, watered same with ten 11L cans per inter-row gap, watered everything else I could including the raspberries. Planted out cabbages where the new potatoes first row has been dug up, making some pigeon guards from pig wire. Sowed (very late) red and green kale, rocket, parsley and red welsh onions.

Tonight I just went and watered the freshly planted out brassicas, picked a small amount of raspberries and hoed the walkways between the raspberry rows, like the American dustbowl couds of clay dust billowing up at me.

Then I took some photos.
My Dalek Sactuary, full of replete Daleks, digesting their last meal while the next matures in front of them. The two planters I made on Sunday, scalding my hand on one of the tyres while pressing it to its twin to tighten the bolts.


A raspberry waiting for me to pick it.

The fruits of my labours tonight.

The most spectacular of my "herbs", this is the flower spike visible in photo one above


The Crown Prince Squash have finally hit their growth spurt and seem to advance by a foot or two per day.

My over-wintering onions have been a mixed success, nothing moved for the photo, but clumps of good bulbs and patches of just a bit bigger than the set bulbs.

The Sweetcorn is imitating a rainforest without the rain.


Judging either tomorrow or Thursday, results, whenever.

Small progress.

Spent most of today on Mowers.
Finally managed to take the broken Hayter into the workshop, expert opinion is that it is a broken valve. Will take about three weeks as they are full to the gills with broken machinery.
Had a look round for alternatives, all the DIY warehouse options are fine for the engine, but, and its a big but, the deck and handles are so flimsy and ready to rust. Anything of quality is too dear for my pocket as new, so a secondhand Hayter looks good at just under £200, aluminum deck, sturdy handles and the one we saw had a replacement engine a few years ago.

Eventually got on plot a bit late in the evening and cleared another thirty foot row, just two left to do. Then interrow "cultivator" hoeing, followed by earthing up.

Need to get more brassicas planted out, I've got them in pots and seed bed, but keep failing to get them out on the plot. Now I've sorted out some wire netting I can, hopefully, keep the pigeons off.

Three down, three to go.

Managed to clear three more potato rows on plot eighteen tonight.
The weed heap is growing, despite the heat it is not shrinking at all, I suspect it is drying out faster than the bugs can get in!
Some more raspberries picked.

Identity progress

Clive on Kitchen Garden suggests my weed is "Nipplewort", sounds painful.
Check out my thread on KGF at http://www.kitchengarden.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1918

Cold Frame clear and most common weed on 18

Cleared all weeds from the coldframe on Plot 17 tonight after strimming "my" paths and the main path.
Also mowed Charlies plot at his son Ian's request. Charlie is still recuperating from a triple bypass last year and has not been on the plot since, Ian sprayed the weeds a month ago, so I have topped them off ready for a burn or respray prior to rotovating.
Finished off my evening by picking anothe pound of raspberries.

Brought home a sample of my most common weed from Plot 18. This grows all down the earthed up potato rows, in vast quantities, there was no sign of it on this plot last year.

Seventeen clear bar cold frame.

Tonight managed to finish clearing the weeds on plot seventeen, every single one that I could find. The compost bin contents have not shrunk, and I now have a large heap waiting to go in.
Earthed up all the spuds once they were weed free.
Started on the coldframe, had to plant out the red brussels sprouts as they were suffering from the weeds sucking up all the water, made a pig-wire pigeon shield and planted a row of twelve. Soaked the rest of the frame ready for a revisit.
Finished by picking three pounds on raspberries, pretty good going for canes moved this spring. Some individual berries are enormous,some are the other extreme, suffering from the heat, dry hard and tiny.

Family day out.

Did visit the plot today, but only briefly.
Spent the day mostly shopping with the family, cloths etc, but then the rest re-arranging the terrace to acommodate the two seat swing chair I bought from Homebase for £79.99.
The visit to the plot was to deposit all the used compost from half a dozen large pots on the terrace, which I should really have emptied weeks ago, amoungst the raspberries, then to water the plants I put in yesterday, sunflowers, french marigolds and a cucumber.