Oh well. With all the rain we’ve had I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised. This last week seems to have been more about feeding the local pest population than growing produce for our plates! The flowers we had planted out last week were the favourite targets, some sunflowers had been totally decimated. We had bought some more organic pellets during the week and within about five minutes of arriving at the plots we had used almost a full bottle! To fill the bare spaces we planted out some chrysanthemums as they were bursting out of their tray.
We also planted out the ipomoea. We had grown some last year but left them and left them and they were never put out but even then they grew some beautiful deep purple flowers shaped like trumpets. This year I was determined to do them justice. Having wanted some more information about where they are suited to and how they grow I did some googling and discovered they can grow up to 5 metres tall! Not sure I realised that when I bought the seeds! Or that they are the same family as bindweed. They grow in the same climbing fashion, twisting round things. As soon as I told Neil that, he wasn’t keen on planting them out in case they run riot with their roots! As a compromise I planted them along the back fence of plot 118 as this gives them something to grow up without risking them spreading further.
We did a lot of watering, the tomatoes were ready for tying up and needed side shooting again. I also gave them some feed for the first time this season. They’ve grown so big in the last week they needed moving to their final spacing which meant Neil had to dismantle the side staging to make room. We potted on the peppers (new ace) and the chillies (jalapeño) and everything looks quite tidy in plot 97 greenhouse.
Outside things were looking quite good. The beetroot and carrots I sowed (or in the case of the beetroot replanted!) had germinated really well, as had the turnips which I thinned out as they were already a good size. The chard and parsnips were fairing slightly less well, so I’ll check their progress next week and see if any more sowings are required!
Despite the warm weather Neil did a mountain of digging! He cleared enough space for the hoops and canes that will cover the brassicas in the next week or two.
The sun also meant we have signs of ripening, the redcurrants are turning blush pink and there were quite a few strawberries tantalisingly close to being ready. Am just hoping the liberal scattering of pellets means the slugs will have left some for us!
And a sunny note for the end, thanks to Bob for a lovely bunch of beautiful sweet williams to brighten up the living room!
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