What have you done on the plot today?

[Bledlow]

Unless someone has a better idea - we just nip them off.

That was my first thought (& I've now done it), but I found suggestions that it might not be wise. What the hell. If I don't snip, I expect I get puny bulbs because everything's gone into flowering,.

[Bledlow]

Thinning out cabbages yesterday. Ate some as greens - & they were a grave disappointment. Flavour OK, but too tough. I wonder why.

[Tail End Charlie]

Bledlow, are your cabbages really that advanced? Mine are nowhere near and the leaves on them are the tough outer leaves. Were you trying to eat these?

Everything is growing well now, just need to keep the pigeons, birds, mice and slugs at bay.

[Bledlow]

They seemed ready for greens.

Perhaps I didn't trim enough outer leaves off. I'll let 'em grow longer & make sure that next time we only use the hearts. I've not grown cabbages since I was a child, & helping my grandparents, so I'm having to re-learn stuff.

I've been advised that the outer leaves are best cut up into small strips & stir-fried, or used for wrapping things (as in stuffed cabbage leaves).

[Bledlow]

Picked my first peas. Just a couple of pods, to see what they're like. Very sweet.

[Tail End Charlie]

Apart from rhubarb, I've only had lettuce and broad bean tops from my plot so far this year. Everything will catch up though.
I'd say Gooseberries are only a week away, everything else a good while longer.

My plan planting parsnips into sieved soil seems to be working, they are growing well and hopefully the roots won't fork.

Need lots of sunshine to make the sweetcorn grow. I suspect it'll be like other years where the time runs out and I end up with nothing from them, which, given the care and attention I've lavished on them, will be disappointing.

[Bledlow]

Some of the garlic leaves were turning yellow, so I thought I'd lift 'em & see what I've got.

White rot.  I think I'd better lift the lot & see what can be salvaged. The third & fourth plants I lifted showed no sign of it, & had big healthy bulbs, looking ready to eat, so I may still get a respectable crop.

Ah well, now I know where to transplant the cabbage & kale thinnings to.

[Bledlow]

Debbie next door has enormous turnips.

[longers]

We ate our first strawberry of the year. Half each.

[perpetual dan]

We have a steep garden (matches our 3 storey house) and the retaining walls / terracing are a bit iffy, or even missing, in places. It hasn't been helped by some over enthusiastic weeding of grassy "weeds" that were holding the soil together. Mrs Dan the Misses Dan are away this weekend, so I'm starting on some new, timber, retaining walls to add to and replace the existing ones. Today was a bit hot really, but found me digging round old roots, chalk and flits to put new boards into the soil and hammering post holders into the same ground. I went and hid indoors for most of the afternoon - as well as being steep the garden is also south facing!
One post is rather wonky but not coming out and progress hasn't been as fast as I hoped, but there's soil being held up the hill that wasn't this morning. You can pencil me in for a similar post tomorrow.

[Tail End Charlie]

I have great hopes about my sweetcorn this year. Compared to those of anyone else, mine are much more advanced so my idea of raising the wood around the raised beds, allowing me to keep the glass on that bit longer may have paid off. Fingers crossed.
The lettuce under the sweetcorn is fantastic aswell. Already had several heads.
Gooseberries are days away from picking. Those not netted have gone but I have plenty more.
The globe artichokes are developing well. the beast of a plant is about 7 foot by 7 foot. I was going to dig it up this year, but didn't have the heart.
Strawberry plants are not good though, I think I need to replace them. This time least year I had loads, I thought I had replaced some with newer plants, but perhaps not.

[Palinurus]

Yesterday picked some cherries and made some jam.

Maybe the last crop of cherries- barring a legal challenge the allotment will be redeveloped. Might get another season out of it if lucky.

Potatoes doing well, borlotti beans, broad beans, onions, plenty stuff growing. I'm going on holiday next week but would almost rather stay home and potter around.

[Bledlow]

Picked my first outdoor grown cucumber* yesterday. A Japanese variety: short & a bit spiky. Mrs B was pleased.

[Edit - 5 days later]
*My first ever home grown cucumber. Now ripening at the rate of at least one a day, with enough growing to keep us going for weeks. We've started giving 'em away, along with lettuce.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

I just put some chili plants with little fruits on into my window boxes, so I hope the good weather holds enough for them to grow and ripen.

[Tail End Charlie]

Had a super meal of shallots, broad beans, mangetout and lettuce the last couple of days. So good to be able to eat so fresh.
I had it with samphire and squid (not from the allotment!!).

[Bledlow]

Just picked six cucumbers.

Picked eight on Friday, four on Wednesday, & so on for the last month. Even Mrs B can't eat that many.  I've not noticed neighbours hiding when they see me coming with cucumbers yet, but it may yet happen.

[Bledlow]

My tomatoes are turning red at last!

I was starting to worry that my Japanese variety needed hotter weather than we get here.

[Tail End Charlie]

First sweetcorn yesterday. It was a little under ripe, but so tasty nonetheless. Hopefully many more to come. They really are worth the effort.
The Hungarian rye grass needs harvesting and then dehusking.
Loads of French and climbing beans gathered, love them.
And about six huge blackberries, very very tasty. When they're that good, I don't even mind the pips getting stuck between my teeth.

Cleared a bed and planted some lettuce, should get a few leaves from them.

It's our allotment show in a couple of weeks, need to decide what I'm going to exhibit.

[hellymedic]

My tomatoes are turning red at last!

I was starting to worry that my Japanese variety needed hotter weather than we get here.

Our tomatoes appear nowhere near redness. There again, I was feeding Giraffe home-grown tomatoes just before the last AUK AGM.

[Bledlow]

We started eating our garden tomatoes yesterday, & today went to the allotment to do some watering & pick a few things, & found the tomatoes affected by the dread B word.  Slight so far, but now it's a race between ripening & death. We picked a few ripe ones.

Picked a load of runner beans to give away, & a Savoy cabbage to eat.

[Tail End Charlie]

Saturday was the area allotment show. I've never shown anything before but thought I'd have a go this year. Entered three beetroot, two sweetcorn, a vase of dahlias and five plums. Hardest thing was getting them to the scout hut intact on my bike.

The sweetcorn won second prize and the plums third !! So if you want to see a picture of prize winning sweetcorn, here they are (very tasty when I ate them later in the day aswell)



It was good fun entering and I really enjoyed it, some people take it really seriously. Next year I'll go for the "comical vegetable" award (this year various deformed parsnips and carrots were the entries).

[Bledlow]

Dug up some taters today (I like tater-digging. I love the buried treasure aspect). Two varieties: Charlotte, & Rocket. The latter should really have been dug up earlier, despite going in late, but I've had too many, so left a lot in the ground - to the delight of the slugs, as I found today.   Only a few ruined, but quite a lot of superficial damage.

The Charlottes, on the other hand, are in excellent shape.

[Palinurus]

I also dug up some potatoes, big ones. Had jacket potatoes a few hours later with roasted veg (tomatoes, onions and courgettes from the allotment and peppers and mushrooms from Sainsbury's).

Harvested the Borlotti beans I'd allowed to dry in their pods.

Had to clean up a lot because I've not been for a while. Found out we have huge pumpkins and a few good sized squash. Also some late raspberries, some apples- a trailer full of produce today.

[Tail End Charlie]

After harvesting my Hungarian Rye grass, which I'd let develop, (rather then digging in in April), I had some of this ..


After dehusking and blowing out the chaff, I've got some of this...


Now I need to plant to over-winter in the spare ground I have. I can't see any reason why it shouldn't work.   

[longers]

Looks good that does. Will have to have a go ourselves and see what yield we get. Thankyou.