June diary 2019

Lettuce

Broad beans

Lettuce and broad beans on the allotment

Sunday 2nd

Took Xand up to the allotment to water while I planted some very late potatoes and onions sets given to me by someone who had ordered too many. Harvested all the autumn sown peas, enough for a meal, and the first of the strawberries.

 

Tuesday 4th

No watering this afternoon as pouring with rain, good for planting out the lettuce seedlings. Also accomplished my mission of planting the brassicas and covering with netting.

Sunday 9th

Planted Cecil at the allotment.

Tuesday 11th

Warm and sticky but at least it has stopped raining. The rose borders are blooming abundantly and the peonies are magnificent too. Everything is growing  rapidly and there is a lot to do, I have to remind myself that I will get on top it and it will slow down.

Tuesday 18th

What a week, I’ve never worn my waterproofs so much! Finally got a proper sunny day yesterday and got tormented by horseflies and hayfever. Remembered the insect repellent today.

The garden is at it’s best, in the sunshine, with the sysirinchium out and the weeds mostly hidden. Still planting in the allotment, replacement pumpkins as Cecil turned out to be a courgette, and some celariac given to me by a friend. Not impressed with the seed company, they have not replied to my email, may have to tweet them.

Still lots to do, weeds growing like mad and a thunderstorm forecast for tonight. Picked broad beans and peas for tea.

June 20th

This isn’t gardening but I had to share this wonderful field of daisies.

June 25th

First courgettes and the second sowing of potatoes has survived. I still don’t know what ate the first lot but when I planted these, in May, I sprinkled the trenches with chives and blackcurrant leaves, to disguise the smell, and put netting on top.

The tomatoes in the greenhouse are gettig bigger and, keeping it real, the allotment is fill of weeds.

June 30th

Planted Atlantic Giant pumpkin seeds again. My friend gave me 2 but one died so I am hoping 3rd time lucky. Monty said it wasn’t too late on Gardeners World on Friday so here’s hoping.

 

Homework

This weekend I have made a bit of progress in my own garden. As it has been such a cold spring I held off sowing seeds until we had a bit of milder weather at the beginning of April, then it went cold again with little sunshine. The result has been that seeds haven’t germinated, and some have rotted in the pot, the sudden heatwave finished them off.

Now, the polytunnel is full of sprouting dahlia tubers, successfully overwintered despite the low temperatures, and newly sown seeds just emerging. I started chilli seeds in the heated propagator, then they moved to the windowsill and now in the polytunnel.  The free ones from Mr Fothergills are doing well, the Razzmatazz didn’t germinate very well so I have re-sown, fingers crossed for a good summer so that I get some chillies. With frost forecast for this week, I am glad that I didn’t put the fleece away.

I have also taken over my Dad’s plot at my parents house. He loved growing vegetables, long rows of runner beans which he shared with the village as there were always too many for the two of them. It’s good to carry on, although he wouldn’t think much of my wiggly lines, but hard too. The asparagus that I bought him a few years ago are just coming up.

 

On Sunday, sweltering in the heat, I sowed french beans, radish, carrot, beetroot and parsnips which won’t come up because they are last year’s seeds but I can’t just throw them away. There is still a bit of broccoli from last year under the netting. I am using his mesh which is the stuff used for plastering but works well.

At home, in the polytunnel, I sowed my giant pumpkin seeds from Matthew Oliver at RHS Hyde Hall. I have been too nervous to sow them in case they don’t come up, now I just have to stop myself rooting around in the pot to see if they germinate. I will post updates as hopefully they get bigger and bigger.

Giant pumpkin seeds, with normal one for comparison