I nearly forgot to tell you…..

I nearly forgot to tell you all what happened on the allotment last Thursday.

A warm and sunny day made it a pleasure to be working on the plot. The broad beans and peas are filling out and there is a good crop of raspberries, loganberries and Tayberries. The winter brassicas have enjoyed the wet weather but the dwarf French beans are very poor and most of the runner beans have disappeared, eaten by slugs. The first courgette was picked.

Blight has appeared on the potatoes, coming early this year but only to be expected with the warm humid weather.

One variety – Lady Balfour – is showing some resistance but the shaws on all the other varieties have been cut to the ground and we won’t dig up the potatoes for 3 weeks. Digging them up now would expose them to the fungal spores and make them inedible.
Potatoes left in the ground from previous crops overwinter the infection which spreads rapidly in humid conditions so always remove these so-called volunteer tubers.

More leeks were planted – variety Winter Atlanta.  The vetches in the green manure bed were dug up and some buckwheat sown, and some succession sowing of lettuce.
The Tayberries, brambles and red currants were carefully netted and some weeding done.

Don’t forget the Open Day on Sunday 19 August 2pm-4.30pm

Jobs for next Thursday: Weeding, net the apples, plant the remaining bulbs!