Strawberries for lunch on the Allotment
Another warm week and thankfully we had some rain but the watering needs to continue, especially for the soft fruit which was moved in the autumn and is still settling in. For the first time, even the rhubarb is being watered since it was dug up and split over the winter and is slow in establishing itself again.
The leeks were put in. The ground was watered beforehand and compost added before the leeks were planted using a dibber to create a hole for each one which was then watered in. The top growth on each leek was trimmed off to reduce the stress on each plant as it starts to root itself in. They were netted since our rabbits enjoy a wide variety in their diet!
Planting leeks
The carrots, beetroot and turnips were thinned to their final spacing, the shallots were thinned down to four on each plant and a deal of weeding done on the paving as well as in the veg beds and round the edges.
The garlic planted in the autumn is now ready and was dug up. The onion sets from the autumn are ready to come out and had the stems bent over to encourage ripening of the bulbs. Some of the spring onion sets have gone to seed helped on by the warm dry weather but if we keep up with the watering, that should keep them growing.
Onions
Lunch was very welcome after all the hard work in the heat with the bonus of the first strawberries and a fine bunch of sweet peas on the table.
lovely produce
Allotment Open Day this year is Sunday 20 August 2pm-4pm. George Anderson will be giving his ever popular workshop on the summer pruning of fruit. Booking details later.
Jobs for next week
- Cut the comfrey
- Plant the purple sprouting broccoli
- Net the soft fruit
- Weed round the cordon apples
- Watering, weeding
