Strawberry Time on the Allotment

Posted July 5, 2022

And it’s strawberry time! The dry weather has suited them very well and we even have a few autumn raspberries. The gooseberries will be ready next week, there has been a reasonable crop on the honeyberry and the other soft fruits are flowering well.

Strawberry picking

However, there is bad news on the apple front. One of the apples has a bad attack of woolly aphid which sucks the sap out of the tree, so we need to try and control it to ensure the tree remains healthy. The aphids can be scrubbed off and/or you can also use an organic bug spray with natural pyrethrum in it.

Woolly aphids

The last of the kale plants were put in along some beetroot and dwarf French beans that had been brought on at home. We also planted some summer flowers to help attract pollinators. The chard has gone to seed and is looking quite spectacular.

Kale planting

The hose was out to give everything a really good soak and get the water down to the roots of the plants. We had the first of the early potatoes (variety Gemson), a good boiling and not a bad amount considering the potatoes have not been watered up till now.