May 2018

Parthenon flower

28th May - Where did that month go to????? With lots of sunshine and rain, most vegetables are growing well, so it is straight in to Harvest Monday, where we have some new crops for the table this week, seen in the photo above. All except radishes are from the polytunnel

First up is Beetroot, grown from a free packet of seed: Subeto. After last season's decimation of almost our whole crop, it is so good to be able to bring home some edible roots already. Long may it last. These ones will be part of our salad this evening, together with some of the leaves, which are very tender

Then we have a small Courgette. Although I daresay in a few weeks' time we shall be over run with them, having one in May seems somehow special, and I was so pleased to see it in flower two days ago. Being self fertile, Parthenon is an ideal variety for under-cover growing

Sparkler Radishes

Also here are Swift Potatoes, which I carefully unearthed this afternoon. I had left my fork at home so digging the plants up will have to wait. I noticed some flower buds on the outside First Earlies, so it won't be long before we are eating these, but there is nothing like those first few freshly dug ones of the year. These will be in a frittata later this evening

There is a token Radish in the photo, but we had three bunches of Sparklers this week. Bearing in mind they were sown to mark the rows of the slower germinating parsnips, they have been very good indeed, much spicier than the Cherry Belles we grew previously. Roast radishes are going in that Frittata. 

We have also had masses of Mangetout this week, and I have been giving it away by the handful, but as the plants are still cropping heavily, they will be staying a while longer. The Peas are coming to an end (although the outdoor crops are still to come) but it has been worth giving them some space to get such an early treat.Curly Parsley is still doing well, as I cut out the flowering stems to keept it growing leaves for a while longer

Rocket was sown in modules several weeks ago, and languished in pots awaiting space to plant them out, but now they are in the new polytunnel they are growing the large soft leaves we were waiting for. I daresay they will go to seed soon, but we are enjoying them while we can.. very very spicy, too!

Spring Onions are from the second sowing that was planted outside. They took a while to settle in and start to grow away, but now are large enough to start to harvest them a bunch at a time. It was a mix of seed, the remains of two packets - Lilia and White Lisbon, but only one in this bunch is a red one

And then here, last of all, are our Strawberries. We have eaten a few already, but although they were red, they were not fully ripe, so I left these ones a little longer until they were a deeper colour. The smell told me they are ripe alright. As voles are keen on stealing the fruits before they are ripe, so they can eat the seeds I grow several troughs full of plants, to take under cover as soon as all the flowers are fertilised. It saves faffing about with paintbrushes to pollinate them, and ensure we get the berries not the rodents. There are a succession of varieties too, so we'll get to eat them for quite a long time yet I hope

That's the last of our harvests for this week.

The ongoing mole issue has affected the growth of the onions really badly, so we have bought two solar powered gadgets that emit a regular"buzz" via the undergound spike, which is supposed to annoy the animals so they move away from it. After four days, there do seem to be fewer tunnels under the onions and some have appeared further away.... is it working? Time will tell, and i shall let you know

Costoluto Genovese flowers

The tomato plants are all growing well, and those in pots in the greenhouse at home are flowering now. I have had a massive clear up, putting away all the pots and trays not needed at the moment, moving out any plants I could, which left lots of space for putting the Telegraph Cucumbers into their final pots and sowing Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Scarlet Curly Kale, Cavolo Lacianiato and Florence Fennel. They are all in modules for ease of transplanting, and I tried to sow thinly, after ending up with all those Calabrese seedlings. Luckily I have homes for the extra ones, as I find it hard to throw perfectly healthy seedlings into the compost bin

I planted up the pots and troughs in the garden, and set out as many of the flower seedlings as I could at the plots: Zinnias, Cosmos, Cerinthe and Bupleurum. I have taken out the sea of Forget-me-knots as they had mostly gone to seed and were beginning to look a bit tatty, which will make space for more Cosmos and some French Marigolds this week

Roses are starting to bloom, a sure sign June is nearly here, and in the garden there are lots of different colours to enjoy, and they all smell different too 

The Wildlife Spot this week goes to the Grass Snake that appears to have set up home under the black plastic cover of our manure heap, which must be toasty warm spot for it. We've seen it a couple of times, an immature snake, but the bright yellow collar, (not very visible in my pic so I am putting in another one for ID purposes in case anyone sees one), makes for easy identification at any age. If there is one young snake, there surely must be more around, but they are shy creatures so it is unlikely we shall see any others unless we are very fortunate. The plot opposite ours has a very large pond, and as these snakes enjoy swimming, it hopefully will feel at home nd stay around

I do hope the mole-buzzer does not upset it though, as predators of rodents are always welcome round here!

Grass snake pic for ID to show the distinctive yellow collar markings

I have had a bit of a splurge on weeding this week, and the beds mainly look tidy, at least for the next day or two. Weeding generates an immense amount of greenstuff and it never ceases to amaze me how many growers are reluctant to add this to their compost bins. Our compost stays in the bin rotting away for at least six months, often longer, because we have three bins to rotate, and with added shredded paper, veg trimmings, grass clippings and the odd can of water, creates an environment in which perennial weeds rot down and most weed seeds are killed. Any seeds that do germinate when the resultant compost is added to a bed are soon pulled up, and added to the next compost bin along the line. Works for us!

Here to end this week are views across Plot 146, one from each end, which I thought you might like to see now that it looks less of a shambles

Are things slowing down a bit now  that we have reached the end of May?  Maybe... or is it just a case of swapping the frantic planting out with the ongoing maintenance and of course, gathering in increasing harvests to enjoy!!

Hope the week goes well for all of you, and thank you again for your comments, which are always so much appreciated

If you'd like to read more about Harvest Monday, have a look here at Dave's hosted pages

http://www.ourhappyacres.com/

and if you would like to contact me, you're very welcome, on:

info@alitttlebitofsunshine.co.uk

and I'll get back to you as soon as I can

21st May - It's all coming together at last. The greenhouse is gradually being unpacked and plants set out on the plots, and as you can see from the above photo, all the beds on #145 are at last filled.

The squash plants brought their own challenge this year, as they needed protection from the strong sunshine until their roots settled in. Here they are, two days ago, under their shade net. I took the net off this morning, as they looked alright, gave them a good soak and crossed my fingers: Ute Indian, Thelma Sanders, Butternut Hercules,  Butternut Rugosa, Musquee de Provence and Crown Prince

The squash plants on #146  include some smaller varieties such as Sweet Dumpling, Spaghetti Squash and Thelma Sanders, that I plan to grow up tripods of stout sticks, plus Autumn Crown and a couple more butternuts that are staying at ground level, given their potential size

Both lots have trenches of manure in their beds, well soaked before being covered with soil. The aim is to provide a moisture reservoir as well as nutrients, which if we have a dry Summer, will help them flourish... I hope!

Swift potatoes

Let's move on to Harvest Monday, where our "new" crop this week has been Potatoes. This is the first proper digging from the five tubers planted in PT1 right at the end of February, with the extra protection of a large cloche for the first month.Just right for a potato salad with a little chopped parsley and mint. There are more to come, but we are leavng them in the soil until the day we are going to eat them, so they are as fresh as possible

This has been much more successful than our attempts to grow early potatoes in bags during previous years have been, and next year I shall certainly be planting more than five tubers under cover, as they are worth the space 

Mangetout & Radishes

One of the most successful of our early undercover plantings has been Mangetout. I used to grow these same two varieties when we had a little 2mx3m polytunnel: Indian Golden & Kent Blue. Both are prolific croppers, and can be eaten whole even when the peas are starting to develop inside the pods. Thet taste different: the green Kent Blues are sweeter somehow, and the yellow ones have a nice bite to them.

The podding peas are doing well too, and the few seeds I sowed are doing well. Hatif d'Annonay are the earlier, with smaller pods and very sweet peas, whilst Hurst Greenshaft have massive pods , with some being ready to harvest within the next few days. This is the variety  grown as our main crop of peas, so an advance taste will be good

The second crop of Radishes are the ones sown as row markers with the parsnip seeds, Sparkler. the extra water we have given them over this last week has paid off, as they are large and juicy now. The next ones to come along will be French Breakfast, sown alongside the peas on #145, then Amethyst in a box in PT1. Trying to keep a bit of a succession going with Summer Radishes this year, if we can

It is not only squashes that have been planted out this week. Runner Beans (Black Knight, Prizewinner, Firestorm and the white flowered Moonlight) are now in their final places. The Moonlight had poor germination this year, not sure why as I was careful not to overwater them, Several other growers seem to have had the same issue too, whilst having 100% germination with red flowered ones, and also with French Beans

Our climbing French Beans are in the ground now too: Monte Cristo, Monte Gusto & Carminat . The Dwarf French Beans (Speedy) are planted alongside the peas, and Orinoco in PT2. 

I've also started planting out the flower seedlings too, starting with the ones that make the largest plants, the sunflowers. After the last three years of struggling unsuccessfully to keep the really tall varieties upright on our windy site, this year's choices are much shorter at around 1.2m - 1.5m, which  I hope will be easier to manage. 

This week's Wildlife Spot goes to an animal Abi captured in his hands... he did have gloves on... a mole!! It was shuffling about just under the soil and he scooped it up. It now inhabits an unused plot across the pathway, burying himslef in about five or six seconds. It was most impressive!

I know moles are solitary animals, but I now wonder how many there might be down under the soil. Are they responsible for a lot of the tunnelling under the onions that makes them tip over? Maybe we need to get some of those solar powered mole repelling gadgets

In the garden at home, the crocus leaves have died back and the grass in that area has been cut for the first time this year. It does look almost dead, but it'll soon green up with a few good soaks and match in with the rest of the lawn again. That's the start of Summer alright!!

If you'd like to read more about Harvest Monday, have a look here at Dave's hosted pages

http://www.ourhappyacres.com/

and if you would like to contact me, you're very welcome, on:

info@alitttlebitofsunshine.co.uk

and I'll get back to you as soon as I can

14th May - Heralds of Summer! The hedgerows are glowing with the brilliance of hawthorn blossom, more so than I have seen it for some years, and with its petticoat of Cow Parsley flowers peeping out at the base, punctuated here and there by Three Cornered Leek, a relative newcomer here, it is a sight to lift the spirits alright.

The white theme is continued by the statuesque Horse Chestnut trees... there is an avenue of huge old trees close to where we live, and they are an imprsesive sight right now, with their freshly unfurled lime green leaves and candle-like clusters of white flowers

The white flowers are further extended on the verges and into grassland, with swathes of Ox Eye Daisies

The season is definitely moving on, and harvests are changing, with some of the "cold weather" crops now finished... we harvested the last of our leeks last week... beginning to gather crops sown in the Spring.

First to the table for Harvest Monday are Mangetout. These Indian Golden Mangetout were sown at the every end of January in modules at home, and their flowering has defintely been delayed by poor weather, even in the shelter of the polytunnel. Now they are a regular addition, with a  decent sized handful being picked every other day. These ones went into a pasta dish, added at the last minute to keep their crispness, and more have been sliced to add to mixed salads, or just eaten raw straight from the plant

The Sparkler radishes sown on 15th April as row-markers with the parsnips, are now large enough to be harvested, and at long last there are also nice rows of parsnip seedlings too. I just need to keep the soil firm enough for them to grow undisturbed by underground tunnelling of small rodents. 

Squash & Spinach Curry with lentils

The time has come to take out the rather large plants of Perpetual Spinach growing in the polytunnel, and the first two plants produced the large bag of leaves seen in the header photograph when they were stripped, weighing in at almost 500g. That sounds like a lot of spinach, but in reality it went into a spicy beef curry, and then this Squash & Spinach Curry with lentils, and it seemed to melt away. There are three portions of curry frozen away for coming weeks (And yes, I have remembered to label them!)

We still have quite a few Winter Squashes in store, and must use these up while they are still in good condition. This recipe used one of the Ute Indian ones, a Buttercup variety which has very dense, firm flesh, ideal to cook like this as it holds its shape well. An added bonus was that the skin is not too hard for me to cut the squash open and peel it

Hopefully the two small plants for this year will be as productive

Coriander

At long last the Coriander is large enough to be able to use for garnishing, if not yet a main ingredient in dishes. The method of rolling the seeds before sowing, until they crack and then not overwatering them, as certainly been a success. I need to sow some more if we are to have a continuous supply though. I think there are more seeds in the seed tin: I need to decide whether to grow them in a container under cover, or in the ground outside. Inside keeps the leaves clean, and maybe will stop the plants from bolting, plus I am not sure there is space in any of the outside beds right now.

That is our last harvest for this week really, although our plot neighbour generously shared his asparagus with us.. thank you, Joe!

The exciting news, for us at least, is that the second polytunnel is now up and running. The tomato plants are now in their final home: planting them deeply has given them the chance to develop extra roots and so strong plants. There are:

1 each of:  Orange Banana, Marmande, Apero, Ailsa Craig, Costoluco Genovese, Yellow Pear

2 each of: Golden Sunrise, Ox Heart, San Marzano, Black Cherry, Lanzarote Stripe (saved from a tomato we enjoyed on holiday)

Also in there are 16 Dwarf French bean plants (Speedy) and some Rocket plants, with chillies and peppers to come later this week, all being well

Next to the first tunnel, this does look quite empty, but that won't last long once everything starts growing. 

Out of the picture are two large polystyrene boxes, in which are sown carrots (Nantes 5 & Sweet Candle) Beetroot (Subeto) and Radishes (Amethyst). I hope the carrots and beetroot do better than the previous sowings in the ground inside, where they are regularly disturbed by rodents underneath the soil. I do wonder whether keeping it wetter, and firming it down daily might discourage them. Anyway, there is another chance fro decent carrots now! 

The two tunnels are one behind the other, with a space of about a metre between them, The plan is to add a debris netting cover over this gap, supported by stout water pipe, enabling the two zip up end doors to stay open during hot weather to improve ventilation, whilst keeping insects and birds out. The main doors are at each opposite end, and these can then remain closed when we are not working inside. Sounds OK... have to see how it works out in practice.

Out on #146,the bean poles are now up, and the plants are almost ready to plant out, just another day or two sitting in the garden at home "hardening off", before they are subjected to the rigours of being planted out on the plots

I tried this X-shaped structure out last year, to try to avoid the end of season congestion at the top of the poles, which always resulted in pods getting caught up and twisted as they grew. The cross-over point was lower down, and picking pods that formed early in the season was a bit tricky, so this year the poles cross higher up, whilst still allowing their ends to be free of each other. Bracing with additional side canes will help it stand up to strong winds. Amazing what can be done with a few sticks and some cable ties, isn't it??

I've also installed a narrow temporary path along behind the adjoining flower bed, otherwise I won't be able to get to the beans on that part of the frame.. I can just dig the woodchip in at the end of the season. There are a few large foxglove plants in the bed, but as they give such pleasure, we decided to leave them in and grow the beans around them. I shall make sure no wayward beans climb their stems instead of the sticks though, as the foxglove plants will be finished and removed before the bean harvest is finished

As the season moves round, different insects start to appear again. This week I saw the first Common Cardinal Beetle sitting in the sunshine on some stinging nettles, combing its toothed antennae with its forelegs. These are predatory beetles and not to be confused with the scarlet Lily Beetle, which is altogether rounder. 

And to end, here are the rhododendron flowers, the ones that were in bud last week, showing a bright magenta colour. As you can see, their colour has changed so much a week later it is hard to believe this is the same plant!

By next week, I hope to have the beds for the Winter and Summer Squashes prepared and the plants in the ground, and the Sunflowers planted out too. Always good to have a plan .....

I'll be back next Monday with more photos so you can see how things are progressing and what we have been able to harvest

PS The recipe for that curry will be in Reipes 2018 by Wednesday

If you'd like to read more about Harvest Monday, have a look here at Dave's hosted pages

http://www.ourhappyacres.com/

and if you would like to contact me, you're very welcome, on:

info@alitttlebitofsunshine.co.uk

and I'll get back to you as soon as I can

7th May - Record breaking temperatures again!!!! Hard to believe it is only the first week of May, with 32°C at 5:00pm today. The sunshine and warmth is welcome, in that seeds sown outside are starting to germinate quickly, but the downside is that under cover crops are in serious danger of death by dessication. The greenhouse at home is well shaded, and with both of the windows and the door open wide, plus a twice daily check on water levels, plants, which are in pots and modules, are surviving. It is a harder job with the polytunnel as we cannot leave the doors open when we are not there for reasons of security, so with only the twelve side vents, temperatures can quickly rocket, so plants must be well watered: it helps that most of them are growing in the soil, not containers

I'll come back to news aabout the polytunnel later, but first, lets have a look at this week's harvests , linking to Harvest Monday as usual:

First to the table is the final harvest of Leeks from plants set out last June. The great thick beasts are Elefant and the more slender ones are Jolant. I am tempted to make three dishes of cheesy leeks and freeze them, but really I should try to think of something different to cook with them. In these temperatures Leek & Potato Soup loses its charm..maybe another quiche and some Leek & Cheddar Bread?

Lettuce is more in keeping with the weather right now, and the Black Seeded Simpsons are doing well both under cover, and, as you can see from these ones, outside as well.

Lettuce seed does not reliably germinate if the soil temperature is over 24 °C, and as I like to sow them in a pot and grow them on before planting out, it is not really the right time to start any more off. Luckily there are already some small Red Little Gems growing away, so I can wait for a cooler period before the next lot of seeds need to be sown... a Little Gem-type called Maureen. I might try another variety as well, because it is good to have a choice when it come to salad leaves. I'll have to have a look in the seed box

Another addition to salads this week were Baby Perpetual Spinach leaves. These plants have been producing for months, and this week as well as a bagful of mature leaves to add to meatball & spinach curry, we picked these smaller tender ones. There won't be many more of them though, as the plants have developed flower buds and will soon be consigned to the compost bin. That'll give the peas and mangetout a little more light and space

The last few overwintered Spring Onions were harvested this week, making space for a single Parthenon Courgette plant to go in. With plenty of space and water, I hope this romps away to give us early courgettes in a month's time

Even a small bunch of herbs  is relatively expensive to buy, and it always feels so good that we have space to grow enough to use them generously. This week we have Flat Leaf Parsley, which has overwintered in the polytunnel, and it is just beginning to go to seed. We have more plants growing outside and these will be left to flower. Insects love the flat heads of flowers and the seeds that follow self sow very successfully, providing us with more plants of course. 

Spearmint pops up all over one of our flowerbeds and in the adjoining path, but I don't really mind, as roots that really are in the wrong place are easily pulled out, and it means we can cut big handsful of stems. This was chopped to use with the Chives in a potato salad. This was our first cutting of chives, and as we have a border of them growing in the front of the rose bed, as well as odd plants dotted here and there, it will be a regular feature throughout the Summer months

And lastly are Fennel leaves: we have two very large bronze fennel plants, which we were given as tiny seedlings by our daughte, and they provided us with a good harvest of seeds to dry and use in cooking. Some of course escaped and have germinated: much to our surprise one of these has resulted in a green leaved plant. Finely chopped, the leaves were added to a cucumber raita.

The last of our harvests was Red Cabbage. There were three small Loderos left, that had stood all Winter. They were far from perfect, with slug nibbles and in one, a flowering stalk developing, but cleaned up and finely sliced they looked pretty good

Together with some chopped green apple, sliced celery, walnuts and mayonnaise, they made a very pretty salad, similar to Waldorf, which was a side dish at our weekend family barbecue.

Overall, Lodero have been the best red cabbages we have grown, being not too large, standing well without splitting and resistant to club root, which seems to pop up from time to time, so we shall be growing them again

And as always at this time in the year there is Rhubarb. In my quest for new ways to use it, I found a recipe for Rhubarb & Almond Cake, which I adjusted to make a larger cake with less rhubarb, as I thought it might be a bit soggy otherwise. We have no light in our oven at the moment and I didn't notice the back of the cake was rather dark, so some people had a slice with the edge cut off, the edge described by one of our grandchildren as "burnt". If i say there was only a piece of one serving actually left,well, it must have been OK really. Another time I shall reduce the cooking time a little bit!

Moving from this week's harvests to ones that are coming along:, there are Indian Golden Podded Mangetout almost ready to pick in the polytunnel. These have certainly been delayed by the extended dull, cold weather. The first flowers are very high up on the plants, and their tops are now crowding againt the cover, so I shall have to find a way to divert them so they can keep producing. Possibly having the Perpetual Spinach plants behind them has also been a factor... something to remember next time around

The Kent Blues, a green podded mangetout, are flowering profusely and at a more normal height however, depsite being planted right alongside the golden ones. They are very pretty flowers, as you can see from this week's header photo, and could easily be mistaken for small flowered sweet peas

The seedlings in the salad tray are growing really quickly now, and the Pak Choi and Mizuna should be large enough to harvest in the coming week. Usually when we grow Pak Choi, the leaves have some slug damage, but growing them in a tray up on the staging in the polytunnel means they are completely free of holes and slimy nibbles.  I am not sure if these are "cut and come again" plants, but I shall gather them carefully to give them the best chance. More Pak Choi will certainly follow though, and harvesting them small will hopefully avoid them bolting.

Not everything in the polytunnel has been a success though. The seedling carrots and beetroot are constantly disturbed by mice or voles tunnelling underneath them, digging through the soil from outside. They don't poke their heads up very often, although those that do are met with snappy traps. The roots are not developing properly in shifting soil, no matter how often a re-firm it. This was a problem in the outside beds towards the end of last season too, and as the beetroot grew, it was eaten, but sadly not by us!

I shall be sowing  more of both carrots and beets in deep boxes, and keep them under cover up on the staging. I'll have to water them whether they are in the soil or in a box, so there will be no extra work involved I hope. We learn as we go along .....

The second polytunnel is well underway, and the tomato and chilli plants etc are ready to plant out as soon as it is complete.

Whilst Abi has been beavering away with the polytunnel prep, I have planted the brassicas on both plots: Duncan Cabbage, Cauliflower Maybach and Calabrese Marathon, three of each, in each bed. These have been grown on in 3 inch pots at home in the garden for a few weeks, and with some chicken manure pellets in their planting holes, plenty of water, and the ground well firmed around them: I hope they'll get off to a good start. 

They have been covered with fine mesh now, to ensure they stay free from flying pests, and seem to be standing up well to the high temperatures

(The plants to the right are  flat leaf parsley)

The garden at home changes almost daily at the moment, with flowers opening so quickly in the sunshine. Thes pink tulips have sat, firmly closed, for two weeks now, but at last have opened fully

The honeysuckle on the fence is in full bloom, and smells amazing in the evenings. We have several varieties in the garden, which flower at differemt times, which is good for moths as well as for us to enjoy.This one is L periclymenum "Belgica" which oddly is known as Dutch Honeysuckle

The buds of the rhododendron alongside our path are a gorgeous magenta, although the flowers open to be white with darker spots

And the Acer leaves are unfurling to show their Springtime colours

There is always something interesting to see, either in the garden or at the plots; this Speckled Wood butterfly sat quietly on the grass so i could take its picture. These are regular vistors to the garden, flitting along the side of the shrubs in and out of patches of sunshine, each patrolling their own little territory in their search for a mate.

AND... the Swifts returned today from their overseas travels, dashing through the sky, screaming like banshees. You can hear why they are called Devil Birds!!! They are the last of the family to arrive... we have already seen a Swallow and some House Martins, but, as in the past few years, the Swifts arrived promptly on the 7th May. These ones will not breed here, but fly further north...."ours" wiil be here in the next few days.

So with that sign of Summer being almost here, I shall end for this week, and be back next Monday.

If you'd like to read more about Harvest Monday, have a look here at Dave's hosted pages

http://www.ourhappyacres.com/

and if you would like to contact me, you're very welcome, on:

info@alitttlebitofsunshine.co.uk

and I'll get back to you as soon as I can