August Week Two Sunday 12th 2007
Todays installment of lottieblogs documents some very promising bits of news from down the plot, we worked on a blistering hot day, the first task of which was a verynecessary and thorough weeding as unfortunately they seem to be growing at the same rate as our crops.
"The plot but not as we know it...!"
Once we had got the rows back into good order (which took some significant time) we turned our attention to the always pleasant job of harevsting some of the ready crops from the site. The first to be gathered was the onions grown from some red and white sets in early spring. The white variety seemed to produce far more, good sized bulbs than the red ones which in comparison, looked rather small and scruffy. Gladly there did not appear to be any signs of white rot and in total we feel we must have secured nearly 200 intact and useable bulbs which should hopefully see us and our famillies through to next year. The process of dryng and preparation for storage will be an active pursuit for the next few weeks to come but may result in a good number of healthy looking handsome strings for use over the next 6 months or so.
"Onions before and after"
Unfortunately not everything on the site has done so well, thanks to the infamous white butterfly which at this stage shall remains nameless, one of our finest specimines of a cabbage had suffered serious damage, various others seem to have been exposed to nibbles int eh saem vein but on a much less devastating scale. In order to salvage anything frm this poorl;y plant it was decided to harvest it for immediate use in sunday lunch where we discovered the vast majority of the heart was stil useable and very, very tasty. Our usual harvest of beets, runners, chard, carrots and courgettes was also made.
"Crappy cabbage"
Another surviror of devastation is rearing its head again on inspection, after the terrible atatck of blight our tomatoes suffered earlier this season we are pleased to report some recuperation. The first few fruits on the plant ahve just begin to ripen and have definately bought new hope to an otherwise quite miserable looking monolith in which they are housed.
"Fighting the blight"
A very small but welcome harvest also came from our Blueberry bush this week, unfortunately due to the heavy rain only 4 berries survived but we were no less delighted all the same to see them, ripe and fat and shortly after being pickled from the plant were scoffed with great glee.
"Blue Berries"
After a quick browse of the pumkin plot to check for development today, a happy discovery of 3 beauty's of butternuts was made, our favourite of the cucurbits growing on the lottie this year. We are greatly looking forward to these maturing and especially to the warming and comforting soups and bakes they make in the cooler months. Our monster of a pumpkin is continuing to expand and shortly will have out grown the small ceramic tile we placed it on to keep it of the wet soil and membrane which surrounds it. We wil try and give exact measurements and a possible weight fo this mini giant next week.
"All shapes and sizes"
Our swedes have also begun developing in leaps and bounds with some significant route growth indicating the initial formation of the fibrous tissue which makes up the eddible part of the vegetable. Soon we are to create a proper cage to house these tasty, hearty brassicas and protect them from marauding winged pests which stil may wish to snaffle them. Our leeks are also looking incredibly promising and should be ready for harvest at about the same time as the hardy vegable tmentioned above.
"Swarming Swedes"
Finally our plot flowers are continuing to make a fine display of colour to welcome us and other plot holders, in particular one of our favourite and brightly coloured flowers, the Cornflower, another bright and cheery plant on display is the Laveteria, these plants are also doing an excellent job of attracting bees and insects to our plants which esquire pollination such as the runner beans.
"Pretty in Pink or Blue"