August Week Four Sunday 27th 2007
This weeks visit to the allotment was one that was full on anticipation as it had been a while since we were down last. Had the runner beans gone to seed? Had the pumpkin patch travelled the length of the plot? Or had the weeds smothered everything? The good news was that everything was fine, and another bumper harvest was on its way.
'Crops keep comin'
The first task of the day was to do the almost impossible, count the number of pumpkins. After searching through the jungle of foliage which had taken up half the plot we cam to the overall total of THIRTY. These have all come from the initial seven plants which were put in two months ago. They certainly seem to be thriving from the bed of manure which was incorporated into the soil over the winter months.
'Is it a squash or is a pumpkin? who knows they are tasty'
There was mixed news however about our giant pumpkin, as for the past two weeks he had stopped growing so we were a little worried by this. Upon careful inspection our Atlantic giant pumpkin was actually a huge crown prince. This information was found as the squash had started to turn blue (the normal colour for crown prince squashes). However after tracing the growth from the Atlantic giant, there was one lone new pumpkin which had formed so we are still hopeful of it beating the family record of seventeen pounds. Fingers crossed.
'Finally a true giant'
Another crop doing fantastically are the Swede's who have coped with the large amount of caterpillars which had started to eat them a month ago. The vegetables have started to swell and form the usual globes and also starting to take on their reddish colouring. The first of these should be harvested in about a fortnight and by the number of plants we have these should keep us going through to winter.
'Smashing Swede's'
The runner beans have certainly enjoyed this warm and damp weather as they had produced seven pounds of edible pods in just seven days, luckily we had just returned as they were beginning to turn to seed and go stringy. Nether the less this amount of beans has provided four families with two large meals worth.
'The longest runner bean'
Another surprise from these beans was the monster beans which had also formed, we had three beans which measured sixteen inches. That is certainly a record for our household, and must certainly be down to the bizarre weather that we have had all year.
Another task this week was to pot up the strawberry runners which the plants have thrown out to try and reproduce. The reason we pot these up is so that they can form baby plants which can then be severed and can then be placed where we require them to be for the next season rather than where the runner sits on the floor and grows. All in all we have got ten new plants from the first set of runners, and today we potted up around twenty five new plants fro next year. These will be severed in about six weeks and taken home to nurture of the winter.
'Strawberry runners running away'
As usual on the plot our annual flowers were out in full bloom showing of their full colour. Whether it be from the pinks and whites of the lavateria or the yellows of the calendula. These not only bring a joy to the viewer but also attract the needed wildlife which pollinates the plants for us. Some of these laveteria will remain in situ but some will be pulled out as not all are needed as these are perennial plants. The sections where they have been removed will be replaced by new annual seeds sown in the spring.
'Bloomin' marvelous'