August Week One Saturday 4th 2007
This weeks trip began as overcast, however we have been cheered by the more pleasant weather lately and were greaty looking forward to observing the changes and growth of our plants over the last week, and we were not dissapointed.
It was clear that everything is now moving along very quickly on the allotment and that our vigilent watering and weeding is required mor than ever to help maintain the growth of our crops. One area which seems to be thriving is, predictaibly the pumpkin patch. Now almost completely covered in leaves and already looking after more than 20 little fruits of varing shapes, sizes and varieties, this is quickly turning into our pride and joy.
"Triffid"
Not only will it provide marvellous fruits to fill our bellies over the cold winter months, but we also look forward to producing a fine specimin of an Atlantic Giant to wow our family at our annual bonfire night celebrations towards the end of the year. We hope to produce something of a bigger size than last year which weighed in at 20lb's and from the continuing growthof our strongest contender so far, it seems we might just do it. Hopefully with regular watering, a good few dollops of well rotted manure, a bit of TLC and some secret concoxions making up its liquid feeds there will be a monster in the making by the time autumn rears its head.
"Beans means ......"
Another crop just coming into its own are our dwarf and runner beans which have provided enough to feed 3 fammilies this week and hopefully should see us through to the end of the summer with some delicious edible pods, please see the Seed and Cultivation dairy for details on the varieties used and thier properties in Northamptonshire allotment soil.
"Dinner"
Our celery, cabbages, beets and salads are all still doing well despite the drier periods and shortly we will be undertaking the blanching of some of our celery for raw use in salads, the stronger red variety will be left un-blanched for use in soups and stews later in the year which may take advantage of its fuller flavour.
However everything is not looking quite so brilliant, some of our brassicas due to the unusual weather have begun to bolt and so will be utterly useless for late winter or an early spring crop, in particular our broccoli is definately unhappy and some have produced a full head of flowers. Our experiment to also see if any of the cauliflowers could be saved has also proved a failure, with no new florets being formed and the plants looking decidedly sorry for themselves, these may shortly need to be pulled out and replaced with some cabbages for overwintering and some spring greens during the lean period after new year.
"Blown Broccoli"
On a more positive note we have also seen some developmetns regarding our sweetcorn, the tallest plants have now produced some pollen spikes at thier top and flowers in thier mid sections which hopefully will produce some wonderful, welcome cobs towards the later part of the season. The onions are also doing well and should hopefully be ready for lifting and preparation for storage very soon. Our swedes have also been quietly suceeding in thier corner of the plot and next week will have to have a cage erected about them to prevent atacks from any remaining hungry pigeons.
"Sweetcorn Spikes"
This weeks harvest consisted of beets, beans, carrots and courgettes, all welcome additions to our and our family's laders, however the use of horticultural fleece seems to be essential in our planning for protecting our carrots next year as a great deal of the roots we unearthed had already suffered some damage from these little insect vandals.
"Harvest Basket"
Finally we turned our attention to the flowers on our plot once again, who seem to be doing well at thier task of encouraging pollinating insects and generaly livening up the allotment. We managed to collect some giant poppy seed from a single plant next to the shed for spinkling on our patch for an excellent display next year and are still awaiting the flowering of most of the growing plants in our flower bed which should see us through with some colour to the end of the summer.
"Flowers of many kinds"
During the last season some cross polination of some of the gladioli's must have occurred as a new colour of flower has appeared which is particularly aesthetically pleaseing and so, we are delighted about. In the spring the bulbs will need to be dug up and divided to promote thier lifespan and reproduction beneath the soil.
"Just fab"