Spent a very brief period on the plot yesterday afternoon, as I was off sick with a stomach bug but desperately needed to get some fresh air. Couldn't believe the amount of growth on some of the plants, whilst others seemed to be coming on very slowly. The artichokes are now over six feet tall (and wide!), and have quite a few globes maturing on them. Only one of the six courgette plants I originally planted seems to have survived the slugs intact, with two others looking as if they are on their last legs. The survivor is one of the yellow ones, and we had our first little courgette from it yesterday! The leeks have grown amazingly in a few weeks - from tiny wisps to almost spring onion dimensions. The sweetcorn, however, doesn't seem to be doing much at all. Very sluggish, but I suppose it might take off soon. The squash plants and the pumpkin I was given by a nieghbour are doing OK, and I was amazed to see that one of the original "Jack Be Little" plants that was decimated by slugs has made a bit of a comeback. We may get some weeny little pumpkins yet!
My first proper harvest this year (quite late, but then it's understandable) was broad beans. The plants are huge, and I harvested over a kilo (shelled weight!) of the larger beans, and last night froze them for later consumption. There was quite a bit of blackfly on the plants, but it doesn't seem to be slowing down bean production too much, and I was really pleased to see a huge number of ladybird larvae on and around the plants too. I can put up with blackfly if they are feeding ladybirds!
The weeds, however, are back with a vengeance. I'm afraid I had to resort to Glyphosate on one particularly bad patch of bindweed, but these days I simply don't have the time for frequent repeated weeding by hand. Bits of the plot also need a good going over with the strimmer, but I wasn't feeling up to it yesterday, so will have a go at it this weekend if I get the chance.
Today was an absolute scorcher. I spent the longest time so far this year down on the plot - most of the morning as well as going back with the family in the evening. Everything is growing pretty well, although I have lost all my "Jack Be Little" pumpkin plants and three of my six courgette plants to slugs. That was very sad to see when I arrived on the plot this morning. The slugs have also had a go at the first row of my potatoes, which I have never seen before on my plot - they must have been hungry. Luckily one of my neighbouring plot holders offered me one of her spare pumpkin plants - it will produce full sized fruit, but at least we'll have something for Halloween!
I spent the morning tidying up a bit, and planted out my leeks and brussel sprouts (at last!) and three butternut squash plants. I then sank pop bottles (with the bases cut off) nozzle-down next to all my sweetcorn plants, the squash plants, as well as the remaining courgettes. The idea is that by filling the bottles with water it will get right down to the roots of the plants, instead of just sprinkling it on the surface where most of it will evaporate in this weather. We'll see whether it works.
In the afternoon Anne, baby Sam and I went back to the plot and tidied up a bit further, mowed the grass, sorted out the area around the shed a bit and planted some new marigolds in the flower bed. I also covered the brussel sprouts with netting to keep the pigeons and butterflies at bay, and liberally sprinkled slug pellets all around the crops that had already taken a bashing. I do try not to use any nasty chemicals on the plot, but there are so many slugs about that something needs to be done, and pellets are it (I don't have the time or the stomach to wander about with a torch at night picking them off one by one). I do use pellets that claim to incorporate something that deters other wildlife from eating them, which I hope is true.
Anyway, we rounded off a really nice (if tiring) day with a BBQ on the plot, the first one we've had for ages. Yum.
I haven't had much time to blog for the past week, but have to relate the fabulous sights we saw during our holiday in Cornwall the week before last. Unfortunately it poured with rain for 90% of the time, but that didn't stop us wandering around both the Lost Gardens of Heligan and the Eden Project, and indeed the weather may well have kept the worst of the crowds at bay.
Heligan was excellent, the productive gardens are a real eye-opener. The rest of the gardens are just stunnig too - especially the Jungle valley, which we nearly didn't go and look at because it's a bit of a walk from the rest of the gardens, and it was raining. However I'm glad we did because it was fantastic.
The Eden Project just blew me away completely. You cannot comprehend the size of those biomes until you are actually standing next to one - pictures just don't do them justice. The humid tropics biome is simply amazing (and very very hot!). So much to see, I could fill up pages, but I will just say go and see it! The first photo is a shot across the ex-clay pit towards the humid biome. The second is a shot of one of the waterfalls and lakes in the humid biome itself.
