In a quandary

   I could put it off no longer. The weather is dry and has been for most of the week. She who must be obeyed and daugter had gone shopping. I had no excuses left. I went to the lottie with one goal which was to dig up the potatoes. In preparing the soil for the spuds I cleaned it of weeds. Whilst the spuds were growing they created and effective cover that no weeds could grow save the creeping thistle. It grows from a rhizome under the soil rather than a seed so not much cab stop it except constant weeding in order to weaken the rhizome. The outcome was that now the haulms of the spuds have died back the bed is clean of weeds so I need only dig the spuds up and not combine it with a weeding exercise.

   I started at the end of a row and carefully put the fork under were I thought the spuds would be. I was not far off. The trouble was that the soil was so light [thanks to all the manure and work over the years] the fork tines just slipped through the soil hardly disturbing the soil. I change over to the spade. That made a better job. Soil and spuds moved. The spuds came up quite clean as the soil was dry. I left them in the sun for a while as I harvested the row. The sun dried the potato skins and soil alike. The soil just fell off the spuds when I shook them in the tray. At the end of a row I collected the spuds. They filled one of the two trays I had brought with me. The spuds were a good size. Most of them were larger than tennis balls. Some showed signs that they had bulked up a second time probably after a period of rain. I set off on a second row. That too yielded a full tray of spuds. I only had the two trays so that was the end to the harvesting for today.

  I worked along the row. The air was warm but there were no flies to bother me. There were lots of birds squabbling in the hedgerow and high overhead a Buzzard was calling. It was all very pleasant. Since it only took me an hour and half to harvest the two rows I set about weeding the paths by the area I harvested. I hindsight it might have been better to weed the paths before harvest to make access that bit easier. The paths gave up a fully wheelbarrow load of assorted weeds. I dumped these wees onto the new compost pile. The pile had dropped a good few inches since last week which mean s the compost process has begun. I tramped the new load of weeds in the bin. I checked the adjacent compost bin. No snakes to be seen but there were lots of sloughed off skins. I am in a quandary, empty the compost bin or leave it for the snakes.  

   I was encouraged by the potato harvest so next visit more spud digging. 

Volunteer Potatoes

   The weatherman was right about the weekend. Sunday was gorgeous. The trailer run was executed but with change to the usual routine by dropping the load of to my buddy, drinking tea and chatting on his new decking. The trailer was returned to the then I went to the lottie.

   Come what may I was determined to harvest the peas and onions. Considering the state of the plot that what quite a tall order. In fact the weds came away quite easily. The dense cover of peas had suppressed most of the weeds. I only had to spot weeds a few dock and a couple of bushy grasses that had seeded from the bird food thrown from the feeders. It was hot work. The sun was bright and hardly any breeze much less a wind to speak of. As I harvested the peas and rolled up the vines and weeds I came across a number of volunteer potatoes. They are potatoes that have grown from spud missed in the last harvest. I collected enough for two dinners. It will be a mixed plate of White Duke of York, Cara and Red Fir Apple.

   I filled one of my big compost bins with the harvested vines. Even climbing on top of the pile and trampling it several times only succeeded in bring the pile down to the top of the bin. The grape next to the pea patch was straggly so I gave it a good pruning and trained likely vines against the wires. More brash for the compo heap. Finally with my energy running low I tackled the onion bed. Three was not much to do except pull up the ripened onions and clear away what weeds were present.

   All the goodies were loaded into Degsy. In the short time after shutting the back door to Degsy and taking a walk round the plot to make sure nothing was left that should not be left, the cab had developed a rich oniony smell. When I got home I found she who must be obeyed in teh garden chatting to an old friend of ours from Manchester. the friend had been at Champany's for the weekend. I could have done with a massage but had to settle for a shower and a brew.

   Spud harvesting next weekend. If my back is better!
         

Righteous compost

   I dropped the trailer of muck off as part of the fortnightly ritual. The allotment, by allotment I mean weeds, have staged a miraculous recovery following the mega-strimming they got a few weeks ago. The cultivated plants (Onion and Potatoes) have died back which makes things look worse. The grapes vines have lovely little bunches of grapes but I doubt there is enough rain and sun to make them mature before the autumn kicks in. The Pea patch is a riot of plump pea pods and weeds. The good thing is that in harvesting the peas the bed will get cleaned up at the same time.

   As usual I had a sneak peek in the big compost big and was rewarded with seeing two grass snakes. One was almost adult in size but the other was a juvenile. So I feel quite righteous about leaving the compost bin alone for most of the summer.     

A reasonable trade off

   The plants seem to be making up for lost time from the late spring. The fruit bushes in the back garden are bent low with fruit. It is hard to get tired of eating Raspberry and Blackcurrants straight off the bush. The Apples seem to be getting bigger as you look at them.

  I am happy to report that honey bees are still around. I left some wet comb [honey comb with a some honey left on it] in the wax extractor in the greenhouse. I though the combination of the extractor inside the greenhouse might render the wax for me. No such luck. However the the bees have found it. The other day there must have been fifty honey bees and a dozen of more bumblebees in there robbing the honey. They had to pay the price by bumping off the greenhouse glass roof until they found their way out.

   All the doors and windows in the house are open so we can enjoy the beautiful weather. We get more unexpected visitors. The garage has been adopted by two very big and very active common Toads. There are a few Toads in the garden and H keeps bumping into them as she harvests the fruit bushes. The dining room has a new fixture, although I think it will only be a temporary arrangement, A Magpie Moth is spending the day with us. The picture below does not do it justice. Click HERE for some proper information on the Magpie moth. Having read up on the moth I find the caterpillars of this moth like Currant and Hawthorn plants as hosts. We have both in the garden. A few leaves for a pretty visitor seems like a reasonable trade off.

 

Visitor in the Compost Bin

   Today was trailer day so a duly trundled off to get it. When I got to the lottie the sides of the drive way was thick with Diasies. Tip the manure as useful. It was slow work because it was so hot. It was not blazing sunshine just heat. Having finish the tipping I took walk round the plot. The spuds are in flower. It has been quite dry for sometime but the recent down pours have come just at the right time. When the spuds are in flower the tubers will be bulking up. This is the time to water them.

   The peas are pushing hard against the fleece. The peas are in flower so I took the fleece off so the pollinators can get at them. The onions are bulking up nicely. I think they appreciated the weeding they had the other week. The competition was swept away. The Gooseberries are ready to harvest so I just have to be brave. The thorns are wickedly sharp. If you want something nice you have to suffer. The vines are doing but the there does not seem to be much in the way of flowers. I think I might have to right off a harvest from them this year. 

   I took a look in the big compost bin to see how it is doing. The presence of ants tells me it is too dry. However a much larger visitor to the compost bin likes it dry and warm. On the surface of the compost was two long snake skins. The grass snakes have been back to slough off there old skins. By the size of the skins there are at least two adult Grass snakes slithering round the lottie.

   I did a little bit of weeding but I had an appointment with the bees and the afternoon was wearing on. We are promise rain later today so I do not want to get caught out at the apiary with the rain coming on and hives open.




  

Sweating in the Full Afternoon Sun

   I am a little delayed in this report. Last weekend I had to do the trailer run but got delayed by find a swarm in the hedge by the  apiary. Given this year's clock seem to be four weeks delayed we are really in June. A swarm in June is worth a silver spoon as the saying goes. I bagged the swarm but it left me which little time for the lottie.

   The trailer was unloaded, hot muck on a hot day is not a lot of fun. It took a walk round the plot after cleaning out the trailer. The poppies have come into bloom and they are a vile shade of violet, showy and violet. I could live with them in almost any other colour. I was short of time but they have been designated as a weed and their days are numbered. The spuds are doing well. A watering would not go amiss. The area of concern was the top end of Bed1, The weedlings are getting going. I seem to have a flurry of Fat Hen. It is a really nice plant but it is no good to me. I also have the ubiquitous Creeping Thistle. The soil is quite dry so hoeing was quite easy. I just had to be careful round the Sweet Corn. Twenty minutes of sweating in the full afternoon sun sorted the area. No wonder I am loosing weight! The Peas are doing nicely so I loosened the fleece to allow the peas to push the fleece up. Lastly was an inspection of the vines. They are romping off now. I have the little flowers they will be grapes but I fear it is all happening a bit late. Any brave enough to forecast an Indian summer to allow the grapes to ripen?

It is only a weed if it is in the wrong place

   I went to the lottie having missed a weekend due to Miss L's 21st birthday party; Saturday was preparing for the do and having the do and Sunday, well not quite sure where that went. My excuse was that it had been raining and the ground would be soaked. That's my excuse and I am sticking to it. This weekend the weathermen said Sunday would be the warmest day [click HERE for my post from the my bee blog on weather forecasting] so I figured lottie then bees. I knew the plot had to be weedy but I was in for a shock....again.

    The Asparagus bed which was tilled black earth a fortnight ago was covered with a foot tall blanket of weeds. The Onion were struggling to keep their heads above the weeds in Bed4. The few Dock that I did not get out of Bed2 were four feet tall and starting to set seed. heat and rain. It is amasing how fast weeds will grow. I started on the Asparagus bed just riping handfuls of hick weed out. I had though I might take some home as a salad crop but I was too intent on clearing the bed. I had a nice crop of Sow Thistle as well. They pull out easily. However I did have some really nice self seeded Poppys growing and some Borage. I left those plants. It is only a weed if it is in the wrong place! I got the three pronged cultivator out and grubbed around the bed dislodging the remaining weeds. I threw the weeds on the pile of weeds that has been sitting on the patio for a few months. Next the Onion bed got the cultivator treatment. I had to a lot more careful here so as not to grub up the Onions. Twenty minutes later I had another big armful of weeds for the pile. This time mainly Grounsel, Herb Robert, a couple of Sow Thistle with String Nettle creeping in.

   I had stop for a rest in the shade of Degsy. The sun was hot and bright so I picked the wrong day for heavy manual labour. Whilst resting I was looking at the patio and the almost empty big compost bin. I was going to repair the side of the bin before filling it but I have not scrounged the materials for the repair. I decide not to do the repair, levelled out the little bit of maure that was left in the bin, then shovelled in the plie of weeds that had been on the patio. Even a heap it is surprising how much the wedds rotted down. Near the bottom fo the pile was moist loamy soil full of worms. In the clean up the pile ended up inverted in to the bin. That we getting rotting down. Hot and sweaty and not a little dizzy I had another sit down and pondered what to do next.

   I was denying the inevitable. Those big docks needed tackling. Wheelbarrow and spade were parked by the dock whilst I figured out just needed doing. For some reason the Dock finished in a line across the plot. I figured a needed to dig about about four foot of the bed to clear the Dock. The remainder of the bed was a mixture of grass and nettle which I had strimmed a fortnight earlier. I set about the weeds in the now time honoured manner. The Docks came out with a reasonable amount of force. The soil was nice a damp so yielded to the spade and the tugging at the weeds. An hour of toiling in the sun had the four foot of the bed cleared. I raked over the bed pulling in the hump of soil left over from the last diggiing/weeding session. As long as you don't look behind you the bed looks great. The Potatoes in the bed are up and growing nicely. If I am quick there might be time for a new sowing of seed potatoes to grow and mature.

   The vines have staged a come back. One has succumbed to the winter and is stone dead. Another has lost one side of its spread. I might be able to train a new leader a long those wires. The vines seem intent in making up for lost time. The leaves have yet yet fully flushing and there is already clusters of buds that will be grapes. So come on hot weather. The grapes have 10/12 weeks to do there stuff if I am to get a crop of Grapes. The weeds how have a new home in the big compost bins. I will have to find some heavy duty black plastic to cover the weeds. It is a great covering because it excludes the light, keeps inthe moisture and heats up under the sun. The weeds don't stand a chance. Some of the weeds with tap rootstry to make a bid to grow but the lack of light and hot temperature soon exhausts their power and cooks them down. I have the view there is no sense wasting the soil's goodness that has gone into the weeds. It takes a very hardy weed to survive a compost heap baked in the sun.

   The peas in bed1 are doing fine under the fleece. I will have to arange something for them to go up very soon. I packed up degsy and was very satified atteh turn round inthe plot. You can see the far end of the plot for the first time this year.

   Next job planting spuds and beans and the return of the bees.

   Extreme right Gooseberry in the foreground with Comfry behind. Middlish and to the fore Borage and Poppy with Rhubarb behind. On the right fence you can make out the vines. Under the fleece is the peas. About four post a long you can make ou the spuds. Best not talk about the right side of the plot but the onions are in the bed behind the Rhubarb......honest.