My conscience would not let me leave the main crop potatoes in the ground any longer. I have decided to go to the lottie whenever I have a free evening. The dock are starting to thrive and the myriad of other weeds, Chicweed, Creeping Thistle, Sowthistle, Groundsel, Rose Bay Willowherb, Fat hen, Shepherds Purse, Plantain, Henbit, String Nettle, Redshank, Toadflax, Red Dead Nettle, Pineapple Weed, Common Fumitory, Annual Meadow Grass, Spurge, Black Nighshade to name many but not all, are enjoying the party too. There is a good website that show pictures and describes the enemy. Click HERE for a link to the website.
I set about digging up the rows as usually but the job is slow since I am weeding as I go. I cut down the haulms when they showed signs of blight. Whilst this has stopped the blight getting into the crop it has also deprived the potatoes of the drivers to make them grow. It is not surprising that the potatoes are not nearly as well developed however they are as numerous as previous years . The soil is still dry despite my watering which makes harvesting harder than it needs be. The watering only served to encourage the weeds. It is take about a hour to harvest a single 14 foot row. I then pick over the spuds and give them a wash. I hope to leave the diseased spuds and blight spores at the lottie so that the harvest stores well through the winter.
No thing to do with gardening, My Fencing club went for a friendly team match against Leicester Fencing Club. We won all three competitions. That was harder than digging up potatoes!
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