Spuds and onion update

NEWSFLASH!! Spud and onion update from earlier in the week! [sarcasm] Onions now well established, seed grown onions playing catch-up but some of the set grown onions going to be real good'uns -

Just leaving these to get on with their stuff now until the tops die back and we can harvest. Meanwhile next door to these the spuds (some of which have now been dug up) are also getting on well:

These are going from early to second early to main crop as you go back in the picture. Sadly did not think to put windows or web cams in the mounds so have no idea how well they are getting on under there... only one way to find out. All we need now is a couple of home grown eggs for tortilla :o)

Clay court work

Believe it or no starting to run out of space so now breaking up some really bad clay-type bindweed-rich soil. Turns out pouring some water on about 24 hours before you try to dig it saves a fortune in spades: the ground becomes more like old concrete and less like diamond so the spade can (with persuasion) break the surface. This is how that patch started:

(had already dug some of this area for courgette / squash planting) any how about three or so hours digging later it looks like this - from Thursday:

As you can see there is soil under here - along with some 20 lbs or so of bindweed roots (moaned about these in an earlier post.) Today went up to finish off and had a chance to turn the whole lot with our allotment neighbour (plotmate?) Julie's new rotavator:

This would struggle with unbroken ground but where I have already dug the weed roots out from it does a smashing job of breaking up the soil:

Almost looks like something you can plant into now :o) and just to prove it was actually done by me:

Day was also much more sunny than the BBC suggested - the weather forecasts have been unreliable of late... As you can see next to the area I was tilling the courgettes are doing OK - got some fruit coming along (still early enough in the year to be excited about getting courgettes - in 8 weeks will be drowning in them!) and the leeks planted in the week are getting established. Had to drive the tiller carefully so as to avoid collateral damage. Now just need to improve the soil a bit, add some lime, plant the purple sprouting and build a frame to keep the pigeons / cabbage white butterfly / other misc. critters from eating it before we get a chance to.

Winner winner chicken dinner

12 weeks ago we planted the first early potatoes. Today we decided to take a sneaky peek at the Pentland Javelins:

This is what we got from 3 plants. Not a massive yield but very nice quality with no marks or blemishes at all. The first of our peas were also ready (planted out on 21st April) and we picked approx 20 pods ... just enough for a 2-person serving. Guess what I had for tea? :

We managed to slightly over-cook the spuds (more like crushed potatoes than new potatoes!), but they were lovely tossed in butter with some home-grown spring onions.

Finally I have to finish this post with today's pic of my prize cauliflower:

Monster salad

We have had copious amounts of salad this week, with some of the lettuce reaching epic proportions. Check this out:

You can just make out my arm on the left to give an idea of scale. I have no idea what variety this is but it was very tasty. On Monday we picked the first of the carrots plus some more salad (purple oak leaf lettuce and a little gem):

The carrots were a bit disappointing. Many had forked and were quite stumpy despite growing them in the raised bed. Basically far more top than bottom!

To my surprise (and delight) I can see the beginnings of the head of a cauliflower under the enviromesh:

I have high hopes for this beauty! We managed to get our leeks in today:

The leeks look great and are about the thickness of a pencil. I planted 60 but still have to find room for another 10 or so. We also planted 2 courgettes and 2 butternut squash plants into a black membrane that you can see in the background next to the enviromesh tunnel.

Progress report

Down the allotment the peas are doing great and are producing lots of pods:

We planted another 10 pea  plants just coming into flower alongside the raised bed this weekend. Most of the cabbages and cauliflowers are doing well. We uncovered the Enviromesh today to do some much-needed weeding:

The 3x3 rows on the left are a small (ish) pointed variety, Hispi. You can see the slugs have had a really good go at the middle one in the front row but all the others are untouched. I think the two plants on the right are Golden Acre. You can see the peas in the background.

At home in our garden the blueberry bush is laden with fruit:

Heres a close up shot:

 

We always get a good crop every year but this year it has surpassed all expectation! I never feed it but it does get a top dressing of ericaceous compost in the spring. The plant was a Gardeners World magazine freebie that I received in the post over 10 years ago (no idea what variety). It came as a small twig in a 3 inch pot and now it is nearly 5ft tall! I am planning to try my hand at making some new plants from it this year by taking some semi-ripe cuttings. I just need to get some hormone rooting powder ... We also have another blueberry bush Bluejay purchased from RHS Wisley a couple of years ago but this one is much younger and only produces a handful of berries.

As well as lots of salad we are enjoying some spring onions white Lisbon:

Originally there were far more in the container but we have now eaten quite a few!

Finally, the bargain chillis are settling into their new home in our mini greenhouse and are already beginning to perk up. In fact one of the ridiculously hot ones Bhut Jolokia has a fruit on it:

Apparently gloves are recommended for picking the fruit! The Cayenne peppers that we grew from seed are covered in fruit. Here's a close up shot of one of the plants:

They have grown vigorously from day 1 of germinating and are now a couple of feet tall.

Bargain Chilli Fiesta

While shopping this morning found some of the "Suttons Chilli Festival" plants reduced from £4 to 50p - bargain. Therefore purchased 5 different varieties to augment our current chilli plants (all Cayenne).

So, in increasing SHU order we have:

Exceedingly mild pepper Trinidad Perfume:

Slightly warmer pepper Joe's Super Long:

Ever so slightly warmer, Zimbabwe Black:

Absurdly hot #1 Bhut Jolokia:

Oh my god how can they get any hotter?! Trinidad Moruga Scorpion:

The last two are ex-world-champions in the hottest chillis in the world contest, the last recently knocked off it's perch by the "Carolina Reaper".

Worth noting that the real heat depends very closely on growing conditions and in particular heat and humidity during fruit growth and ripening. Will be interesting to see how hot these guys come out - last year's Scotch Bonnets were pretty good... Of course having Bhut Jolokia and Moruga Scorpions in the same greenhouse allows the possibility of accidentally creating the world's hottest cross breed "Wantage Inferno Chilli" - we shall see :o)

Salad

Our salad is finally ready and we have lots of it - woo hoo! Here's the allotment salad patch:

Consisting of red/green salad bowl lettuce and some lollo rosso. At home we have lots of oriental salads under some Enviromesh, sown back in Feb:

To ensure some succession I have lollo rosso seedlings and cos (little gem and lobjoits) waiting to fill in the gaps:

The four plants in the foreground are cucumbers.

Finally, our leeks are beginning to fatten up so will go out soon: