July 2006

Well today i've picked yet more strawberries.....and still more to come but i think that will be them to an end. Despite the amount i picked i still lost quite a few lb to the rains we had over the past couple of days. Welcome though it was, it wasn't helpful to the strawbs. Some went mildewy and some went soft where they were sitting in the water which puddled on the leaves. Still had a good crop despite all that...just not sure what to do with em all. The heat has been good for fruit this year. I was concerned that i had planted the strawberries in an area where they didnt' get sun after 3 in the afternoon but this seems to have been a saviour this year. The plants that did get full sun all day i noticed that the fruits were cooking on the plants, whereas those that got a bit of shade from the house were excellent.


All the strawberries were of a good size too. I had one or two twins which was a novelty for me as i hadn't seen these before...two strawberries from the one flower back to back. It's back breaking work and i've now picked a total of 90lb of strawberries from 49 plants! Think when i eventually move the bed i won't plant as many next time but then again this year could have been an exceptional year!


I also picked my first turnip today, the first ones had bolted and this is the second lot i had sown, i've another row which was sown later and will keep me supplied. I can't believe looking at my pics just how much everything has come one again in a month. My cabbages are coming along a treat and i covered them with strawberry netting originally to stop the birds pecking at the young shoots but kept it on to keep the cabbage whites away...they are fluttering about trying to land on the cabbages but can't. Unfortunately i wasn't able to net my brussels this year so i'm fighting off the caterpillers and the eggs. Got the hang of spotting the yellow eggs but wonder what the black eggs are - friend or foe? I also wonder what the little green caterpillers are what do they become? Are these from the black eggs? I've squirted them with salt water as the caterpillers don't like this and will see if that helps in anyway. They're still quite small but can chomp their way through a leaf overnight! The beetroot is starting to form but keeping a close eye on this just in case it decides to bolt. My onions are going strong and the best i've had for years ......could enter them for a competition the way they are going. I put this down to the intensive preparation in the autumn with top dressing with compost.

The runners are in full flower and starting to form pods....i absolutely adore runners and have grown three teepees this year! My lettuces are coming along a treat too and i've been cutting them off at the base and cutting a cross in them and they are making more leaves so i get twice the amount in the same amount of space. I thought my OH had pulled one up by the roots and was a tad disgruntled but notice that there are little leaves forming again so he must have listened for a change! The second leaves are not as tight as the first and more loose and bigger but still tasty! The june drop was late this year for the apples and didn't happen until July so now that's finished i need to thin out my apples on the cordons, there seems to be plenty to go at anyway. This is the second year they would have fruited and i can't wait. At least they fruit in succession which is just as well when i have four trees!