Basket of delights

At last the rain had come back. Now it has rained on and off for a week, and everything is greening up again. The rain butts have some water in and the stream is folwing again. The roses in the allotment and in the garden have started to flower again and we have a fresh vase on the dining table again. The potatoes continue to delight, and now the tubers themselves are getting larger. The last plant I dug up yesterday (Baltic Rose) has plenty of potatoes for one and half meals. And so far they are all in good condition. Somehow the potato beetles failed to find our plants this year.

Nearly ready for the zoodle machine

Courgette production is still modest - no doubt held up by lack of rain. Nevertheless, there are some courgettes to be had. The trick is to harvest them young enough for the zoodle machine. Maybe I can have zoodles with the chili tonight ... let's see.

The lilies come back every year. They only flower once, but are so cheerful I keep them there.

Branches weighed down by mini fruit

Because we have had very little rain, and the fruit trees in the orchard don't get any extra water, we have had a strange crop this year. Last year the mirabelle did nothing - no blassom and so no fruit. This year it was covered in blossom and is now covered in (still unripe) fruit. There are so many mirabelles that they are managing to bend teh branches of the tree over, making a pretty arch over the path through the orchard.

The apple tree next to the shed is the only one with any number of apples - and it is covered. The apples look great, but non are bigger than a tangerine. Perhaps all the flavour will compressed into the smaller volume! Again the weight of the fruit is really bending the branches. They have hit the floor and are lying on the roof of the shed.

St. Swithun’s Day - a few drips of rain at least

After the lightest of showers the allotment looked a bit better. Nestled between the bars of the shed chair, a furry caterpillar has settled in to a sort of nest. I jope it turns into something nice.

The pumpkins are continuing to advance, and the first fruit are changing from pale vanilla to a sort tangarine colour. It looks promising for a good harvest in the autumn.

Not much chard grew but the few plants that did will provide plenty of leaves. They are looking great mixed in with the marigolds.

Early harvest progressing okay (despite a terrible lack of rain)

The potatoes continue to produce well. In the Sieglinde row, the haulms are starting to die off, but the crop is very good. From one potato planted, we get enough back to feed 2,5 people for one meal.

The pumpkins are going full pace and starting to swamp everything else as usual. The Hokaido plants are a bit less vigorous, but also doing well.

The pair of pear trees (Glou Morceau - grown from bare stick cutting - a gift from my cousins in England) are doing okay, but have drifted off down different paths. There are a couple of pears set on the one by the orchard gate, but the tree near the shed has a really good crop.

Lastly, the apple tree near the shed (and the water butts) has a huge crop of great looking, albeit small apples. I hope they hang on until they are properly ripe - and that the sagging branches don't collapse completely under the load in the meantime.

Mid-summer growing season

Here is a big green grass hopper / cricket which lives in the long grass in the orchard:

There is a small plague of ladybirds, but they are always welcome. Here are some sitting on the leave of the courgette plants:

The courgettes are starting to bear fruit - it's still small now but in anither 3 or four days the harvest can start.

And for the record the potatoes are really good so far. I planted Sieglinde and Pink Gypsy (I think) on 20 April and they are just ready now. Each plant is providing around 12 eggs at around hen's egg size.