Dahlias and goji berries

The dahlias are on top form.  I have to chop some down for home this weekend.

In the picture below you can see the goji berries.  To some people they taste disgusting, to others they taste of nothing at all.  At least they look nice.

EHS Summer Show - another huge success (ish).

The EHS Summer Show on Saturday was pretty good.  We had plenty of people taking part, a handful of visitors from England, a few children and two chickens (Rustika and Mustika).

The point of the Show was mainly the picnic and chit-chat, but there were prizes to be one.

Without going through all the tedious details, Richard S. did a bit too well winning four categories.  Simon B. got the best in show for his apples.  I failed to get best root vegetables for my beetroot (they should have one really but I think the judging panel got carried away with the sheer size of the winners).  I also failed to win anything with my dahlias but that's okay because I love them and we used them for the street party later in the evening.  Happily, I did win the EHS Special Prize (a blue doormat with printed flowers on!) for my Lady Di runner beans.  They are still going strong after nearly three months of fruiting.

Right now I am in Singapore, en route to Melbourne for the rest of the week.  The airport is beautiful and very well air-conditioned.  I don't fancy another long flight though.  Ah well, "Wat mut, dat mut" as they don't really say.

Red onions

In order to prepare some space for the winter chard, I took out the red onions last night.

There weren't that many but they look pretty healthy and mostly free of thripps.  The variety remains a mystery ... they came in a bag from the local supermarket for growing over winter.   I kept them in the shed and popped them in in April after a couple of weeks in the cold frame.

Putty - aargh!

I decided to patch up the windows at the villa a bit ... some of the putty had dropped out over the years.

What a pain!  Nobody told me that the only things putty doesn't sick to are wood and glass.  It sticks really well to fingers.

Goji a-go-go

The first goji berry has appeared!  There are also a couple of other potentials - fingers crossed for a big crop next year.

Judging completed

The bean judgement has been made.  Here are my entries:

I think the judging panel were impressed - their complete set of comments were:

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

#429 – 4 specimens – somewhat curved and small – assume not fully mature – not bad snap test (stringless & quite fresh) – appeared slightly wilted

#430 – 6 specimens – very straight and even length (ca 27cm) – good colour – very slight signs of beans in pod – very good snap test (fresh & stringless with pleasant odour)

#431 – 3 specimens – slightly curved – just about mature (definitely big enough to eat) but not very large – good snap test (completely stringless)

#432 – 6 specimens – very large and even length (ca 36cm) – almost straight – good snap test although a little string – perhaps stayed on plant too long before picking (very long, hint of inner bean and long edge starting to look ‘textured’)

#433 – 1 specimens – very long (35cm) – nice piece of haulm left in place – slightly twisted – quite good snap test (hint of string) – suspect slightly over-mature

#434 – 2 specimens – on haulm – one misshapen (narrowing of bean along its length) – suspect uneven watering – good snap test

#435 – 2 specimens – I think the show came at the wrong time for these beans – one very thin and one malformed showing a slight sign of malaise (reddish colouration) – snap test OK but thin part of bean somewhat soft and bendy

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The winner will be announce at the Late Summer Show, next month.

Beans getting ready for judgement day

Lady Di runner beans ready for the show

On Friday 5th August we will have the runner bean class of this year's EHS Late Summer Show.  Everyone's beans are peaking now (apart from John's) and the show organizing committee agreed to move the bean day to this week.  My single row has produced a mighty crop so far and shows no sign of stopping.  The infestation of black fly earlier in the year were chased off by the crushed marigold oil I sprayed at them.

One typical runner bean, about 35 cm long

The goji bushes have gone a bit crazy and covered half the path to the compost bins.  They have had more (purple) flowers this year than last year, but I don't see any sign of fruit.  I have no idea when I can prune them back a bit - I guess I'll just make it up.

Goji bushes