Well, it's a few days since the high tide mark of mid-Summer. The weather has been warm and close with the odd rain shower but generally it's been dry and I've been keeping an eye on my carrots and cauliflowers as they can be ruined due to a lack of water.
The Rocket early potatoes are proving to be excellent this year. To this point I've only dug up half a row and I've still got the other half, plus a full row of 30 plants and another row of 26 second earlies. The Rocket potatoes have been large and golden, they were quite large after 10 weeks so, if you want a fast growing early potato then Rocket are a good bet. (Pic - second early potato Maris Peer flower).
The lettuce, despite a bit of a slow start, is really growing well now. I've been taking whole Lollo Rossa plants and just leaves from the green Mazur lettuce. The French breakfast radish has done well though my spring onions, like most years, have been poor.
There's a massive glut of strawberries on the plot at the moment. I've planted at least three different varieties in an attempt to prolong and spread out the fruiting period but the strawberries insist on ripening altogether. My raspberries are looking much better this year too, they hardly fruited at all last season due to being moved around but this summer they are full of flowers and small forming fruits, they should be OK.
The broad beans seem to have grown another foot and there are pods forming on the lower parts of the plants where the first flowers bloomed. The Sturon onions are beginning to swell at their bases though the garlic near-by are looking tatty; still no rust like last year - fingers crossed there may be a decent garlic bulb or two there.
The peas are in full flower and the beans are beginning to make their way up the canes, slowly but steadily. The Winter squashes have all put on new green leaves, many have buds on too. They are still relatively small compared to this time last season but I'm hopeful they will put a spurt on. The brassicas are also looking good though I will have to spray against white fly which has made an appearance this week. The kohl rabi stems are swelling nicely and I'm sure there will be a good crop of these novel plants.
The carrots and parsnips look to be OK too and the carrots damaged by slugs at the start of their life have made a comeback. I'm just desperately hoping the Sweet Candle and Gladiator will be as large as they were last year - massive! The beetroot was a bit patchy but I transplanted the clumps into a line with more space to grow and, while still small, the plants look to have established well. Both the kale and swede are still small but are growing well. The courgette plants are covered in buds, I'm intrigued to see how the golden variety Atena performs. The outdoor cucumbers already have a fruit on them though the sweetcorn is very patchy with a number of plants looking as if they didn't transplant well at all.
That's it for now, it's just a case of weeding, watering and waiting!
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