The weather has largely been kind with plenty of warmth, sun and the odd welcome rain shower. This has really helped the allotment crops surge ahead in terms of plant growth and fruit production.
Talking of fruit, I've got raspberries, strawberries, blackcurrants, rhubarb and gooseberries coming from the allotment by the tub full. I don’t think the family can eat many more fruit crumbles and summer puddings! It’s time to move into jam making mode, an ideal way to make the most of soft fruit and preserving it for the coming months. As for rhubarb, it’s time to stop picking it now; give the plant a feed and a rest and I'll be rewarded with more stalks next season.
My winter squashes; Butternut ‘Hunter F1’, pumpkin ‘Big Max’ and ‘Turks Turban’ are beginning to wend their way around the beds, their long trailing stems covering ground at a remarkable rate. The summer courgettes are prolific as usual, though I notice that the golden variety I have chosen this year, ‘Atena’, take longer to develop than the traditional courgettes I am used to growing.
The brassicas are really developing well now; I'm trying cauliflower for the first time this season. They are supposed to be a bit tricky though the plants are looking large and healthy; unfortunately this doesn't mean a decent cauli’ though. One of my more unusual brassica varieties is the kohl rabi, it looks a bit like a demented shuttle-cock with a swollen stem and tufts of leaves sprouting from odd angles. Despite its odd appearance, it can be grated raw into salads or cooked like a root vegetable and has a mild nutty, cabbage-like flavour.
The runner beans have raced to the tops of their canes, likewise the climbing French beans. Their more uncouth cousins, the broad beans, have already started to offer their crops and the peas are swelling in their pods nicely. New potatoes are being dug as and when required, salads like lettuce and radish are in ready supply. It’s just a fantastic time of year for the plot holder.
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