Wow, it's been hot! We've had about a fortnight now of dry sunny weather with no rain. Temperatures have been in the 27-30 degree range day after day. I've been watering the strawberries in pots every day along with the squashes.
Talking of the squashes, they have really enjoyed the hot weather and have come on in leaps and bounds since they were planted out at the start of the month. The pumpkin Big Max is flowering and I hope to get a fruit set in the next few days.
Likewise, the butternuts are forming fruits and I'll have to keep an eye on them as I only want two per plant in an attempt to get larger squashes. The onions are ticking along nicely and the brassicas are too with the sprouts and Winter cabbage especially good. I've staked the sprouts now as they were bending toward the sun as they were growing. The carrots in the barrel, Sweet Candle, are really bushy and the row of Resistafly carrots are likewise growing well.
I started digging my early Rocket potatoes from the middle of the month, probably a week or so later than previous years due to a cold March and April which saw them get off to a slow start. The runner and French beans are already at the top of their bamboo canes and are flowering nicely. I look forward to some beans very soon.
The broad beans now have long pods on them and they will probably be harvested by the end of this month. I was a little worried about my leeks at the beginning of June because they looked awful and I thought I had lost the crop due to a few hot days just after planting. I'm glad to day that I only lost three or four and that the rest have revived. They need a bit of weeding but they're not as bad as I thought.
I've been cutting Little Gem and Lollo Rossa lettuce along with mixed leaves. The row of beetroot I planted out as plugs have grown so well that I will have to thin them out a little to get good sized beets.
I've been picking strawberries from their pots and have already obtained larger pots for them to be transplanted into for next season. The rhubarb is an early variety and is now 'going over'. I didn't take any stalks this year as I wanted it to get settled in its new place after being transplanted. The Autumn Gold raspberries are doing really well in their pots next to the shed but the Summer fruiting version have not flourished in their new position - I think it's just been too dry for them there despite me chucking a load over water over them every so often.
No sign of the hot dry weather abating as I write. So, bye for now.
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