MY WEEK : 27 ( W/E 6TH JULY )
  Welcome to my latest update from my allotments here in Stourbridge, West Midlands, UK. The weather has definitely taken a turn for the worse over the last week, it has gone from being something like Summer to Autumn with us nearly having a frost on one night to more rain than we need accompanied with strong winds, at least the sunshine when we do have any is warm and most of the crops seem to be enjoying it, even if the gardener's are not.
As many of you will be experiencing for yourselves it has been a busy week of harvesting for me hence the update being late, the soft fruits have done very well this year and so many hours have been spent picking the Strawberries, Raspberries, Gooseberries and Blackcurrants, then more hours have been spent making Jam's,Sorbet, Jar's of Fruit in Syrup, Sauces to top Ice Cream and some of the fruit has been frozen for use later in the year.
  Around the plots things are coming along well, my Son's Marrow plant has produced the first of it's fruits (top-left) which he is growing for our Allotment Horticultural Show in September, this will need 'Stopping' by removing the growing tips of the plant to encourage all the plants energy to go into making the two fruits remaining as big as possible. The Gladioli (top-right) are not intended as an advert for Coke, it's just an idea I had of using the cans as cane tops to stop me or anyone else for that matter from injuring our eyes, the ring pulls on them pressing against the cane prevent them from blowing off in the winds which is what happened to the upturned pots I originally put on the canes.
  The Gladioli themselves are starting to produce the first of their flower spikes as you can see in the picture above and will need tying to ensure that they are as straight as possible for use as cut flowers. The first of my Runner Bean's (top-right) are growing up their supports well and because of the strength of the winds I have as a precaution tied them onto the canes, normally they would be ok left to do this for themselves.
  The Sweet Peas which I grow using the Cordon system, this by the way I covered in my update last week for those of you who missed it, have nearly reached the tops of their sticks this means that I will soon need to 'Layer' them which is a process whereby I untie each one from its support and very carefully lay them down along the floor and then re-tie their growing tips to another stick support further along the row, this then will permit them to grow up and produce another 6ft of growth and blooms. I will of course cover this process in the future updates. The Parsnip's that I transplanted earlier in the Spring from last year's crop have done as expected and that was to produce flowers followed by Seedhead's (top-right) which will give me the freshest seed possible for next season's crop.
  At the beginning of the week I transplanted some Swiss Chard (top-left) that I had sown direct in my cage also I transplanted some Spinach (top-right) which at the moment looks fine but could go to seed (Bolt) very quickly but I've taken a chance to see, I can still sow some directly if they do, when you transplant anything it is important to keep them watered to help them establish.
  During the last week the first blooms of my Spray Chrysanthemum's (top-left) and my Dhalia's (top-right) have come out, one thing I have noticed is that the Blackfly have descended on some of my Dhalias and also on some of the Runner Beans, so I have sprayed these using an Organic spray called 'Savona' available fom the Organic Catalogue who's link you can find under my Links page, this is an Insecticidal Soap and although it does need applying fairly regularly will keep the problem under control. You could just use a spray of very dilute Washing Up Liquid mixed with water although this can get very frothy/bubbly and may also be perfumed, this will however give you very similar control.
  The Beetroot have really put on good growth during the last week or so since I thinned them out, some have already grown to golf ball size which you could use as Baby Beetroot for pickling but we prefer ours just boiled and sliced as they are in a nice salad. The Celery (top-right) are doing very well and putting on tremendous growth, they love all the water they are getting at the moment along with the weekly feed that I have given them.
  The Carrot's that were sown later than I had planned are to growing nicely, some of them are nearly the size whereby they could be cooked whole as Baby Carrot's, the Lettuce that I sowed directly which is the Red & Green Salad Bowl variety is now ready for transplanting to grow on to maturity, which time and weather permitting I intend doing as soon as possible.
  The Bulb or Florence Fennel (top-left) were also sown directly and these need thinning out to leave them at the correct spacing, also the Corriander (top-right) have germinated well and will soon be providing me with their delicious fragrant leaves which I use in any Curry's that I make during the months ahead.
  The first of my Ridge Cucumber's (top-left) are flowering now and have started to produce their fruits so the need to buy that Salad item will soon be over, it's incredible how much you have to pay for them especially if you only want half, the first of my Courgette's (top-right) are forming as well, the flower's of these by the way can be eaten and are quite a delicacy in restaurants usually served deep fried in a light batter with a dip.
  In my cage the Onion's that were grown from seed are doing well and starting to bulb up nicely, the early Broad Beans are now ready for harvesting which I will be doing during the coming days, also I have now completed harvesting my early Peas which mostly have gone into the freezer but some I have used raw in salad which added a delicious flavour and texture.
  My later sowing of Broad Beans (top-left) which may or maynot be successful as they were sown very late are so far doing well, the Dwarf French Beans (top-right) have been very slow to get growing but now are starting to do so and are also producing the first of their flower buds and as you can see do need weeding.
Well that is it for this week I'm afraid, at the moment there has been no further advice issued from either DEFRA or the PSD regarding the contamination in Manure being found all over the country, they are still just asking people to notify them or Dow Agro Chemicals of the circumstances of their problem, the problem has now been reported in Compost sold at Garden Centre's as an Organic Compost, how devastating for all concerned, I have been asked by our Local Newspaper to do an interview about the problem and it has now appeared in the National Press so maybe we will get some more action from the Government Departments concerned although I won't be holding my breath on that one, anyway I hope that you all have a good week and continue to enjoy the fruits of your labour, regards Steve.
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