It is a bad year I know,but I wonder if all this rain has helped any of your crops?..,.I have had a really good harvest of broadbeans (aquadulce planted in January) and strawberries and things in my tunnel have been growing well too.
Have you had any surprising results?
Yes, the globe artichokes. I thought they would have sulked a little but I've noticed around the plots, for those that grow them for eating and for the flower, they are doing really well.
Ninny
Peas and broad beans. Red cabbages are growing apace- no cabbage whites this year.......where have they gone???
Full smith periods all week and I only have my PFA's grown from seed outside now and they look good. I sprayed them on Thursday and it all washed off in Friday's flood... ::) I shall be really upset if I lose them after so much work.. ::)
It is the best year ever for celery. :)
The parsnips, salsify, chard & leaf beet , jeruselem artichokes, peas. leeks and endive are looking good.
Cloched sweet pepers are coming into flower.
Cropping well are broad beans, lettuce and all soft fruit.
Even the oca are very happy, even producing some flowers. :)
My broadbeans are also doing well. Masterpiece doing best. Annabelle potatoes doing well, and Mrs Lewis beans, parsnips are huge. Sweet peas lovely. Sweetcorn just taking off. Fourth sowing of beetroot doing well. Raspberries and redcurrants great. Calabrese just taking off. Third sowing of PSB ready for transplanting. Third sowing of runner beans look promising. Loads of peas. Artichoke covered in heads.
Good things I'm a seedaholic and have plenty of extra seeds. ;D Slug food seems to be rather expensive. ::)
Pity about the carrots.
[Pity about the carrots.]
Had some of mine on Sunday i had to eat them all incase i poisened someone
peas, broad beans, cabbage, lettuce, strawberry, khol rabi, spinach
Woodpigeons, slugs and snails.
Afraid the wood pigeons are not getting a look in on our allotment as the slugs have got there first.
We are not doing too well on our clay. It baked solid early in the season and has been saturated since. Our trial of chick peas are doing OK and the garlic is good. Occa, Yuca, and Jerusalem Artichokes are fine but the squashes, toms, and beans are still struggling with wet feet. Most seed sowings have been lost but we are popping more in as we can. A bit of a challenge but we are learning :D
Fruit! Fruit, and more fruit. Apart from a few trees whose blossom was damaged by gales, the warm wet weather is bringing on the apples, plums, gooseberries, raspberries, blackcurrants ... well, you get the picture!
This my plot yesterday;
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/72984436/2012-07-09%2013.41.45.jpg)
So as you can see, what is growing well is everything on my neighbours plot. His stuff has grown so high it is now stealing any sun that does turn up.
I think he has two advantages over me, one he knows what he is doing, and two he has a heated greenhouse at home to get things started and ready to go out.
I have to make do with a few propagators on window sills.
Our cabbages are fatting up nice we have to do slug hunting, Strawberrys we have tons BUT mould is there also they taste just like water? not sweet and they are Cambridge Favorites don't know whats gone wrong ,best onions this year, carrots parsnip and swede none starters,french beans would not start,runners fine,never mind ,some folk on our sight lost all there pots they had nothing there when dug up :'( theres aways next year :(
The runner beans are just starting to fruit, they are now 2m tall. Covered in flowers.... The French beans are also very big this year, they are in flower.
Had nice peas, they are finished now. Good lettuce, first time I had decent ones, and good mizuna, radishes too, Artichokes very big.
Spuds excellent, very big and early. Raspberries starting, tasty, but the strawberries are rotting :( Good onions and garlic, although harvesting in wet is proving tricky.
So not too bad, just the "summer" things that are not doing so well.
New strawberry plants have had good start with all the rain they've had..they are big and lush and surprisingly lot of berres coming on too.
Gooseberry bushes have tons to pick.
Peas are looking good.
Rhubarb...well..best ever and I've eaten more than I usually do too.
Bush beans seem to enjoy the growing conditions better than climbing.. ???..and as long as slugs and snails leave them alone they should do well.
Sweetcorn..now that they've finally decided that it is time to grow I'm getting quite optimistic with them too..new growth look good and healthy..it all just depends what happens when tassles are out.
Chillies and pepper are superb..coming on nicely.. ;D..had first few ripe chillies too...OUTCH.. :-X..that tasting session in GH didn't end very well.. ::)..should not start munching without trying the heat with touch of the tongue first.. :-X
I ended up going home for bit of cooling yogurt.. ;D
Peas certainly! :)
Our gooseberries, raspberries, redcurrants and blackcurrants have been excellent this year. Broad beans also.
The cabbages are looking great, as well has the purple and white sprouting.
We will also have a bumper crop of yellow plums and damsons.
So it hasn't been all that bad, even when the allotments have been under 8" of water ::) ::)
Shame about the rest of the veggies. Hope next year's weather is better