We have now been in our new house for nearly five days. Now that we have unpacked most of our things it feels quite like home. There is still an awful lot to be done of course but it's fine for the time being.
Needless to say I have hardly been able to get to the plot for some time, I have just about been able to do some essential watering and a bit of harvesting, but there is a lot to be done there too. This is the first year I have had the plot where I have actually had to water regularly, the last three summers have been so wet, and I have found it difficult to find enough time to water sufficiently. I am having to prioritise - I am now ignoring all the things that are nearly finished, or well underway, like the broad beans and peas, and putting all my efforts into those that are yet to produce anything, like runner beans, french beans, squashes and sweetcorn. It isn't really feasible to water everything. Certainly not potatoes, I'd be there all day and all night. And it still wouldn't soak in much below the surface. I've had a very poor potato yield so far, only about 3 - 4 potatoes per plant, sometimes 5 if I'm lucky. Plenty of courgettes and broad beans, and some peas. I'm definitely not doing peas again. They have been decimated by pigeons and they are so time consuming to get out of the pods. I know they are delicious but I have so little time at the moment.
On our last night in our old house we had a chinese takeaway followed by all the cherries off the cherry tree! It was a whole bowlful, which was amazing compared to last year when we had a grand total of four, only one of which was actually eaten by a human being. This year I covered it in a sort of veil made of white voile, which made it look very bridal, and protected the fruit from the birds.
Sadly I have not been able to keep up with the sweet peas, which is a real shame because they really are beautiful. I managed one vaseful, which you can see above. I am going to try and pick some more, and hope that I am not too late to stop them all from going to seed. I finish work tomorrow so after that I am going to devote a few hours/days to weeding and other plot maintenance, so maybe I'll get a chance then.
The other thing I have not had a chance to harvest is the blackcurrants. They are mostly ripe now so I must get on with it before they shrivel up. There are lots of loganberries coming too. And the blueberries are beginning to ripen. Shame there isn't a pause button....
4 comments:
Congratulations, I hope you manage to get on top of everything soon.
I was talking to some men at my allotments and they hardly water anything, certainly not potatoes and not even sweetcorn or carrots. The only things they ready bothered with were lettuce and tomatoes so don't feel too bad if you can't keep up.
Glad to hear that the move went well. Your cherries look fantastic. I got one cherry off my tree last year and was hoping for better things this year, especially as the tree had so much blossom at the start of the year. Unfortunately, I think the frost must have got to it as only five cherries were produced, but they were taken (probably by birds) before they were ripe. Oh well, there's always next year.
New house how exciting! It's the first year I've grown sweet peas and didn't realise how much work it is to keep cutting the flowers (and tendrils if I can be bothered). Also found out I'm allergic to them so they stay in a vase on the garden table!
Peas. I've grew them this year, but have to say I'm with you on that point. Was embarrassed to say it out loud though, as everyone raves about them...but really, I've found them not worth the effort.
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