MY WEEKS 22 & 23 : ( 29TH MAY & 5TH JUNE )

Hello all, it seems like ages since my last update and there is plenty to tell you all about including my much needed holiday.

We have a little caravan which we leave sited on a working sheep & cattle farm at Harlech in North Wales, this is one of the views from there. You can see the summit of Mount Snowdon in the distance which is usually only visible when the weather is good as it was for the whole week we stayed.




The top two photos are of the sunsets that we get to see quite regularly when the weather is fine and the bottom two photos are of the farm itself and some of the land. We all had a much needed rest and relaxation, it is so peaceful on the farm and hopefuly we have returned with renewed energy and vigour.


Now on with the allotments, as you can see from this photo the crops are really starting to grow and the only empty raised bed is the one that I will be planting up with my Leeks in a couple of weeks time.
There were a couple of problems that occurred while I was away on holiday, the Rocket has started to run to seed due to the lack of water and for some reason my direct sown Runner Bean seeds are not germinating, I had planted some earlier pot grown plants to provide an early crop, so I will have to re-sow for my later crop.


The Broad Beans have started to produce their first pods now, I will have to keep a close eye on the young tips of the plants for the first signs of Blackfly as they will quickly infest your plants if left unchecked, when you do see them you should remove the growing tips which will deter this pest and also divert all the plants energy into filling the pods. The young tips of Broad Beans can be cooked like Spinach or are delicious stir fried lightly with chopped Smoked Bacon.



The Salad crops despite the dry weather are doing really well, the lettuce is Salad Bowl and as you only pick the leaves that you want not the whole plant up, they ensure a constant supply of delicious salad leaves throughout the season without the need to sow successionaly. The Corriander in the background of the photo is nearly ready for harvesting so I will have to sow some more to ensure a continuous supply however the Corriander can be frozen for later use in cooking if prefered.



Earlier in the Spring you may remember that I transplanted some of last seasons Parsnips and Leeks to produce seed for next years crops and as you can see from this photo they are producing the flower and seed heads already, now all I need to do is wait for them to mature and dry I will then have the freshest seed possible which with Parsnips is important for germination success.






Below are photographs of different crops on the allotments so that you can see how they are progressing at this moment in time.


Potatoes and Gladioli.



French Beans and Sweet Peas.



Runner Beans and Brassicas.



Shallots and Courgettes/Cucumbers/Butternut Squash.



Celery & Fennel and Spray Chrysanthemums & Tomatoes.

Well I think that is about it for this week, I hope that despite the very warm weather we are having at the moment you are all enjoying the excitement of seeing crops that you have grown and looked after from seed come to maturity, have a good week on your plots and I will be back next week as usual with my next update, thanks Steve.