MY WEEKS : 30 & 31 ( 24TH JULY & 31ST JULY )

Well after a much needed holiday at my caravan in Harlech, North Wales, it is good to get back to update you all on my allotments. I hope that you are managing to harvest some crops despite the heatwave and drought conditions that much of you are experiencing.

I would like to share with you a part of my holiday experience, after six years of visiting the same holiday destination and the fabulous Victoria Inn which is the old coaching house of Llanbedr who have a great restaurant and beer garden, I finally popped over the road to where I had noticed there was some sort of walled vegetable garden. Well after enquiring who was in charge of the vegetable garden and then asking if it would be possible for me to look around I was warmly greeted by the Head Gardener whose name is Mike. He showed me around the gardens and we could have talked all day about the vegetables and flowers which he produces. As an ex-chef the concept of what they do there is amazing, they produce the vegetables and some fruit for the Victoria Inn restaurant, they grow flowers and plants for the wonderful baskets that adorn the Inn, they maintain the beautiful beer garden and also spend the winter months logging in the surrounding area to fuel the lovely open hearth fires in the Inn, what a fantastic idea, home grown vegetables on your plate rather than tasteless mass produced crops.




The Potting Shed..... The Vegetables.....



One of the Polytunnels..... Mike with one of his creations!!

I would just like to thank you Mike for making me feel so welcome and sharing your wonderful operation with me and hopefuly I will see you again soon, I forgot to ask for your phone number perhaps you could let me know by email , thanks once again regards Steve.


Well on with my allotments now, over the last two weeks we have only had one spell of rain at the allotments and upon my return yesterday you could tell. In parts it looks like a desert with crops running to seed and others struggling to produce anything of value but as I said in my last update, we will have to accept what we get for this year and consider this as an achievement cosidering the cold Spring which delayed planting, caused poor germination and then the drought and excessive heat that we are enduring now. Despite all these adversities I have been suprised at what produce I have been able to harvest today at my plots.




Maincrop Carrots..... My first Celery.....



Courgette..... Cara Potatoes.....



Boltardy Beetroot..... Snowball Cauliflower.....



My first Sweetcorn..... Outdoor Tomatoes.....

As you can see from the above photographs I have still been able to harvest some wonderful produce despite not being at the allotments for the last two weeks to water and tend them. The Carrots have started to collapse due to the heat and drought, however there are still enough for us, The Celery is not full size but is still ready to start eating whilst it is young and tender, The Courgettes have grown to Marrow size but can still be used for Ratatouille or even stuffed with savoury mince or Roasted vegetables, The Potatoes are a decent size considering the lack of water and taste wonderful, The Beetroot are smaller than usual but still tasty, The Cauliflowers have exceeded my expectations, slightly discoloured my the sunlight but still a good size, The Sweetcorn is exceptional, obviously enjoying the weater conditions and so are the Tomatoes, these are Gardener's Delight which is an outdoor Cherry tomato and needs very little looking after, very sweet and tasty.

Below is a slideshow of variuos crops around my allotments and gives you an idea of how things are looking after my holiday and the weather conditions, overall I'm pleased with the results.


Whilst away on holiday the local council allotment competition was judged and despite not being there to pamper everything I came 3rd with 106 points which was amazing, my friend Tony came 2nd with 108, with my friend Alan winning with 110 points, well done both. This is the second Silver Certificate that I have attained in the last 3 yrs so I'm thrilled.
Well that is it for this week, I hope that you are all enjoying harvesting some produce and remember that despite one of the worst growing seasons for years we are still managing to pick and eat our own produce, what an achievement!! speak to you all again next week, regards Steve.