MY WEEKS : 21 & 22 ( W/E 27TH MAY & 3RD JUNE )

Welcome to my update of the last two weeks both on my holiday in France and back at the allotments in Stourbridge. We had a fantastic week in Normandy showing Daniel all the sights of the region which included the D-Day beaches, Museums, Pegasus Bridge, the picturesque village of Honfleur and like us he thoroughly enjoyed the local cuisine of Seafood, Cheeses and Cakes to die for. The campsite we stayed at was really nice with a swimming pool that we could not keep Daniel out of, the photograph is of the sunrise which I enjoyed most mornings we were there with the delightful sound of a Cuckoo and other birds singing away, very relaxing and peaceful which is just what we needed.







Our first visit was to the town of Arromanches where the main museum of the D-Day landings is, the top-left picture is of one section of the artificial harbour that was erected so that the reinforcements and supplies for the troops could be landed, the top-right picture is of one of the American military vehicles used.







The next destination was the War Cemetery where you cannot help to be moved by the shear number of graves there, there were white crosses as far as you could see with them all being in perfect lines, the above pictures do not do it justice but give some indication of what we saw.







The above pictures show the Seafood and the Cakes that we enjoyed whilst we were there, the Seafood ( Fruit De La Mer ) was fantastic and took all three of us a couple of hours to get through washed down with a little wine of course then came the cakes which I wish the Bakers in this country would use as an example to aspire to, when you go into the local Patisserie's they go to the trouble of wrapping them in delightful paper or boxes with ribbons around to help you to carry them, what a service!


Below is a slideshow of the other sights of our trip for you to enjoy.

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Back on my allotments things aren't looking too bad, I understand that there was a slight frost here last Tuesday night which on some parts of the site has caused damage to peoples Potatoes, Fruit and Runner Beans, my plots are on the high point of the allotments site and seem to have escaped any major frost damage with only very minor yellowing to a couple of the Potato plants and Runner Beans that I planted out just before I went on holiday so I have been lucky. The weeds have flourished in the warm and damp conditions and I will have to get stuck into clearing them when I visit my plots this coming week.






As I mentioned earlier I have been lucky that the frost has not damaged my Runner Beans that I planted just before my holiday and they are looking very healthy with them showing signs of growing away, the Gladioli are also making good growth and hopefully it won't be too long before we start enjoying their blooms.






The first signs of flowers are appearing on some of my Potatoes which is earlier than I expected as I had planted them quite late in comparison to others but nevertheless the thought of freshly dug then boiled Potatoes with a sprig of Mint and melted butter over them is not too far away, the Broad Beans which were also sown later than I usually do have grown well but I noticed that a couple of them have a few Blackfly on them which will have to be dealt with using my Insecticidal Soap spray as it is too early for me to pinch out the young growing tips which they adore.





My Onions are doing well and unlike fellow plot holders who planted theirs earlier, they do not seem to have been attacked by the Alium Fly which is causing quite a great deal of damage to their Onions and Leeks, whether this is just luck or down to the timing of the planting I do not know yet. The Lettuce plants that my neighbour Brian gave to me have grown to maturity and will soon start supplying us with our own Salad leaves, although these are Salad Bowl Lettuce which means that you can harvest the leaves as and when you want them and the plants will reproduce new leaves they do not last all season long so I have sown a successional supply to follow them on in about 6 weeks time.






My Garlic crop as you can see in the above picture has definitely matured and is ready for harvesting now, I don't think that the cloves will be as large as in previous years though. I have noticed that my newly planted Asparagus has produced it's ferns but has already been found by the Asparagus Beetle shown in the top-right picture, these pests strip the outer layer of skin of the ferns which results in them withering and can kill them so I will need to take action as soon as possible.







On the fruit side of things at my plots, the first of the Raspberries are forming along with the Strawberries these will need to be covered as soon as possible as the birds will soon feast on them, although my Blueberry bush is on the small side I am still looking forward to my first harvest of them which I'm sure will go into some lovely Muffins when the time comes.







On my return to my plots it was nice to see the first of my Sweet Peas in bloom, as you know this year I have not been able to grow them as Cordons but instead I am just letting them scramble up netting which you can see in the top-right picture, this will result in shorter stems for them but will still be lovely as a cut flower with their strong scent filling the rooms at home. I hope those of you that purchased some of My Allotments Seeds last year are also soon going to enjoy their beautiful blooms soon.






Back at home our main border along one end of the patio area is looking absolutely stunning at the moment which I have shown in the top-left picture with the Arum Lillies really putting on a good show, although these are usually grown by ponds or bog gardens they will still thrive if they are kept well watered in a normal border as you can see.

Well that is it for this week's update, I have not covered all my plants and crops this time but I will show you in next week's update if that is ok, I hope that things are going well for you all on your own plots and that you will soon be harvesting the first fruits of your labour there's nothing better, well almost!! have a good week and I will speak to you all again next week regards Steve.