July on the allotment

Visited the allotment today just to have a pick really. We had already been up at the weekend and picked 9 courgettes. Things are coming thick and fast now!

Peas, picked, podded and frozen asap to ensure that sugar sweet taste.

Broadbeans, all cleared now, although I don't dig the plants out, just cut them at ground level so the nodules on the roots can release nitrogen back into the soil. However, what often happens is the plants reshoot and we can get a small bonus crop. Also french beans, our first proper picking. These are a french variety, can't remember the name, but they are very thin pods with a slight dark speckling.

Spring onions, or scallions depending on what side of the pond you are sitting. I have never successfully grown these until this year. I have sown them thickly in short rows staggered over a few weeks to prolong the harvest. Looks like we are going to have masses and they are relatively winter hardy so I will just pull them as needed.

Red gooseberry 'Pax', rapsberries 'Glen Ample' and black currants, no name as it was a cutting from a friend. These have been sorted and frozen ready for jamming or baking at another time.

Little Gem lettuce, a cos variety, small and sweet. Again, a great success for me with these this year, and again I have successionally sown so I already have another 2 rows at different levels of growth.

Dahlias, grown because they are pretty and for cutting. Hopefully next year the plants will be twice as big and the blooms twice as tall.

And lastly, my first gladioli to open. I grow these for mum as they were the first flower my darling dad ever brought for her. This one is a good 2 weeks early for some reason. Oh well, I will have to enjoy it.

Hope I didn't bore you too much.

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Thank you everyone for the kind words. Glad I'm not boring you all and sorry that it is supper time when I post. Smile

Sjoerd, the gooseberries are a very heavy cropper. Mine is a standard bush, between 3 and 4 foot high. I have to support it's trunk as it produces masses of very big berries which bend the plant around. A regular bush would probably be more stable, but the beauty of a standard is the fruit are easy to pick, cleary seen, good air circulation, minimal pruning and clear of the ground and the sluggies. Pax is a dessert goose I believe, and the berries are incredibly sweet and juicy. A great one to just eat, altho it does also cook wonderfully.

Eileen, these dahlias were grown from seed just this spring so I am thrilled with them. I plan to mulch them heavily after the first frost with my home made compost and see if they come back again next year. Fingers crossed.

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