30 June 2020

What's going on, June 2020

A row of peas growing
Snap peas, Jun 2020
I took the above photo at the beginning of the month and the peas are about twice as tall now and covered with fat pods.  They're sugar snap peas and so sweet and crispy.  We like them raw in a salad or just very lightly cooked with dinner.

The whole garden has grown about twice as much, actually.  The allotment, not so much;  maybe the potatoes.  The pumpkins and squashes are just thinking about growing now, and the onions (not many) and leeks (same) too--but all still puny.  There are a lot of poppies here at home amongst the vegetables, and I've been gradually pulling them up and laying them down as mulch--it's kind of hard to find the veg through all those pretty flowers.

Like last year, my hayfever has been bad this month.  Hopefully the grass will finish flowering within a few weeks and I can go back to enjoying the outdoors.   The son and husband are still doing some of the work thankfully, though I've got much more stamina than I did when the daughter was born, back in March.  I try to get what I can done in the evenings after the husband is home from work, or at the weekends;  it's easier to get garden stuff done without a three month old baby in tow.

We've gone from a dry hot May to an on again, off again June.  It was hot last week but has been cool and rainy for a few days now.  Our lawn is green and growing again (it was brown and overgrazed) and the ducks and chickens are enjoying it.  Seven of our eleven chickens are at the allotment and the remaining four have been allowed a good amount of free range--they're the oldest and fattest hens so I'm not too worried about them breaking into the vegetable patch (they probably won't find the vegetables hidden in the poppies anyway);  all the jumpers, fliers and escapologists are enclosed in 2 m of wire at the allotment.

23 June 2020

Mostly brassicas

A cabbage seedling growing among weeds
Little red cabbage, Jun 2020
The brassicas I planted out earlier have really come on well here in the garden.  The ones at the allotment have been badly affected by slugs (and possibly pigeons--but I haven't caught them at it so not positive);  all the red cabbages except one have completely disappeared there, though the green cabbages are still holding on.  As I had enough spare seedlings I planted the remainder here, and made the decision to have a mostly brassica garden this year;  nearly everything else has gone to the allotment.

However, I did plant a few other things here, including some runner beans (again, the allotment beans are all nearly gone, so I'm glad I've got a few at home), four tomato plants and a dozen cherry tomatoes (these in planters), and half a dozen zuccini plants.  Even though they take up so much room, I thought I'd keep the zuccinis at home seeing as I didn't have enough to spare in case of slugs (I had plenty of spare brassicas).

The brassicas here include red and green cabbages, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and broccoli.  I also have some spring purple sprouting broccoli seedlings just about ready to plant out, but am kind of out of room now!  They can grown on a little longer in their pots to hopefully be big enough to outgrow the slugs at the allotment.

16 June 2020

Fruit!

Close up of an apple tree branch
Little apples, Jun 2020
I mentioned before that the cherries have started;  so have the strawberries at our allotment (there are maybe two dozen plants total).  The blackcurrants and redcurrants are coloring up, and raspberries are forming.  We might even get whitecurrants this year--there are several bunches on the bush.

I gritted my teeth and thinned both my little apple trees, taking off maybe a quarter to a third of the immature fruits;  they overproduced in 2018, then didn't even flower in 2019.  I'd rather get 50 fruits every year than 100 fruits one year and none the next, so I thinned the apples down to one or two per bunch (there were more like three to five before).  I may not have thinned enough, but I'll leave it now.  This year the plum is taking a break from fruiting, though it didn't seem like it overproduced last year.  I'll have to consider thinning it in the future too.

The almond tree has a moderate amount of nuts growing, despite me not helping at all with pollination this spring.   It's getting to be a nice sized tree, though still small enough for our garden.  If only my little peach tree was as good a grower--it might actually be a goner, as it was very badly affected with leaf curl this year and has very few leaves left. 

The fig tree too, has been stressed this spring and a couple branches have died back, though it looks like it's got some new growth now.  There are still some nice little figs on it;  I dried a lot of last year's figs and they went into my Christmas puddings for this year.

Speaking of little trees, I think I have a tiny quince seedling growing in a container on the patio.  I sowed seeds from several quinces we bought over winter, and it looks like one has sprouted.  I think one sprouted last year too, but got too dry and died.  This one is in a much bigger container and will hopefully fare better. 

09 June 2020

Starting to make the pond pretty

Three ducks in a small empty pond
Working on the pond, May 2020
Here I am, keeping it real.  I've been talking about a pond refurb for a while now, and while we've been on lockdown, the husband started digging.  The old pump broke (probably too much duck sludge) so the son and I emptied what we could by hand with buckets;  we watered the fruit trees with the disgusting water--it really perked them up after a hot, dry May.

The next day the husband and son took up the paving brick patio and other stones around the pond perimeter, and the pond plants and the old filters, and began to enlarge the hole.  Once it was the right shape and size, they took up the old liner and carefully allowed it to dry and stored it away for a future small fish pond nearer the house (no ducks allowed).

The remaining duck sludge was tipped onto the hole and spread around, and the duck watering tubs were moved down into it.  The next day, as the sludge was a bit drier, the son and I stomped it down and put the paving bricks around the new perimeter.  We also started tipping water into the hole to keep it wet and keep the ducks interested.

The idea is that the ducks will continue to poo and trample the bottom of this bigger pond and gradually seal it.  It does hold a puddle at the bottom now, but it may take all summer or longer.  The husband is a bit skeptical it will work, but I've promised that if it doesn't, we'll do it his way and get a bigger liner.  Either way, I'm also going to put an exit pipe low down in order to drain and refill when needed.  We'll see how it goes.

02 June 2020

Early cherries

A small cherry tree draped with bird netting
Netted and waiting, May 2020
It was a hot, dry May and the son picked our first cherry last weekend (the last weekend in May).  Talk about early!  This tree, the Morello, would up until recently fruit in July.  For a few years we've had fruit in June--and while the bulk of it is only starting to ripen, I'm sure it will do so again this year too.  Except for the first cherry;  the son said it was pretty sour, but as a pie cherry that's only to be expected.

The other two trees are not so far along, though the newest little Stella has a few just turning orange now;  it only has about five or so cherries.  It was planted a year ago. 

The Kordia tree initially had a lot of fruit but dropped about half:  I think it's been stressed by the heat and lack of rain.  We're trying to water once or twice a week to save the remainder of the cherries;  they're not due for a few more weeks at least--maybe not till July.  It's too big to net against birds, but I may put some fabric sleeves over the lower branches to try and save a few cherries for us;  we've never gotten more than a few dozen since we planted the tree five or so years ago. 

The Morello tree is netted using a couple of long willow wands as arching supports;  the son helped me go all the way around and down with the net so hopefully it's impervious this year--I want to save as many cherries as possible.  Note the huge chard plant going to seed inside the net:  the husband asked if that was really what I was trying to net and if the cherry tree was just in the way.