In the allotment, Aug 2021

 

The husband took this photo for me while I was still self-isolating, Aug 2021

We lost 10 days of allotment visiting while self isolating, and I lost a further five days after that (the husband only had the inital 10 days, unlike the children and I).  Thankfully we got some rain and overall it wasn't too hot--nothing suffered from our enforced neglect.

Most of the plot is still pretty grassy, even in some recently sheet mulched beds.  Many of the newer seedlings/seeds I've put down have disappeared--probably from pest pressure.  There are still some late beetroot transplants growing and a few little leeks from bubils (one of my own leeks at home flowered and formed tiny bulbs on its flowerhead which I managed to transplant the day before we began to isolate).  However, recent transplants of fennel and celery and sowings of swede and peas are all simply gone.

The artichokes have been producing steadily and I have a 1.4 L jar of the hearts in brine in my fridge.  The raspberries still continued fruiting till the middle of the month, and though the rhubarb has been unharvested, it's not because of unworthiness.

The best spot producing now is the old chicken yard, full up of sweetcorn, squash and beans.  It had some Roma tomatoes too, but I just pulled them all up as they were showing signs of blight--no red tomatoes present and to be honest not a lot of green ones either, though the plants were enormous.  Regardless, I collected what green fruits there were and brined a batch of spicy pickle with them:  somewhat like salsa.  I had to discard a few affected fruits;  they go brown instead of ripening when blighted so thankfully I managed to save most.

Today I picked the first batch of sweetcorn--to be served at a small dinner for friends we're having tomorrow.  After bringing them home and shucking, I parboiled them to stop them going starchy before eating.  I then made a three bean salad with the French beans I picked, and will be making a potato salad with allotment potatoes;  I'm looking forward to this meal (which will also include a plum cobbler from our tree and some salad greens from the veg patch out back)!