Feelin' hot hot hot!

Oohhhh, isn't it warm?
The sun is out and the sky is azure blue. Time to roll up the sleeves, pull on the shorts and catch some rays will we weed and seed.
Ok. Stop right there.
We're very good at preaching safety in this country, some say to the point of absurdity but i will give great creedence to the advice we get regarding the strength of the sun. I come from a background of rolled up sleeves and dirty fingernails. My father was a very succesfull electrician but hated being restricted to an office when he was promoted. If he wasn't getting his hands dirty, he didn't feel justified in taking the pay. It didn't stop him taking the pay, he just felt more like he'd earned it if he'd rolled up his sleeves and prodded something.
Now I follow in that in some ways, stop laughing at the back, but I can still enjoy working in an office or getting stuck in on the shopfloor.
The problem with that, I discovered this week, is that the sun is not discerning about those it hurts. We've all seen, even had, those farmer's tans. The bronze brown mix that looks like a good coating of creasote has been applied to our forearms. The type of tan our mothers called 'weathered'.
That leathery look may give the impression we are weather proofed but it hides a multitude of things. The worst being what I am now awaiting a hospital appointment to investigate.
Yes, skin cancer can hit even the hardiest of gardeners. No amount of outdoor experiene can protect you, you an't develop an immunity, it respects no race or age.
We've seen the adverts and the lealfets advising mothers to cover up children and we've seen little troops of schoolkids trotting off to school in those desert caps with the neck shades but we are just as much at risk as they are.
So, where sleeves, cover your head regardless of how much hair you have, remember your neck and the base of your spine will be exposed as you bend over the plot.
Slap on some sunblock, slip on a shirt and slop on a hat.
Ok, on with the show.
The new potatoes were a mixed result. The first row I dug was very productive, giving me a good crop of nice duck egg sized Rocket tubers. The second was a little less charitable, despite being harveted a good fortnight later. The third row, last planted and harvested, was a wash out. I barely gathered as many tubers as I planted.
The Desiree maincrops look very healthy so far so I hope to make up the deficit later in the season.
The radish did well and I've sown a third crop this week. I also have some Mooli oriental radish coming along nicely. Again, a successional sowing was made this week. We've been enjoying the lettue 'All Year Round' for a few weeks now. Again, more sown and a few late plants put out.
The much anticipated runner beans are starting to form beans now, so I've been chucking buckets of water on twice daily to keep them tender.
The last of the early peas are being collected now and the ground that the broad beans were in has been cleared and I'm contemplating what I should follow them with. I have some brassica plants to transplant so they may go in there.
The sweet peas, oh the lovely sweet peas!
I've been cutting blooms for a couple of weeks now and the system i use to grow them has proven a winner again. I cordon grow them. This means one stem only per plant, tied in to a cane for support and anything that takes from the plants strength, such as tendrils or side shoots, is removed. The result is longer stems, larger blooms and a longer cropping/picking period. It's a system I came across when I tried to grow for show a few years back.
The best part of the week was finaly finding my Blackberries are ready to pick. My wife loves Balckberrying and we often take long autumn evening walks with small punnets to gather a hedgerow harvest. This year, the best crop will be from my plot. My Black Butte variety has the largest fruits of any variety, over 2 inches in length each. I can happily report that the size doesn't affect the sweet juicy flavour either!

Summer dreaming

It's here. It's official too. The summer solstice has passed so the nights will get closer but until it gets noticeable, I'm spending my evenings down on the plot when possible. It's this time of year when I can easily pop down for an hour and not come home until dusk.

This sunday I drove down at about 11 o'clock, not early I know but it was sunday, and I eventually floated home immune to any of life's worries just after 3 pm. If I had taken some sandwiches with me I may well have stayed until dark but as I hadn't I couldn't ignore my stomach and left to fill it. Fresh gooseberries and all the lettuce I could eat wasn't enough.

The plot itself is looking good. The broad beans have finished, thankfully as I was beginning to get sick of the sight of them. The first row of new potatoes has been emptied so I have some fresh soil to start sowing again.

I can still get some carrots in and I'm determined to give them another go despite the soil being clay and a little lumpy. I may try some late parsnips and I have some calabrese seedlings to transplant. I will off course sow more salad crops, radish and lettuce and some beetroot for christmas pickles.

I lifted my shallots as a couple had gone to seed. I don't know why but my soil is rubbish for Alliums. My red onion sets all went to seed again this year. Last year both red and white went to seed. Now my shallots are putting up the pointy stem. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for my garlic and I'm not growing leeks.

With each failure comes the chance for success. Although my onions have disappointed by going to seed, the radishes I left in the ground have thrown up the most delicious seed pods. I know the germans like to crunch on radish pods with their beers so I tried to grow some a few years back. They are only the common french breakfast variety, not the specific german beirkellar types but they are lovely and crunchy when added to a salad or, as our german friends do, eaten as a bar snack.

I believe, although I've not tried, you can eat marigold flowers too. I have some to attract hoverflies and other friendly insects but I don't eat them. I do eat lackerries though and mine are looking great already. They are just starting to colour up now and as I grow the largest fruiting variety, Black Butte, I am in for a good harvest. Each fruit is already longer than any other I've seen.

The Tayberry is cropping for the first time. Not huge amounts but promising for coming seasons.

I am glad I haven't grown tomatoes this season. Last year the site was hit y Blight, a terrible airborn disease spread by spores and brought on by damp and humid weather conditions. The flooding in mid summer last year was ideal for it. This year looks like it could follow suit.

I hope it waits until we've all got our potatoes out of the ground.