A very productive week as usual, with both labour, and our rewarding produce!  We did all of the jobs on our ‘to do’ list and more, to include laying some shredded wood pathways around some of the boxes, and welcoming the donation of a compost bin from Helen, which is being filled with vegetable peelings, plant material and turf taken by straightening the grass edges.

On the menu this week is all that was mentioned last week, plus welcome, somewhat exotic additions of the very first cucamelon, and kale.  As you can see in one of the pictures, the cucamelon is like a tiny version of a watermelon, and tastes like a lemony cucumber – very much in demand for expensive drinks in cocktail bars!  The kale, also pictured, go by the names of ‘Emerald Ice’, and ‘Midnight Sun’ – the colours are starting to show now, and they should provide us with leaves from now on, throughout the Autumn, Winter, and into Spring.  We have smugly celebrated the fact that the brassicas haven’t yet been made into doilies by the caterpillars, only to discover that they had sneaked into the radish patch and had been having a party there… didn’t know caterpillars enjoyed radish leaves that much, ignoring the luscious lettuce leaves next door!

Just take a look at the last picture showing how tall the sunflowers have grown!  How on earth they managed to stay upright in all that wind we have recently endured is a minor miracle.  For certain that amazing wall has something to do with it.

What’s next?

• Top fill the last raised box with compost

• Plant up box with module sown savoy cabbages if ready

• Keep chasing off the cabbage white butterflies from those brassicas!

• Water new seed beds and anything looking droopy!

• Keep picking anything that is ready

• Continue to prep the new growing area

• Dead head flowers for continuity/ spot weed any bindweed showing through, and hoe paths.

• Maybe tackle that pallet compost bin?

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The trouble with pallets is that some of them look rather useful for other projects, and get re-assigned!  So parts of the compost project are still ‘work in progress’….however, the area has been tidied up and is ready and waiting!  We also tidied an area for our BOX STORE!  A donation from Theresa and Peter’s garden … We had great fun walking the box across the road to the Saga entrance, and into the garden, but we now have a place to store some tools which will be so much easier than having to bring things all the time. 

You can see from the pictures showing courgettes/beans and tomatoes that the grass was parched, and so we did really well to keep the plot producing the first beans and more spinach, salad and turnips, plus of course, the courgettes and tomatoes.  Some of the tomatoes are yellow when ripe, so you have to keep tabs on what you can pick!  The winter squashes are looking for a way out of the plot, and have to be guided back in when they start growing over the grass edges!  Some of them are very happy climbing up the bean stakes and into neighbouring beds.

The brassicas are coping with frequent assaults from cabbage white butterflies laying their eggs, and as long as we keep checking them, should survive now they are getting bigger and tougher.  The transplanted lettuces are looking perky as the roots have got a hold, thanks to diligent watering.

What’s next?

• Some prepared beds can be sown with fast growing crops until they are needed for the waiting and maturing perennial fruit and veg plants.  Still time to sow chard, lettuces, radishes, and spinach.

• Any gaps in the harvested beds can be sown with overwintering Chinese cabbages or salads.

• Consider where on earth to put the savoy cabbages that are nearly ready to plant out!

• Tidy up and straighten the grass edges to the new beds.

• Continue to prep new growing areas

• Enjoy the relief the much needed rain has brought to the garden and spend some time observing just what is actually going on!

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We managed to ration the water this week with some help from a long awaited downpour Friday night, thanks, we suspect, to Chris perfecting the rain dance.  It obviously did the trick! 

On the menu this week are courgettes, mangetout, spinach, and salad, with the arrival of tomatoes, and a few raspberries!  The beans are flowering at last; we have red and lilac flowering varieties, so it will not be long before we will be treated to some beans!  The sunflowers have climbed higher than the brick wall, and the flower heads are peeping over the top.

The tomatoes have been tied in, the brassicas continue to be checked for caterpillars, and two donated chilli plants were planted.  Work is starting on the much needed compost heaps, but we need some more pallets, so if you know of any going spare locally – let it be known and serious construction can begin! 

All the ground to the right of the fruit trees has been planted up, and work was carried out to the area to the left of the fruit, which involved lots of pairs of hands, and a pick axe to clear out some troublesome roots!  This done, we can now start to plan where the permanent beds for strawberries, raspberries, and asparagus are going to go………

It goes to show that you can always grow food even with no outdoor space….sprouting seeds can be grown all year round on the shelf in a cupboard, and the picture below shows the seeds ready to be stir fried or put into a salad in less than a week.  All you need is a big jar or container to grow them in, and job done!

What’s next-

• Make sure the transplanted lettuces get plenty of water this week

• Keep checking the brassicas

• Start constructing new beds for the perennials

• Keep picking

• Sort out the compost heap area

• Did you put that date, 22^nd September in the diary? (the picnic)

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