Mulched

              Rhubarb's now in leaf, happy with a mulch of manure.

Freezer raider

     Time to dig in the freezer through some of last year's harvest.

Windfall

                  Last of the broad beans, first windfall apples.

5 a day

                       Soft fruit overlap. Jam experiments.

Rich pickings

Ten years without losing the plot

A sixteen month sabbatical from this blog, but all the while busy on the plot. It's ten years this month since taking it on, but this year, time's going to be very limited so it's worth considering what to grow and what not to bother with - which is extremely difficult for someone who wants to grow everything.

Is it worth growing carrots when it's hard to protect them from carrot root fly and they're so cheap in the shops? The same goes for potatoes, wire worm and potato blight and onions, garlic and white rot. Those all take up a fair amount of space too, which is limited, like the sunny patches and the beds with the best soil and drainage. Marrows, pumpkins and squash are all a bit fussy, thirsty and hungry and take up loads of space, if they don't get eaten by slugs and snails before they get the chance to, or battered by cold winds in June. They might not be worth bothering with anymore. Well, maybe a courgette or two and a pumpkin.

Greens and fruit are the least labour intensive and the most expensive in the shops. Healthy and tasty too.They tolerate quite a bit of shade, but need protecting from slugs, snails and birds. At this time of year, the allotment's full of plots with brassicas - broccoli, kale and cabbage - torn to shreds by pigeons. (Why don't people protect their crops?*) Soon the sparrows will be after emerging blackcurrant and redcurrant buds.

*There's never enough netting and it's forever blowing away or getting ripped. Last month, a pigeon got trapped in a neighbour's netting and it took a while to set it free. It's best to use heavier scaffolding netting, which won't trap birds but still lets enough light through for the brassicas and protects them from snow damage in late winter.

Birds never seem to go for the strawberries, or perhaps they leave enough behind to make it unnoticeable and they seem to find harvesting gooseberries as potentially painful as humans do, what with all the sharp thorns, so don't bother. Strawberries are rather high maintenance though, forever requiring watering, weeding and checking for slugs and snails and when they're ripe, it takes half an hour a day for a fortnight to harvest them and they rot quickly.

Blackcurrants aren't so demanding, though they take an age to pick and unlike strawberries, seem to ripen at random over a much longer period. Like everything, it's a good idea to water them well when they're in flower, quite early in the year and to give them some potash to help fruit formation. Rhubarb's very low maintenance and has few predators, though it's not a good idea to let it dry out, which can happen quite easily as the large leaves prevent the rain from getting to the roots. Like rhubarb, apple trees, once established just get on with it without much need for attention, but if you're not careful this lack of attention can be mistaken for lack of ownership and someone might pinch your crop.

Herbs, flowers and a peaceful green space are all worth cultivating. It won't really matter if it all runs wild this year.

Daucus carota

 

 Haven't seen a carrot look like this before; left in the ground from last year overwinter, it's put on a lot of growth above ground this year and is now in flower.

Donkey Rhubarb

Rework the plot

             Rhubarb springs back to life and promises an early crop.

                 Leeks planted last summer are still a bit thin.

Glut

Although there are no Cox's apples this year, because despite plentiful blossom in the spring the hideous weather prevented insects from pollinating it, there's more than enough fruit around, but it takes a few hours to harvest and preserve: Windfall apples don't last long before the slugs, woodlice or badgers get to them and like the plums and greengages, once they've become bruised or pecked, rot sets in. The raspberries seem larger this year, perhaps swollen by the constant rain earlier, but many are slightly blemished with a touch of mould and like everything else, need stewing with a little sugar before preserving in the freezer for puddings and pies in the winter. Rhubarb's at its best when there isn't an 'R' in the month (in the northern hemisphere) so the last harvest was pulled today, bound for the freezer.

Besides the fruit there are runner beans, french beans and a courgette or two. Some of the sweetcorn is approaching maturity but it could do with another week of sunshine, as could the tomatoes, which are all still green, but at least not brown or black, yet. The beetroot haven't wanted to grow this year but a couple of gourd vines have established well and are producing interesting looking fruit, which may or may not be edible.

In the cut flower department, it's all been a bit of a downer: There are no dahlias or cosmos and only a couple of giant sunflowers have made it through. Bees will be hungry.

Let's get ready to crumble

Harvesting

Leaf

A timely reminder to check out The Leaf Label, home to some great music including Murcof, Efterklang, Polar Bear and the wonderfully named Vladislav Delay.

Final frames

Up and running

Signs Of Life

Unsurprising, as it originates from Siberia, that the rhubarb is one of the only happy plants around at the moment.

Shed Load

May Fayre

Peas



Chard



Spinach



Rhubarb

Rhubarb Rhubarb

Pitch Inspection

Welcome back Mrs Rhubarb



Some holey spinach that survived the winter under glass.



Not sure that the garlic with protection has done any better than that without.