It has rained! Now we need to plant out!

The drought is over – for now!

 Well you have to feed the soul as well as the body - early season in my herb and flower patch - I do love the colours. delphiniums, lupins, acquilegia with a herby background - mint and sage mostly

We’ve had rain! In April in Bristol we’ve had 3mm. While it may not be unprecedented, it is certainly the driest April here since records began and although I couldn’t swear to the figures, it is probably close to being the hottest. I have been moaning about it for weeks – well the ‘dry spell’ has lasted for weeks! It is quite sunny today though the rainfall has been satisfactorily steady enough to have done some good to our gardens, plots and farms. A small straight-sided container I’ve had sitting outside my back door (nothing organised, mind you!) has 2-3 cm of water in it so, I have to assume that 2-3 cm of water has fallen in my garden and on my plot in the last 36hours.

I went to my plot yesterday, between showers, to water my polytunnel and harvest some lettuce(winter gem - an early cos variety - delicious) , parsley and chervil (which reminds me – I still haven’t sown my chervil seeds for this year). The conditions were so much better- fresher, brighter and even smelled ‘lush’. Having realised the pigeons were happily grazing my carrot beds, I covered them – well fair enough! I do leave them lots of food every time I visit.

I also planted out the one and only courgette which germinated this year and several West Indian Gherkins and Paris pickling cucumbers. (both from the Real Seed catalogue). In spite of the rain, I watered the beds copiously before and after planting (and I netted them just in case the pigeons fancied a new diet).  I haven’t grown them before. I’m not a big cucumber fan but, I do like pickles and these – if they grow well should give me a good crop for pickling.

I’d be interested to know if anyone else has had disappointing results in germinating seeds this year. So far my ‘Joe’s Long’ chillies and my ‘Baby Bear’ pumpkin/squashes had 100% failure. (I resowed Joe’s Long with somewhat better results – I did get 3 plants). My courgettes – of 5 seeds sown, only 1 germinated. These where all from reputable, though different, seed companies. They were also sown in good condition in my new, ‘state-of –the-art’ propagator along with other similar seeds which performed well. Please do get back to me if you’ve had similar results or have any light to shed.

And brassicas! I have a polytunnel full of the young plants waiting for a new home. Normally I would have parcelled them up and put them in a box at the top of the field for other plot holders to have my spare plants but, this year what is the point? No-one else can plant any better than I can. Perhaps in the coming week I will be able to plant out and give some away.

When I lifted my early potatoes in my polytunnel, I replanted the space with my tomatoes. I’m growing a fairly wide variety this year. I’m looking for that exquisite tomato taste! But also, I need to plan for the winter with lots of tomatoes I can preserve – pasta sauces, chutney, ketchup and  freezing.

My Blog has been suffering from a little bit of neglect in the last few days – I’ve been trying to set up a new Website for our Allotments Association. I’m no computer whizzkid so, the process has been a sharp learning curve. I’ve amazed myself by actually succeeding though, it’s still early days and I still have a lot of processes to learn. When it has been approved, I will put the URL on this site.

My son, who has had his plot for only a few months and has had little experience of growing stuff thinks I should put instructional details with pictures on my BLOG and/or the website for planting, growing, harvesting, what to look for etc.

He is right!

If I’m going to do this BLOG properly then that is what I should plan to do in the future. It does mean I have to take my camera with me each time I go to my plot - the phone camera is really not so good - and I need to plan it into my days’ activities. I might also need  a companion to show what is to be done. But, with a bit of forethought, I will get there.

I will, in the coming year, try to make the Blogs more helpful.

Next time – perennial herbs Part 2 – well I do love herbs in cooking, there must be someone out there who also loves them. Also, growing tomato plants.

My neighbours checking out

their fruit bushes for insect and disease damage