Sunday 20 July 2014

Symphony in green

green cornue andes
Green Cornue Andes

We've had the heat and we're getting the rain and the garden is loving it. Still no ripe tomatoes in the greenhouse but there are good fruit on most of the plants now and it's definitely time to start feeding.

green Gezahnte Bührer-Keel
Green Gezahnte Bührer-Keel

These are the tomatoes with the name that cannot be retained. They are delicous.

green potiron encarlote
Green Potiron Encarlote

I'm hoping these will get much bigger before they ripen. These are nicest large tomatoes I've ever had.

green tigerella
Green Tigerella

Not so certain about these Tigerella which wouldn't have been my first choice but they are growing well and should make useful crops.

greenhouse cuc
F1 cucumber

No idea of the variety of these greenhouse cucumbers. They came in a gift pack and I have to say they're good cucs, productive and easy. Maybe I'll grow them again.

ridge cucumber ready to pick
Ridge cucumber

I can't remember which variety these are either. Possibly Cornichons de Paris or something German from Lidl.

carlin peas
 Carlins

It's a good pea year so far. I might have some of these as mange tout.

Corsican runner bean
Corsican runner bean

Despite my earlier thoughts on these being different to Spanish White I've decided there's nothing significant to choose between them. The Corsican are vigorous growers and have made a good set. I'm looking forward to taking some as green beans but think their real value will be as a dried bean for making Greek style giant beans in sauce.

green purslane living as weed in pot
Purslane

If these don't come up as weeds I always start some more. Excellent salad vegetable, can be cooked and full of vital nutrients. This one is growing in a pot where it was never intended to be but I think its time will come later today.









Wednesday 16 July 2014

Is there a word for ...



large white
Large White

people who become obsessed with spotting butterflies, like twitcher for Bill Oddie? Because I fear I may have become one.

small white
Small White

Across the UK I've heard from several people who feel that there aren't as many butterflies this year as last.  This seems to be on a par with policemen getting younger and nostalgia not being what it used to be but there have been some differences in the relative populations of species over here compared to my (admittedly poor) recollections of last year.

m white
Marbled White

The Marbled White was very common last year and is still very frequent this year. We saw very few of them until a couple of years ago, not sure if it's something to do with our change of land management or just random variation. They are pretty but skittish and catching one in a good pose is always a challenge.

gatekeeper 2
Gatekeeper

Gatekeepers are pretty little things and this year seem to be particularly bright and tidy looking. I never saw many of them in the UK in urban surroundings but there are lots here in the woodland edges.

meadow brown
Meadow Brown

Meadow Browns are so ubiquitous and unassuming in colour that they almost become overlooked as the season progresses. It's rare to find one with its wings outspread. This female is probably waiting for a mate.

ringlet
Ringlet

The Ringlet is even more dull than the Meadow Brown, but the little ring markings it's named for are delicate and pretty if it holds still long enough for you to take a look.

comma again
Comma

The Comma is pretty bold and in your face by comparison. There seem to be a few more of these at this time of year than last year, although the population is always greatest as autumn approaches.

red admiral 4
Red Admirals

These are so distinctive that I think everyone should recognise them. Big strong flyers they love rotting fruit and can be seen in swarms around plum drop time sucking up the fermented fruit juices.

skipper for blog
Skipper

And the winner is, the Skipper which has had a marvellous year here, more than we've ever seen before. I have to confess there are several types and I suspect we have more than a couple of them but they're not that easy to distinguish and I'll need to study them harder before I can give reliable identifications.

So far, so native and the ones that got away are mostly in that category too. Peacock butterflies are just hatching the second brood but unusually aren't ready to pose for the camera yet. Give them time, they are natural exhibitionists with a camera pointed at them. The Small Tortoiseshells are between broods too and so there are very few about for me to take a snap of, but there were plenty earlier in the year. We've had the odd Copper, some Holly Blues and one or two Map butterflies, which you won't see in the UK but are usually quite common here. These three species along with the Blues do seem to be in short supply as yet. No Silver-washed Fritillaries which seems odd as there were plenty last year but maybe it's a bit early for them and it's been another year without a sighting of a Wall butterfly so far too.

And there are very few migrants turning up. I'm hoping the Spanish Plume forecast for the next couple of days will give them a boost and hurry them to us. As well as old favourites like the Painted Lady, Clouded Yellows and Hummingbird Hawkmoths I'm hoping to spot the Long-tailed Blue this year which reached the south coast of England last year but didn't come here. And there's news of another unusual migrant which might come to us via the Netherlands, the Yellow Legged Tortoiseshell, like a Large (which I've never knowingly seen) but with yellow legs. It all seems so exciting.

It's o.k. I've taken my pills and I'll stop now.

Friday 11 July 2014

In which my memory lets me down again

I think I told a lie today. I said I'd seen the herb chadon beni for sale in Wing Yip years ago. I'm not saying I didn't but I have now an even more distinct recollection of growing it once, a plant I got from a nursery either in Kent or Buckinghamshire or maybe somewhere else. It's not hardy and it didn't last long but since I remember its demise in the greenhouse in Newport Pagnell it was definitely in the last 15 years... so. My memory is proven to be crap again. Not quite as embarrassing as when I forgot my own home telephone number in Boots the other day and had to look it up on my mobile but nearly there.

Eryngium foetidum is a herb that smells like coriander and originated in the Caribbean and you can read all about it here. I found seeds at Chiltern's and now I've been reminded of it I'd quite like to give it another go, if I manage to keep it in mind long enough.

pyramidal orchid 2

The Pyramidal orchid is nearly over now and is forming fat seed pods. Sources I have read suggest that they are butterfly pollinated but I've never seen a butterfly go anywhere near it. Small beetles seem to find the flowers endlessly fascinating though. I'd love to be able to spread the seed around the farm but like most terrestrial orchids it needs a symbiotic fungus around the roots so the best thing I can do is scrape some patches of the verge free of grass around the mother plant and hope that some of the seeds will germinate close to her.

sweet chestnut field

Today is less hot and more overcast than the last week with some light rain, perfect for sowing some more seeds. Today I planted three rows of radish, some very old carrot seed and some beetroots in a tiny patch that I intend to keep hand watered for the duration. My crops often suffer from insufficient irrigation despite various measures, like bean trenches, which are supposed to help in drought conditions but the area is too big to keep everything moist with expensive tap water even if I had the energy to haul the water to where it's needed. A couple of small beds will have to suffice.

small tortoiseshell caterpillar

I've found a colony of Small Tortoiseshell butterfly caterpillars on some nettles in the vegetable beds. They seem to be thriving but the patch is small and if I had my way would be smaller still (it is in the veggies after all), so they will be mostly relocated this afternoon to more spacious surroundings. I hope they enjoy the trip.


Sunday 6 July 2014

Just a week

burdock
Flower heads on the burdock

Been away for a week dealing with things and the differences when I got back were substantial. We now have baby beans on the Starley Road Red and Hutterite Soup plants, the Corsican runner beans have reached the top of their supports and are flowering and forming baby beans profusely and the chicory has started to flower.

ridge cucumber
Ridge cucumbers flowers and fruit 

The pickling cucumbers have started to fruit, I took the first courgette - a yellow one - and the pumpkins and shark's fin melons are beginning to extend their vines. All the peas are flowering now but like the tomatoes I've lost the labels. Just have to wait and see what we've got.

runner bean 'corsican'
Runner bean 'Corsican'

I was convinced that the Corsican runner bean that came from the HSL this year would be our old friend, the Spanish White aka Fagiolo di Spagna Bianco but now they're flowering I'm not so sure. I'm going to have to dig back through the photos and see if I can spot what seems different about them. They're growing very well whatever they are.

beetle on carrot flower
Soldier beetle on carrot flower 

We have quantities of these cheerful looking beetles, Rhagonycha fulva,  all over the garden. There are now far more Meadow Brown butterflies than any other sorts but I'm hoping that after the last two days of heavy rain new arrivals will join us and have their pictures taken.

All in all, very good but it's time to spray against potato blight again as all this warm wet weather is perfect for it to develop.