Vegging

Another picture heavy post for you.



I was going to picture and explain each variety of tomato in excruciating detail but life's too short and  I need to spray the spuds for blight. Above we have Clibrans Victory, which I have to say look pretty ordinary at this stage, not far removed from the Amateur or a Money Maker but I'm sure the victory is in the eating. The Wladecks are making beefsteak sized toms, looking good.

The Gezahnte Bührer-Keel have set well but they really don't like hot temperatures and most of the first fruit have blossom end rot already as do the Harry's Plum. I've taken some measures that seem to be working - more food and water, plenty of ventilation - but suspect these varieties really need to be outdoors or at least in an airy polytunnel. The little greenhouse gets too hot.

Surender's Curry aren't setting well, again it might be the heat and it might be that I left them bushy and too green to initiate early fruiting. The Tondino di Manduria in the greenhouse are o.k. but the plants outdoors look better.



Another greenhouse plant doing well outside is this F1 cucumber. It's planted in the bean trench in the middle of a bean pyramid and seems to love it. Courgettes used as fillers for other bean pole constructions are enormously vigorous which may eventually prove to be a problem but it's nice to see such healthy growth.



The very first dwarf French beans are forming. These are allegedly a yellow podded sort for eating green, the drying beans are a few days behind.



There are vila-vila (Litchi tomato) all around the garden and they're doing well, very floriferous and spiny. One plant of six has slightly blue flowers but this seems to be a temperature related variation that the plants in colder conditions can exhibit. No fruit yet, it'll be interesting to see if they're worth growing for eating.


Butterflies tomorrow, all being well.

Statement of intent

I haven't done it yet but this month I hope to blog about



The state of the vegetable patch.



Butterflies, seen and photographed. Nothing too special this year unfortunately.



The new moth trap - a review of the kit and what we've caught with it.



and interactions with the neighbours and hay making.

A day at the beach

A happy spell of good weather and Paul having a whole week to spend here gave us the opportunity to head for our favourite bit of the seaside, a wonderful patch of undeveloped shore. The area is a nature preserve and has nothing to encourage daytrippers except sandy beaches, dunes and exceptional wildlife.



The variety of flora is intriguing, I would never have expected euphorbia to colonise sand dunes along with several sorts of orchid.



I had never seen a Lizard orchid, Himantoglossum hircinum, before and these were really beautiful. Some of the sources on the internet suggest it has a goaty odour but I didn't find that although there was a definite scent. Maybe I just like the smell of goats. There were also pyramidal orchids and another sort, possibly Southern Marsh orchid but my pictures are poor and I'm not very experienced at identifying orchids.



There were lots of other plants some of which may have been introduced, a patch of Centranthus ruber didn't seem likely to be native, nor did a single outcrop of bugloss although it added some lovely colour. Irises planted under a shelter belt of conifers also seemed out of place. The bryony probably was a local, although it was stretched over a plant I think must have been privet.



It's not just plants either. Each year we find a species we've never photographed before. This year, it was the Glanville fritillary. This isn't a great picture - all the pictures here were taken with my Z3 phone - but you can see some better shots on Paul's flickr stream along with a Brown Argus and a Small Heath.

Out to grass

Today is rather gloomier and more overcast than expected. Even so, the gentle warmth and still calm is pleasant after the last week of ferocious winds followed by storms that took away my internet and the torrential rain that seemed to be about to wash everything away; although in the end it was a blessing to the vegetable patch.



When this grey murk clears we are forecast ten days of sun and complete drought, so I'm hoping everything is making the most of the moisture while it can. The dryness will at least help keep the blight at bay for a little while longer - there are already Smith period warnings for Jersey.

I am entranced by the beauty of the flowering grasses this morning and have taken far too many pictures, none of which capture the real pleasingness of the actual plants. I've picked a few for this blog but there are more on my Ipernity pages following on from the link.



It may not suit anyone with a grass pollen allergy but if you able to enjoy access to old meadowland or even a vergeside left feral then it's a wonderful source for reflective meditation, being graceful and fragile and yet absolutely tough and rooted in the present.



In a startling reprise of last year we had another visitation from some loose young cows yesterday. This forced me into interaction with the local farmers because they needed to be collected and taken home.

Unlike last year the stock didn't belong to the stud next door but because of the contact we have revisited the idea of them taking our fields for hay this year, something which is of advantage to me in saved fuel costs and to the meadows as letting the cut grass lie as we've been doing will eventually damage the ecology by enriching the soil too much.



Because we don't have animals grazing intensively here there is a delicate balance between removing material and retaining soil fertility at the right level for a complete ecosystem. It's not something that I believe has been much studied from a veganic point of view so we are experimenting while flying blind.



The pyramidal orchid has thrown up a flower spike again which I was glad to see the cows had missed as they browsed their way along the lane. It's still small and unimpressive but it should get bigger over the next week. Still just the one that I can spot though which is a shame.



And the Meadow Brown butterflies, quintessential denizens of old grass land, re-appeared a couple of days ago. They'll be here all summer now, quiet and unassuming and very difficult to photograph.

Gardening in slippers

If you were looking for advice on gardening in slippers mine is don't. Your slippers get wet and full of grit. It's not comfortable. Doesn't stop me doing it though.

Small tortoiseshells have made an appearance in the last couple of days. I'm glad, this year seems short of butterflies of all types and the windy weather of the last few weeks hasn't helped me catch them on camera either. It's not that we're short on varieties, rather that each species seemed to be represented by just one or two examples. I'm hoping that the next ten days, predicted warm and dry, will help bring up the numbers.



I've tidied up the greenhouse and set the tomatoes, cucumbers and melons in their final spots. I still have to tie the wretched smelly things in, always my least favourite job particularly in hot sun. Most people I know revel in the yellow stench making happy faces and saying how lovely and summery it smells. It just gives me a headache. Still, it'll have to be done.

The first flowers on the toms are just beginning to open. I took a picture of the winner, on Surender's Curry, but decided one tomato flower looks just like any other and left it out. Luckily Surender's is a bush grower and needs little pruning which makes it a double win for me.



Basil. Inspired by another blogger I bought some peat free starter pellets made of coir and used these to start the seeds weeks ago. I nearly lost the lot and won't be repeating the experiment. The pellets may have some use for cuttings, maybe lavender which I have plans for later in the year, but for seeds they are simply not right. These survivors are finally beginning to grow now they're potted on.
 


Out in the garden the tomatillos have started to flower. It's not what I was expecting from previous crops, the plants are very short if sturdy. Let's hope it's the variety which was 'Large Purple/Green' from Realseeds and not a sign of horrible stress and imminent death.

Heading over to the potato patch for the first harvest of the season I found this volunteer oca growing up next to the row. It looks much happier than the tubers I started this spring from overwintered stock but I can categorically state it's no seedling, we haven't had that oca flower here since 1969 (not quite true but some will know what I mean).






And here they are, potato flowers are so beautiful.

The new potatoes are small but perfectly formed and I shall enjoy them later. 

Photo diary

Not many words but here are some pictures to show how the season is progressing.


The Sagittaria latifolia or wapato that Rhizowen sent me are doing well enough, but they'll need bigger quarters if there's to be a crop I think. Still working on that coypu. Maybe I should try one plant as a sacrifice, maybe coypu don't like wapato.


Most of the vila vila are now in the ground. This one looks a bit starved but I'll pot it on for a few weeks more until I can find a place for it. Nice and spiny isn't it?


Houseleeks looking their best at this time of the year, but these will need splitting and repotting soon. I'm almost tempted into starting a small specialist nursery, then I remember how lazy I am.


I thought I'd blogged about the four walnuts we harvested from our poor old tree last year but I can't find it.  There's a pic on the twitter feed here. Anyway, I planted them and these two have germinated. The other two were subjected to vernalisation which I don't think helped much, I'm hoping they'll grow, one certainly has a root but they're not showing any top growth yet.


Chive flowers are looking good but the foliage is a bit rusty. I'm increasing my herb stocks this year and have seedling rue, sage and greek oregano. The giant fennel hasn't come up though.


Herby favourites, lavender and an overwintered marigold. The green boxy plant behind is a common myrtle saved by me to and from many locations around the UK and France. I think the original was variegated but no longer. It very rarely flowers or fruits needing an exceptional couple of summers to get there.


The self seeded redcurrants are coming along nicely.


All twelve of the Japanese yam starts have made nice little plants. I'm planning to set them out in the bean trench soon.


What a difference a month has made to the tomatoes! Now in their final pots, there will be twenty in the greenhouse,  five in pots outside the back door, four under the poly tunnel cloche and four (still in small pots) in the ground if I can find a space for them.


Two greenhouse cucumbers. I've got one more that I'm going to try outside just because I've run out of space. In the past I've grown a variety called "Long Chinese" from Lidl on trellis outdoors but I couldn't get fresh seed and the old seed failed to show. I'll be looking out for this variety if anyone knows where to get it.


Some of the ulluco waiting for the bed to be made for them. Peru corner is going to look terribly sad this year if something isn't done rather quickly for it.


Tomatoes, melons and weeds under the poly cloche. It's not going to be big enough, it's not going to be big enough at all.


I was surprised to find these flowers on the Uchiki Kuri squash. The plant was bought in and is more advanced than the home starts but it still seems very early. Fingers crossed it's not about to turn up its toes and collapse in a heap.


Flowers are now beginning on the Epicure potatoes so I hope we'll be able to take a first crop in a couple of weeks time. I've mulched with some grass clippings to save my back from earthing up but there is a worry it will harbour slugs. It might be better to do the work properly on the main potato bed.

So wrong

The metéo was wrong again today, promising cloudy but dry conditions but actually supplying a constant drizzle worthy of Ireland in summer. It's a bit disappointing as I'd intended to pull myself together and get the pumpkins and courgettes out of their pots and into the ground today. For someone with nearly 24 acres at my disposal no one would believe I'm running out of land but poor management in the last couple of years means that the rotation has gone to pot and patches which should be in cultivation are having to be cleared and covered to fight back perennial weeds and soil poverty. I've no stomach for digging out brambles and nettles in the soggy conditions today so everything will have to wait.



I was wrong about these. Fooled by the attractive big white spots on their backs I thought they were Spotted Asparagus beetle but actually a bit of research confirms they're they boring ordinary sort, Crioceris asparagi. This is more depressing than merely making a mistake. The spotted beetle does most damage to seeds but the common sort is a worse pest, with several generations in a season and larvae that feed on new shoots and leaves, damaging both and weakening the plants. You can see eggs as well as adult beetles in the picture.

I've been hand picking them off and drowning them but as we've stopped harvesting now I might resort to some chemical solution. I don't want to do that and probably won't but it soothes my heart to think I could cause an apocalypse for the wretched things if I wanted to.

My identification skills with bees are still lacking so I can't tell you what sort this is, just welcome it as a reminder of how lovely it it when the sun shines.