Sunday, 26 July 2015

Work in progress

Things that have been happening in the last week...

vila fruit

Fruit has started to form on the  Vila vila, aka Litchi Tomato, or Morelle de Balbis. They are fearsomely spiny and I discover today that they are in weed proportions in South America, regarded as worse than thistles in pasture. Hopefully that won't happen here. As usual I doubt my ability to contribute much to the seed selection programme for a less spiky sort but maybe it could be me.

The other foreign vegetables aren't looking so assertive. I have finally got a few of the ulluco into the ground and popped in some very weedy oca along with some starved callaloo all of which have been waiting in pots since April. The yacon is disappointingly short too, even though that was planted out at a more reasonable time. I'm hoping the awful rain we've had in the last couple of days will give everything a boost whilst simultaneously praying that the hot humidity won't bring on blight on the potatoes and the outdoor toms.

gbk wladecks

Tomatoes in the greenhouse are still green. I should have started them much sooner to have ripe ones by now but at least they are looking much better than last year. It all comes down to feeding and watering in the end. I'm becoming more and more in favour of a full poly tunnel so that I can plant them in the ground - pots are more work and I'm a lazier gardener than most.


ridge cuc the 1st

Harvesting has begun on the ridge cucumbers. Already I'm feeling a bit pressured by them (although not as pressured as I am by the bloody courgettes) but once I get organised they are some of the few vegetables I find it worth preserving because I am a pickle addict.

A trip to the local market got me over 50 young leeks for only 3€, a bargain, and I was just motivated enough to get them in the ground before they became too stressed. I should have bought my cabbages from the same stall but I bought some a few weeks ago which have been struggling along in their blocks and are now somewhat manky. They've been planted too and at least the rain will help them along.

leeks etc










Thursday, 16 July 2015

Butterflies

As promised, the butterfly collection for the last couple of months.

hay field

But first, a hay field. This picture appeals to me, it looks, so, country. Maybe the heat is getting to me. The bales are being collected now by an overheated and, I imagine, rather grumpy bloke with a tractor and trailer. I think he must be grumpy because it's so hot and because he's trashed a small willow tree that was close to the track and is now upon it. It happens, I'm only glad he didn't take the telephone line with it.

Long tailed blue - female

I like doing butterfly posts because the pictures are pretty and everyone loves a butterfly but of course, our charming darlings can be other people's pests. The Long-tailed Blue (Lampides boeticus) has received quite a bit of attention in the UK recently as it's a rare migrant and is eagerly searched for by the butterfly equivalent of twitchers (what is that word, answers on a postcard?). However, it feeds on pea plants and when it can't find wild peas it's perfectly happy with the cultivated sort, which is where I found this one, happily laying eggs on my Carlin peas. 

Still, it's a first for me and this garden as far as I know and I was as thrilled as any geeky lepidopterist has a right to be. I shall be keeping my eyes open for less raddled specimens in the future.

painted lady

The current batch of Painted Ladies is considerably more glossy coated than the early ones. This one is enjoying some common knapweed which seems to be a food plant of choice, there were several in attendance.

skipper

Skipper - I think this is the large sort. Really must gather up all the pictures and spend a bit of time trying to establish exact ids for them, I'm pretty sure we have the small but do we have the Essex and Lulworth skippers (such imperious naming, they are both available overseas!)?

small tortoiseshell

Of the usually more frequent and common 'garden' butterflies we have had examples of most but very few in quantity. It's probably nothing to worry about but it's surprising after the excellent warm spring we had. There are many Marbled Whites this year and plenty of Meadow Browns and Ringlets. Just becoming frequent, Gatekeepers, but almost no Peacocks, Red Admirals or Tortoiseshells. I spotted a Silver washed Fritillary half an hour ago but wasn't quick enough to get its picture.

purple emp on wall

And now, the jewel in the crown for this month - the Purple Emperor. We live in the perfect place for these magnificent butterflies and felt sure they were laughing at us from high in the canopy of the trees as we'd never made a certain sighting of one but this handsome chap deigned to come down and pose for a good 15 minutes while he gathered some salts from the mortar of our barn.  It's been a good year for spotting and photographing new species for us, the Long-tailed Blue, the Glanville Fritillary on the coast and this fine specimen probably make a record.









Wednesday, 15 July 2015

Vegging

Another picture heavy post for you.

clibrans's

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.

greenhouse cucumber in the garden

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.

first french beans

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.

vila vila 4 in the garden

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.



Thursday, 9 July 2015

Statement of intent

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

a handful of basil

The state of the vegetable patch.

ringlet

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

cream spot tiger moth

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

big cutters

and interactions with the neighbours and hay making.

cowmug

Sunday, 28 June 2015

A day at the beach

lighthouse

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.

seaside euphorbia

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

cropped 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.

bryony on the beach

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.

glanville fritillary

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.






Sunday, 14 June 2015

Out to grass

13 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.

14 grass

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.

19 grass

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.

15 grass

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.

12 grass

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.

7 grass

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.

meadow brown

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.

17 grass

Sunday, 7 June 2015

Gardening in slippers

small tortoiseshell

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.

tidy greenhouse

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 seedlings

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.
 
flowers on the tomatillo

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).

volunteer oca in the potato patch


flowers on epicure potato

And here they are, potato flowers are so beautiful.

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

first new potatoes - epicure