Well, well. A small allotment triumph. The doomed courgette and its doomed companions have picked up – despite the fresh horse shit. This mini squash looks promising.
I'm never one to look on the gloomy side. As you know.
But on those few, rare-as-rocking-horse-shit occasions when I predict doom and disaster, it's not so terrible.
If things turn round, I'm pleasantly surprised. If not, so what?
I've never grown dill before, so this one's baffled me.
It germinated OK, and it's basically growing OK. But some of the frondy bits go brown and dry and drop off. Doesn't seem to affect the plants, which still grow (slowly). But then other parts go brown and drop off.
You can see some typical damage in this pic.
Is this cause for concern, or should I not be surprised at this rather eye-opening behaviour?
The garlic got rust again – of course. But the plants coped better this year, for some reason. Probably because it was drier.
Also, I planted them in February, not October. Could this have made a difference? What's the general experience with rust this year? Better than usual? Worse?
Time for humble pie. If there's a secret to growing early carrots, I ain't got it. Mine are utterly crap. Er, again.
Wretched cauliflowers. They're growing fast, but I'm pouring a river on them every evening. It's killing me.
When the sun shines, brassica gardeners groan. Thank God rain is forecast for the next 24 hours.
Bring it on.
What a great year for onions. They're already a vast improvement on last season's crappy, mildewy crop.
Still no rain – hence the good onions. Three weeks since the last drop. With a watering can, I simply can't keep up (under-65s aren't allowed hosepipes on our plot).
It's great having a 100 sq m allotment... until drought strikes. Anyone else suffering?
The celeriac I put out in April is a bit iffy. The plants got black fly in early May. Then they got celery leaf miner. By the time I noticed, they'd already been set back.
The trouble with celeriac is that it needs a lot of water. I'm now sloshing the stuff all over it every evening after work and I'm going bananas. In the south east, it's got very dry.
I know I'm going to regret this, but here goes.
Dear God: Please send rain.
I took this photo to deceive you. It wasn't easy finding an angle that hid the truth... which is that these okra are shit.
But my conscience hurts, so here are the facts.
Confession 1: These aren't the okra plants I grew from seed. Those died. Why? Haven't a clue. They just keeled over one day. The bastards.
Confession 2: I didn't even grow these myself. They were kindly donated by an allotment colleague.
Confession 3: I planted them out without hardening them off. So they immediately wilted and have barely recovered.
So okra has been an oustanding Soilman success story. Not.
Parsnips look good. Just as well, given the aggro of getting them to seedling size.
I do wonder every year why I bother. I mean, I don't even like them that much.
Come to think of it, I don't like squashes or courgettes much, either. Yet I grow them religiously every season.
Anyone else daft enough to be growing veg they don't even like? Or does this mark me out as a terminal sadster?
Lilies. That's how you know summer's finally here. Hurrah.
Other signs of summer:
No squashes either. The buggers are dying, and it's all my fault for planting them in uncomposted manure. An amateur mistake, and a blindingly stupid one. I am an utter dunce and I deserve a kicking.
Please, please: Kick me. You know it makes sense.
