OK, whilst the tomatoes are yet to start ripening most of the rest of the garden seems to be doing OK. The strawberry plants are giving us enough for fruit most mornings with our cereal and we picked the first raspberries today.
One of the difficulties that we haven’t had before (or a least I don’t remember having before) is that our strawberries are being eaten by woodlice. Now I thought woodlice lived on dead wood but it seems they like strawberries so we’ve had to lift the fruit off the ground to discourage them. All the fruit are now perched on top of 7cm pots, not the most practical solution but it seems to be working. Next year we’ll have to find a better solution, my thought was to put a net on stakes so the strawberry plants grow up through them and the fruit are lifted off the ground.
The Broadbeans are coming to an end and we’ve planted the last of the courgette plants where the broadbean plants have been removed. The various French beans are beginning to start being productive, nicely taking over from the broadbeans and the runner beans are beginning to set so I can see us having more than we know what to do with in the next couple of weeks or so.
Our apple crop is fast disappearing. We had lots of blossom but the late cold snap delayed the pollinating insects so we’ve not as much fruit as I would like. Its made worse by the squirrels who are taking fruit off the tree and then eating the skin, leaving most of the apple uneaten.
Whilst I’m not entirely sure why the tomatoes are later than usual (records show that we are about a kilo behind usual production), I blame a combination of the late cold snap and choosing the wrong cultivars. I haven’t grown any of the cultivars that are most reliably first to ripen. Something I need to be aware of for future years.
Anyway, everything needs watering as the weather has warmed up and the sun is shining brightly. It’ll probably burn the plants but hopefully cause them to ripen up in the next weeks. Gardening always has its ups and downs.