August 2020 – Report so far

Most things are doing fine. The tomatoes are cropping well with much the same weight of tomatoes as the previous couple of years so far. The 2018 crop seemed to peak in a few weeks time so it will be interesting to see how they compare. 2019 wasn’t a very good year overall, this year looks like it might be better.

A number of the plants look like they have some form of problem which I suspect might be Bacterial Canker so I’m trimming the leaves off if they show problems.

The French Beans are getting away from us. Although we’ve got lots of blackfly on the dwarf beans which seems to have knocked them back, the climbing ones (which are on the other side of the tunnel) seem to be free of the problem and producing in volume. The same is true of the courgettes. The plants outside the tunnel got blackfly badly and aren’t producing much but the ones in the tunnel (by the climbing French Beans) are producing enough to keep us going. The blackfly originated on the second sowing of Broad Beans. The first (overwintered) sowing was fine but the ones sown in February/March got hit badly with no beans to speak of. I should have pulled them out earlier. You live and learn.

Cabbages and carrots are also fine The carrot thinings more than adequate. The cucumbers are producing more than we can sensibly eat, except for the white cucumbers which taste foul. Very bitter. Never grown them before and won’t do so again. Finally the Physalis plants are dominating the greenhouse. Right up to the top and pushing themselves over. I only hope that the quantity of fruit make it worth it. The ones outside are much more manageable only a couple or three feet high but with reduced fruit to match.

Finally the fruit. The apples are being had by the squirrels and magpies but there seem to be more than enough to go round. I just hope that they’ll still be there when they’re ripe. Raspberies are just starting and there’s a gentle crop of alpine strawberries, enough to add to breakfast each morning.

Nothing like enough to be self-sufficient but too many to eat all at once.