Until now, June has been hot & dry meaning that the tomato plants in the greenhouses have got away well. Most plants have now got fruit set and, my guess is, we will start to see fruit ripening over the next few weeks (my records show that we get ripe fruit starting mid-July).
The dry weather has not been so good for the outdoor plants, the seedlings have struggled to germinate in the dry soil and the plants that are established have equal problems.
However, the weather broke a couple of days ago with thunderstorms and heavy rain which has soaked into the ground so (hopefully) will cause a burst of growth on everything. Its also brought out the slugs and snails so we’ve been going around removing them (usually after they’ve had their fill of the seedlings).
Our strawberries are ripening nicely and are well protected from the squirrels. The same can’t be said for the apples, the squirrels are having a field day. Why they eat small, unripe apples, I don’t know but they do.
I’ve had a “furtle” around the base of the potatoes and they are growing with walnut sized tubers forming. Another couple of weeks yet I think. The dwarf french beans have small beans setting and the climbing french beans and runner beans have grabbed hold of their posts and going away.
The broad beans are growing but smothered in blackfly. I have a feeling I won’t grow them next year (or at least put them somewhere else in the garden) to keep the aphids away from the younger plants.