Saturday, 27 August 2011

End of August update

Summer is just about over here :-(  It hardly seems as if we have had ANY Summer this year. After a very warm dry Spring, we have had week after week of grey windy weather with precious little sunshine, and only occasional (though usually very heavy) rain.

Some mornings over the last few days it has seemed definitely Autumn-ey. Look at this photo of my Asparagus in the morning sunshine, covered in heavy dew:


The Asparagus is actually still continuing to produce new spears. The temptation to cut them for eating is very strong...


The Celeriac is now about the same size as a tennis-ball. Here's the evidence:


Unfortunately, my latest batch of Endives is all bolting.


When they go like this you can't eat them - they are tough, stringy and excessively bitter. I find it very hard to grow nice Endives, because my soil is too dry and sandy for them, even though some of those I have grown this year were from seeds given to me by my daughter Fiona, who lives in France, and are allegedly “Très résistante à la châleur...”

The Summer Savory is in full flower now. The herb is probably past the stage of being useable in the kitchen, but it looks very pretty though. It is covered in little mauve flowers, a bit like Thyme.


The Sprouting Broccoli that was attacked by the Cabbage Root Fly is going to pull through, I think. Of the six plants I have, two were unaffected and are big and healthy, two are just hanging on to life, and two are recovering, like this one:


This photo shows one of the "just surviving" plants (in the background) framed by the two good ones:


The Cavolo Nero is in much the same position. One was unaffected and is looking quite respectable:


Whereas the others are not so good, but at least beginning to develop a few new leaves:


My Plan 'B' seedlings may not be required after all.

9 comments:

  1. Your plants that suffered root fly are in better shape than the plants we have just received from Dobies. We have bought small plants of winter veg from them before as we used to be away on holiday when they really needed attention but we won't be doing this again. Earlier ones from Marshalls were nearly as bad.

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  2. Luv your asparagus fern picture - I look like a Christmas tree lit up with fairy lights.

    I have had total Cavolo Nero failure this year, but all the other brassicas are okay so far.

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  3. Mark I should have put it looks like not I look like. Silly me.

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  4. The veggies look very good. I think they will survive their infestation
    Here we are starting to have a couple of autumn days too, but the summer heat keeps paying some visits.

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  5. Looks good Mark and what a naff summer we've had, great Spring though so should be grateful for that. Maybe an Indian summer?

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  6. Good to see some plants recovering from the cabbage white. It has been a lousy summer, hasn't it.

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  7. I don't think I will be able to resist to cut those lovely spears. Looking at it just made me drool. Your celeriac growing really well.

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  8. Rather dismal summer indeed. Glad that your brassicas are rallying though after their attack, and your celeriac looks great. I suspect ours will be quite small as we haven't had a watering regime for it!

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