Wednesday 3 June 2015

Early June progress report - fruit and veg

June is upon us, but it still doesn't seem like Summer! Our daytime temperatures are mostly in the mid teens (Celsius), and night-times ones are still mostly 8 or 9. This means that lots of plants are growing more slowly than I would wish. This post is intended to give you a picture of how things are going...

The purple Kohlrabi ("Modrava") is just beginning to swell, but it's a long way from maturity at present:


The Broad Bean flowers are fading now.


As they drop off, they reveal tiny pods forming. Hopefully there will be lots of these. If a flower is not pollinated it doesn't produce a pod, but I have seen lots of bee activity amongst the Broad Bean plants, so I think they mostly will have been pollinated.


My first batch of Endives is looking OK, but nowhere near ready for transplanting yet.


These ones are "De Meaux", already showing their crinkly leaf-form:


I have started cropping the Lettuce, and there is lots of it coming on.


The Cabbage and PSB seedlings are also looking OK, and not far off being ready for potting-on. I will be keeping them in separate pots until the Broad Bean bed becomes vacant and lets me plant them out ready for next year.


The potatoes are all looking healthy still, with no signs od blight or other diseases. This photo shows how I have got potatoes of different types maturing at different rates, with a view to having a harvest over a long period:


The first fruits on the Strawberry plants are forming now.


I have put a net over them now, because birds and squirrels will try to grab the berries even when they are under-ripe.


That net was difficult to get right too. It is made of extruded plastic, and it is quite stiff, so it is hard to get it to sit right. Over the year I have tried several different types of netting, and this type is probably my least favourite. It was bought as "Butterfly Protection Netting", from Gardening Naturally. Its main advantage is that it is very light.

On the Pear tree I have counted a mere six tiny pearlets. Not a big harvest, even if they make it to maturity (which is far from certain!).


I think the soil where the pear tree is growing is just too dry and "free-draining" for fruit trees to do well. The tree is too big for me to move now, but if I do get another one I won't plant it along the fence where the current one is.

10 comments:

  1. The weather isn't only holding the plants back but holding gardeners back too. I haven't even got my tomatoes in their final positions yet for fear of the constant wind damaging them. Your spuds are looking good though, most of mine are filled to the top of the containers now so it's just a matter of time now before harvest time.

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  2. I think my favorite photo is the close up of the little lettuce seedlings. Such potential in a little pot.

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  3. It's all looking good, I'm impressed with the size of your lettuce plants.

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  4. Our weather is similar to yours, with a gift of a really hot day thrown in, here and there. When I read your blog I am often reminded of things I have not done and meant to do...kohlrabi for instance..didn't plant, and the enviromesh which I meant to buy and haven't yet.... A little behind here inside the picket fence garden but hope to catch up soon. Glad to your your June progress report. Looks great.

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  5. Unseasonably cool here too Mark - but, as you mentioned in your previous post - the leafy greens sure do enjoy it!

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  6. I've suffered a lot of wind damage! A snapped bean, split courgette stems, shredded marjoram... although hopefully they will enjoy the sun we are all forecast for the rest of the week (provided I keep on top of the watering!) Your veg is looking fantastic, especially all that healthy robust lettuce.

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  7. Things may be slow but they are definitely coming along in your garden. I just spotted the first of the flowers on my broad beans the other day - I'm crossing my fingers that lots of pollinators are out and doing a good job on them.

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  8. Beautiful shot of the kohlrabi, I like the colors and lighting. And the lettuces are looking very good. I'm way behind on those because of our heat and drought.

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  9. It's all looking great Mark, we are so far behind up here still, but we do have flowers on the strawberries and the tatties are just through :)

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  10. I want to know what happened to spring?

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