Puzzled

Why are my sunflowers pointing North? (So are everyone else's on the plots).

Comments?

Surprise, Surprise

Quite a few hours were spent on the plot today. There was a lot of weeding and tidying up to do, with the brambles still trying to show everywhere you look.

I dug over and mulched the empty broad beans and pea beds, which gives more access to other things for harvesting.

Surprises included:

• The sunflowers in bloom
• Cauliflowers ready (and now harvested)
• Lots of runner beans and french beans
• Lots and lots and lots of Courgettes (some now made into courgettes bread and courgette with chard and ginger soup.

In addition, more potatoes, carrots and beetroot were also harvested.

Quick note

There was some welcome rain last week, as well as lots of harvesting.

The broad beans are finished, and most of the peas also. Potatoes are very tasty, and the first carrots and courgettes are being eaten.

Weeds are growing well!

I plan to do some more tidying up later today.

The Cage.

On Saturday three of us spent over twelve hours weeding, tidying, harvesting and building a brassica cage.

We have eaten and frozen pounds on peas and broad beans, and continue to enjoy the early potatoes and chard. We also ate the first carrots.

In the jungle

The growth is now very rich and fulsome. Here are a few photos I haven't put elsewhere!

Squash in the beans:

Runner, Broad, French and Human Beans:

Garlic and celery:

Carrots, Celeriac and Parsnips:

Beetroot and Onions:

Freshly weeded!

Runner Beans:

Work on the spoil heap

We've tidied up the spoil heap where all the bindweed roots and other perennials were dumped when we took over the plot. It has rotted down really well, except for the bind weed! It will be a case of sieve through it a bit each week for the next year, but at approx 10m2 it's too bid an area to ignore.

After a hard morning weeding.

The borage in the ice cubes is from the allotment!

Decorating the shed

I'm hoping this will be a riot of colour in a week or two:

The glut begins

The middle of June saw the start of the glut, starting with early potatoes, beetroot, peas and broad beans:

Lupins

In the middle of June there was an amazing show of Lupins on John's plot:

A June round-up

June seems to have sped by, so it's time to do a quick summary of things no hither to recorded.

Looking back to the start of June it's almost impossible to believe how fast things grow.

Here for example is a three week separation in growth on the pottager plot:

8th June -

and 30th June -

(Yes that is a real son not a six feet five scarecrow).

Talking of scarecrows, strange visitors were spotted up the posh end of the allotments: