Summer News 07

             The plums are still ripening in large quantities and the wasps have not been too bad in this cold wet year.      The yellow plums on the fairly young tree taste best.     The old tree beside the chicken house has produced deep purple plums for the first time ever this year - must be something to do with the very fine spring.      But although they look very exciting their taste is not good until they are absolutely ripe - then you have just a few hours to pick them before they rot or fall off.

            At last we have a few sunny days which have been great for the runner beans and the poor old courgettes (which have had a terrible year with lack of sun and mildew).      The runner beans are in full flow now and cropping well - we have picked about 15 bags already and I guess there could be 10 more to come.

            The onions have been harvested now and after 10 days trying to dry on the wire brassica frames they are finally ready to be strung.     Just two good strings this year but the quality is good.

            The winter brassicas are struggling although this warm weather should help.

The pumpkins are rambling purposefully through and around the soft fruits - they cover a lot of ground and now need a bit of management if we are to get some decent sized specimens rather than dozens of minnows.     

            At last the big blackberries have begun to fruit and the warmth is ideal.     As always they are a terrible handful to pick because the bushes have so much ATTITUDE and the spikes are very fierce.     The kiwi vines have also grown vigorously this year - up through the beech hedge.     When we can get a male plant established to pollinate we may even get some fruit!

            Sunny weather is helping the carrots fatten out.      All in all we had a terrible year for carrots this year - with terrible voracious slugs and very little warmth.     These ones are the third batch that were sown with the first two coming to nothing.

            The main crop peas are finished now and did pretty well.      The task now is to clear them away, tidy up their supports, put the posts and wire into storage and then weed before rotavating for the winter.

            The artichokes have now been weeded and the old growth pruned away.     The new growth is already about one foot high and they could probably do with some feeding.

            The French beans are nearly finished but the second batch is still producing usuable beans for the freezer.

            The figs are in full flood and seem to have done very well despite the weather.     And the walnuts are coming on a treat so it will be most interesting to see how they turn out when we harvest them in September.

            Lots of pears this year - again I suppose because of the fine spring - but they are hard work to get to ripen.

            The apple crop is good and already being harvested by the kids.

            The chickens are producing a good quantity of eggs and the one with the damaged leg is getting more feisty every day - whether she will ever be fit enough to join her sisters remains to be seen.     So far they have been extremely vicious towards her whenever they get the chance.

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