Week 31 - Bed PC8

The extremely wet conditions over the past month have really finished this bed off.

A few unhealthy looking broad bean plants are finally starting to produce some pods. It is interesting that it waited until the potatoes were finished before producing.

The potato plants have withered to almost nothing - quite possibly hit by blight while we were on holiday for 3 weeks.

This is a surprisingly decent harvest of potatoes from one of the plants, given the lack of fertility, poor bed preparation, the drought in April, the frost at the end of May, and the miserable summer weather. We had planted fewer potatoes in this bed than in others giving each plant more space which would have helped to increase the yield of each plant. The nitrogen fixed onto the roots of the peas and beans will have also helped.

Week 31 - Bed PC7

After 3 weeks vacation and more than a month of wet weather, this bed is not looking good.

The potatoes are dying back quite early, but it does not appear to be due to potato blight.

Broad beans are starting to form, almost ready for harvest.

The few pea plants that have grown are almost ready for the first crop.

Week 31 - Bed PC6

Through the wet cool weather of the past month and a half, many of the plants have done well, better than they had in the beginning of the spring. We realise now, though that there is not enough fertility in the soil, and the hard pan of stones about 20-25 cm below the surface is preventing the root systems to reach the nutrients further down in the soil.

The leaves are a wonderful array of colour, but some are showing signs of stunted growth - particularly the beetroot to the right.

The beans have done very poorly, which is not surprising given the unsuitable weather.

The Brussels Sprout plants, and the calabrese are doing reasonably well, but could probably use some more space.

Week 31 - Bed PC5

It is hard to tell what is going on with this bed with all of the diversity of leaves and a few weeds thrown in.

Beneath the canopy, some of the roots have developed quite well, whereas others are overshadowed and stunted.

The top of the mouli radish root is visible in the middle-left of the photo.

Week 31 - Bed PC4

The bed has filled out and is dominated by lettuces ...

... which we have been harvesting but not quickly enough. They need to be thinned and harvested to provide space for the other plants.

The onions are growing but are not nearly as large as the ones with more space in the other beds. The lack of additional fertility will also be an issue as onions do not compete well with other plants. This is an issue with this type of planting.

The Scorzonera look healthy ...

... as do some of the lettuce varieties.

The feathery leaves of the dill plant look well mixed in with the other leaves.

The carrots are small. Some of them are delicious and other are fairly bitter. This is likely due to the stunting caused by lack of space, water and nutrients.

Week 31 - Bed PC3

We have not got around to digging this bed. We were planning to plant another polycrop with onion, carrot and lettuce family plants, but it seems a bit late now. We will try to dig it soon so that we can plant some late or overwintering crops.

Week 31 - Bed PC2

We have not yet got around to digging this bed. it was going to be another bed of 'the three sisters' (squash, corn and beans) but it is far too late to plant these crops.

Week 31 - Bed PC1

We came back to the garden after 3 weeks holiday and there is no sign of any of the sweetcorn plants. We have had very wet weather over the past month which would have stunted them but they should still be visible at least. I suspect something other than slugs have been eating them.

The prolonged wet weather has provided more thatn enough moisture, but the lack of any real sunshine or heat has not helped the squash in this bed. The Uchiki Kuri Squash (above) at the south end of the bed is smaller than the two Ebisu Pumpkins in the center, but is doing better than the Becky Pumpkin at the far end of the bed.

Sever small fruits have formed on the Uchiki Kuri Squash, but it is too early to tell if they have been pollinated.

This female flower on the Ebisu Pumpkin opened today and there are several male flowers around for pollination.

The flowers on the Becky Pumpkin are still buds and will need another week or so to develop.

Week 31 - Bed DD8

After a month of wet weather, the potatoes don't look great.

Although there is very little sign of blight on the leaves, many of the stems are stripped bare. There was blight in the area earlier in the month (when we were on holidays), which would have affected the growth, but the leaves appear to have been eaten as well. It seems that it has not been a great year for potatoes in many part of the country.

We dug up a few of the plants and found a reasonable crop of potatoes, none of which have been eaten by slugs as we had expected given the wet weather.

Week 31 - Bed DD7

We have not been at the garden in more that 3 weeks, and we have had well over a month of wet weather. Instead of being full of growth, this bed is looking quite ragged, with the gaps in the peas and the potato foliage has been knocked back by blight.

The peas that are growing well are producing pods some of which are starting to swell and will be ready to harvest in a week or so.

The potatoes leaves have been killed off by blight, and we will cut the haulm (stems) off at the soil level and destroy the affected foliage. The potatoes will be left undisturbed in the ground for a few weeks. This will reduce the chance of the blight spores spreading to the tubers.

Week 31 - Bed DD6

Week 31 - Bed DD5

Six weeks after transplanting, most of the kale and sprouting broccoli plants are fairly strong and healthy.

The Pentland Brig Kale plant is already quite big, but it does look a bit pale.

The sprouting broccoli plants are more compact but still looking healthy.

The chicory that we left at the end of the bed is getting big, but so far no one who has sampled a leaf can handle the bitterness. We will leave them to continue to grow and hopefully they will produce a blanched heart that will be more palatable.

Week 31 - Bed DD4

16 weeks after planting, the alliums this bed are growing reasonably well despite the wet weather overt the past month.

The shallots have fully separated adn are starting to swell ...

Most of the garlic plants are reasonably big, and the bulbs are probably starting to swell underground.

The onions are also starting to swell, and will probably continue for another few weeks.

Week 31 - Bed DD3

The poor weather over the last month was not good to this bed, or at least that is one explanation for the fact that most of what we sowed 5 weeks ago has failed to grow.

Of the eight short rows that we sowed with carrot seeds, only one carrot plant is growing.

There is no sign of the fennel, basil and dill, but the borage (above) is doing well.

The leeks that we transplanted are growing well, probably helped by the cooler wet weather.