A Cheeky Catch-Up

Cheeky the Fox came by my plot for a visit on Wednesday.
It was lovely to see him after a too-long absence. He is looking very well. His limp is now only very slight, and he is bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.


Speaking of looking well, my vegetables are going great guns for the most part.

The tomatoes that I planted against what was originally the bean frame are getting stronger each day and starting to fruit.


It’s been a good time for brassicas, which like a lot of water.


As do courgettes, which are now in ‘glut’ phase!


The peas didn’t fare too well in the rain. Despite a good cropping over a month or two, the plants got waterlogged and are dying off quickly. The dwarf beans got started late but are now producing delicious beans. This was my first full picking, waiting in a pan to be cooked and eaten – delicious!


I lifted the Pixie salad potatoes

and the shallots. I wanted to leave them in the ground for another month or so but was worried that they would rot in the ground, the rain has been so incessant.

Still I have a good enough crop. The shallots and garlic are now ripening in the sunshine against my shed at home.

Soon they will be joined by the red onions I lifted this week. I am more than happy with my crop.


My first sweetcorn of the season has appeared.


The raspberries have been enormousand continue to fruit in abundance. As usual, they don’t even make it to the gate as I can’t resist eating them straight off the plant!


The dreaded blight has been reported at the far end of the site, just as I was thinking we might just get away with it. It hasn’t reached my plot yet but, mindful of the damage it causes, I decided to take drastic prevention measures. I bit the bullet and cut back the foliage of my Edzell Blue potatoes, although all leaves and stems looked beautifully healthy, with no signs of blight. I just can’t afford to take the chance.

Before.....

.... and After. Drastic measures!


My flower bank, behind the sundeck, changes all the time as new plants bloom and flower and die, only to be replaced by others. At the moment it attracts loads of hoverflies.

This is the bank as seen from the plot

and here’s the plot as seen from the bank.


I am delighted to have been given a good-sized pot of lawn camomile (hiding inside the water-bottle cloche here) by lovely Russell, who has a small patch of camomile lawn planted as a ‘stepping stone’ on his plot. I intend to divide up my large central bed with a narrow path of this wonderfully aromatic plant, so I’ve marked out the boundaries with string and weeded an area ready for planting. I have to wait now until the end of this month for my next ‘leaf’ planting day, and then according to all books, it will grow and spread, and every time I take a step it will exude a gorgeous perfume. Patience, patience, patience....


Love your plot
Love Life
XXX