THE PLOT 17

Here is another cropping from the first weekend in July. I plucked 30 stalks rhubarb, one of which I planted, 7 of which I gave to a friend, and the rest I washed, cut, and froze! The photo also shows some spuds and soft fruits I cropped. Whilst I am not yet 100% self sufficient in producing all my needed/wanted F n V, I do not expect to need to buy any rhubarb, raspberries, gooseberries or blackcurrants again while i run the allotment plot!

By the close of this year, I should know which veggies I can grow myself and how many of each I will need to plant per year. I figure 2-3 dozen broad bean plants and a dozen other beans of whatever type I fancy should satisfy my need for fresh beans; I might manage to supply myself with enough onions and spuds and garlic, too. I will probably soon be able to supply most of my strawberries, although I do tend to eat a lot of these. I also have 2 apple trees at home.

This is a typical July photo of a plot crop. I dump the bag contents in my giant mixing bowl, fill it with water and get to work - usually with a coffee or wine to accompany me. Blackcurrants - as you see here - need to be picked off the stalks, whereas raspberries need to be rinsed and de-hulled, gooseberries checked and de-stalked, etc....

As you can see the rains then hot weather have really got things growing - including the weeds, alas. In this shot you can see a mid-July view of my tomato and corn patch in front of the runner beans - now in flower and forming beans - with the strawberry and nasturtium beds to the left and the artichokes racing towards the skies beyond. The bottle in the nasturtium bed is covering a much-munched plant. It might have been a melon, squash, butternut, zucchini...whatever it was it is currently a stalk with a few not-yet-munched shoots.

GARDEN GLIMPSES 42

This shows the patch in front of the smaller of the 2 apple trees in the back yard. I have taken cuttings from a red and a white olde fashioned style rose and also a honeysuckle strand. Hopefully these will grow and cover the back fence with scented aromas.

Next up, this mystery popped up among my tomatoes! I have only had yellow and mauvy purple poppies til this year - but this one is red! I did plant red poppy seeds - but not this year. It was 1-2 years ago they were planted but none came up - til now.

This next shot is of my favorite plant. It is one of five plants I got from my friend Liz's gardens and its flowers are my very favorite shade of pinky-purple. Something knocked it over recently - but it is still growing, even if smashed! You can also see the lemon balm Liz gave me in the above shot.

The view from the kitchen windowsill has been exciting for me the past few days. The first two shots show the overgrowth, despite my digging out ALL the bind weed. Next up - a new colored poppy.

Yes, as well as the yellows in the front yard and mauvey purple ones in the back, I now have a red poppy!  Not only that, but 2 days later, I spotted this - a dark pink/purple poppy! I am quite excited by the new colors coming - but unsure if my neighbor scattered some seed the birds spread beyond her yard, the red poppies came up 1-2 years late and had a rogue plant, or some of the mauvey purple ones turned a different color.

SUMMER SLOSHING 17

I will start today's blog with a photo taken in early July. I finally got around to feeling awake enough and having enough energy to do some more painting after work Friday evening. I set to work with the magnolia creamy-white gloss and brush and began to undercoat the trim in the toilet. The first shot shows the color best.

The top coat was applied on July 2, a day after the undercoat. Alas, my son is now on vacation for a week - meaning this project must wait. I need to wait til after he leaves for work to paint, so that when he gets home in the morning it is dry, and he won't bump into wet paint!

Next up, my kitchen windowsill now contains a rather huge chili plant - in flower. Actually, it now contains two, but this photo was taken a few days before I bought the second one. It is my hot lemon one - but I now also have a flowering/fruiting chocolate habanero! I have two more hot lemons in the spare room...

This is taken on my bedroom windowsill of one of the flowers my friend Liz gave me for my 50th birthday earlier this year. I popped it into soil to 'see if it would grow'...and it did! The single stem with half-died flowers is now joined by a brand new stem with a shiny white fresh flower at the end.

GARDEN GLIMPSES 41

How are things going in the poly tunnel, you might wonder? Well...the above photo shows you the left hand side taken July 2 2016. A little corinader/garlic, massive pots of tomatoes, one potted potato bucket, more tomatoes, and the table at the end where I do my potting up...

2 giant onion stems remain potted as an experiment. 3-4 cabbages remain unpotted/planted. A half dozen turnips at the back grow away happily. A few straggly late-coming leeks are given a chance to make it before its too late to plant them out. The rhubarb I grew from the base of a stem (then transfered to the allotment today) and some purple basil come next. One onion grows strongly in a pot at last - it did not like the patio greenhouse so I moved it back here and put two tomato plants in there. I only had the single onion grow from seed, so I am glad I bought onion sets too this year.

Coming down the right side, this is where my tiny tubbed seedilings grew - most are planted out or potted on now. A few basil and tomatoes and things that might be leeks or might be grass and a patch of interesting yellow flowers where the seed pods POP in explosion when ripe and touched remain...

Underneath, you can see I have a little compost, watering cans, and to the right my tool area. The old plastic shed that my son, cousins, and neighbors helped erect is alas not functional any longer - just a few years after it was bought and built. It leaked to begin with - and a panel fell out not long after. As the year turned into 2 years, other bits broke or fell off - til the gales blew the whole thing off base. I put it back on base, but emptied it of valueables - all the good tools are now in the poly tunnel.

My plans for the poly tunnel are to split the poly centrally and peel it back to double-cover each of the two ends - with the mesh window and door in - and then recover the whole thing with fresh poly. The result will hopefully be a usable poly tunnel in the majority/middle area, with a potting bench and tool shed area at either end with reinforced coverage, if darker.

THE PLOT 16

I took my new camera down on July 2, on my second trip to the plot for the day. I wanted to see how it went taking scenic shots rather than birds, and so decided to use it to take a few update photos at the allotment. As you can see, I need to get some weeding done...ho hum.

My tomatoes seem to be dwarf/patio ones in this group as a few are flowering already at this height. My trio of sweetcorn are growing slightly bigger. My runner beans are beginning to climb the bean poles - and there are a couple who reached the top and transferred to nearby taller canes! You can also see my artichokes growing taller behind the raised beds...and a mass of potato and fruit bush beyond.

This well edged weed-free patch is where my garlic and broad beans were, and my leeks are. One onion is in view to the right, with my raspberries the other side of what used to be a path once to the left/top. The path will be dug out. I have decided to have trodden down mud for paths - not grass. That way I can reposition them by digging them up any time I fancy and they dont turn to seed and weed my plot if I miss attending them for a while.

My second weed-free patch with extra good edges as I re-cut them earlier in the day, is the corner where my other clump of broad beans were - tomatoes and potatoes are - and fruit patch will be moved to during winter dormancy. You can see some of my fruit bushes to the back/right.

If you look at that tiny green lump surrounded by a patch of water close to the front of the picture, you will see a brand new rhubarb plant I popped in today. I thought I would plant the new rhubarb now in July, so that when I transfer my fruit, I can leave the old plant in for one more season while this one starts its life - then if anything happens to either old or new, I shall not be rhubarbless!

GARDEN GLIMPSES 40

Here is a view looking out of the kitchen window taken late May 2016. The whit flower is from my birthday bunch and now planted on the sill, the rest are wild and grown in the yard center. You can see the center clearer in this next shot - the current idea is to have a neat border see second of the photos below and a wild interior.

This last shot is a shot of the first turnips pulled from the back yard. We now get back to a couple of shots taken in the front yard. The azalea is flowering abundantly for the second year in a trot, along with the clematis, fuchsia, valerian, and...um...weeds...

You may recall I tossed a couple of shooting spuds into buckets back in February or January and left them in the poly tunnel - and they seemed to be growing well til a week or two ago when one fatigued out on me and looked as if it were wilting to death. I pulled it a week after it refused to recover and voila - spuds! not bad for a single spud's crop - one became at least a dozen!

Finally, for today, here is a shot taken from my kitchen window with summer flowers in bloom - closest you can see the salmon geranium I planted outside which has survived and is now in flower - behind that is the deep purply pink - my fav color shade - grey furry-stemmed plant Liz gave me last year, and much further back big purply-mauve poppies.

SUMMER SLOSHING 16

Here is the stock for my wine closet - which was running low, being down to one bottle red, one ginger, and one of port wine... til this delivery! Meanwhile, I did complete the fourth coat of paint to the toilet walls and they are looking reasonable - 'but'...

...BUT, I think I might use the last 1/3 can of paint up and give them a 5th coat - just to be sure. THEN I shall commence the gloss work.

This mess of stuff in a fancy cabinet has to go. I may or may not keep the cabinet itself - and if I do it will be used to store wine glasses in - or maybe as my Buddhist shrine. However, all items inside the cabinet will be trashed shortly. I did have a friend who wanted a few and they have been sent to her, but the rest....may end up sold, in charity stores, or smashed to bits at the tip. If anyone reading my blog wants anything - let me know...

I did give the walls a 5th coat, and finally I am satisfied with the result. As you can see it is a pale custardy yellow which goes well with the light-wood seat and external hallway Tibetan Gold colors - and hopefully will also suit my choice of Magnolia pale-cream gloss.

Downstairs, my hallway geraniums are flowering and look pleasing. I polished the front door beside them again today - never bothered with it before, although it is wood - but this year I have started polishing it when I do my rounds. I start off downstairs with the phone table and door, go upstairs to the cabinet pictured above, then leave a cloth and the polish outside my son's room - he has masses of 'old wooden' furniture. The cloth usually reappears after a symphony of bumps and bangs looking black and mucky shortly after he finds it put there.