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.