Everything is so dry, and poor old Haddock's is suffering. I water a bit every morning, but what it really needs is a good overnight downpour. Nothing on the horizon as yet; just more temps around 30 C.
Still, it is now providing all the vegetables we need, and will continue to do so until about next March.
Of the veg's we are currently eating, there are Onions, Carrots, Courgettes, Peppers, Aubergines, Beans, and the first few leaves of Spinach.
Our winter leafy greens are doing very well. I have put in plenty of Cavolo Nero, Swiss Chard, and Perpetual Spinach. Pumpkins and Squashes are also doing well.
As my winter bottling mostly resembles different forms of Ratatouille, I will soon have to buy several kilos of Tomatoes. Mine have yet again been a total disaster.
The weeds are mostly under control.
33 comments:
Some aubergines would be nice - just winter vegies here.
We'll be over-run before long. Time to start preserving.
Sorry to hear your tomatoes didn't produce, yet again. How about those in pots, up by the barn, if I remember rightly.
You've certainly got a terrific supply of healthy vegetables for your gourmet dishes
The ones in pots are doing fine. I shall plant all my Toms in pots next year, it's easier to use the correct soil, do the right amount of watering, etc. I'm fed-up with trying at Haddock's. Too much disease in the soil.
When you watered the tomatoes or a nearby crop at Haddocks, did their leaves get wet? Presumably with the ones in pots you are only putting water in the pot/soil.
Mine are all greenhouse plants, but I take care not to get the leaves wet.
(My brother has tried some of my same grown-from-seed plants outside, and they've always failed.)
No good with the second tomato crop elsewhere then?
Considering the lack of rain, everything looks as if it’s doing really well ( apart from the toms ! ) It’s so frustrating when you have put lots of hard work into it. I weeded and put bark down at the bottom of the garden ( which took me hours ) only to find a few days later, most of the bark kicked around all over the place by pigeons, cats, squirrels etc. Don’t know why I bothered !!! XXXX
With the potted ones, I simply flood the soil, with the others that were at Haddock's I'd planted tubes into the soil that went directly to the roots, and filled those. It's the soil, I think it's riddled with Mildew.
The 6 I planted elsewhere have also had problems. As soon as I watered them, Moles appeared and uprooted the plants. I have 4 left which I'm hoping will now be rain-watered. No rain on horizon.
I water every morning, but by evening everything has wilted. It's too hot, and no rain. Frustrating.
It's a tough life in the garden.
It certainly is, here, at the moment.
It all looks very healthy despite the lack of rain. We have been getting too much of the damned stuff up here. Our veg patch is like a bog garden.
Sorry about the tomatoes Cro - do you think it is something which has got into the soil? If so could you move them to a completely different part of Haddocks?
I've just picked beans, courgettes and strawberries from the garden but it's been a poor year for gardeners - everything is getting smothered in blackfly. Horrid stuff.
We're living off the crops now, so something must have gone right. A little rain would be nice.
I think it's Mildew in the soil. I'm told it would take up to 5 years of non-use for it to die off. Next year all my Toms will be grown in big pots.
I've just found loads of yellow-ish aphids on my best Oleander. I'll give them a dose of soapy liquid.
Sorry to hear about the tomatoes. I had two very bad years, but this year is very good. They are planted in a different spot and I grew them from seed. You grow some things I've never heard of! -Jenn
I always rotate my crops, but I think the disease is everywhere. It's probably spread through my compost.
Paul tried the soapy water trick but it didn't work, ended up with very clean bugs!
I use the liquid Savon Noir, it's not perfect, but it certainly makes a difference.
It's an impressive kitchen garden. Maybe you missed your vocation. Should have been a market gardener.
Farming has always appealed to me; arable rather than dairy.
But so rewarding
Haddocks looks very good despite your problems with the tomatoes.
My tomato plants look terrible but I do have lots of fruit. I just need for them to turn red. I put six plants in pots and they are doing much better and are healthier than those in the ground. I think once the ground has been infected with spores, it is useless to plant there again.
I was going to comment it looks like another good gardening year. Shame about the tomatoes. My sister has half a dozen fist size, but still green.
It sounds like we're having the same problem. All mine will go into pots next year; in soil-less compost and manure. They will be pampered.
The only fruits I have (so far) are on my Roma plant. These are the classic oval Italian Tomatoes, but even they are still green.
I think there is the clue..mildew on a plant, be it tomato or oak, can mean dry feet and wet leaves...I had it on a gooseberry bush in one garden, and on young oaks that were too near an established sycamore
Haddocks is looking good. You must have an enormous compost heap to keep up with feeding that!
So lush! How Lovely!
It just seems to be getting drier and drier. We had a massive downpour a couple of days ago, but now it's all bone dry again. I save the washing up water to pour onto my tub of runner beans and theraised bed with courgettes, and the bath water goes out of the window via hosepipe and onto the garden but even that's not enough.I fear that shortly the only think I'll be able to grow in the garden are cacti!
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