Soaking up the sun

    All the plants are thriving in the glorious sunshine. After having an almost non-existent summer the last two years, it has really made a change to have a decent spell of warm weather.

 

   My sweetcorn plants are looking strong and healthy. They are planted in a grid with a few squash plants at their bases and courgette plants around the edges. I cant wait till the super sweet cobs will be ready for harvesting.

 

   The tomato plants are looking good. The first trusses of fruits are appearing now. These are 'Ferline' and they are always a reliable variety for growing outdoors. 

 

   Ive planted out a row of Swiss Chard. I love the range of colours you can get from 'Bright Lights'. Ive never managed to get a real harvest from Chard plants before so Im hoping things will change this year.

 

   My broad bean plants are further behind than normal due to the cold spring. They are in flower at present with no sign of black fly.

 

   These are my 'Electric Daisy' plants from the home grown revolution by James Wong. The idea of a fizzy numbing sensation from the flowers fascinates me. They are ready to be planted out now and at the moment  small buds are just starting to form.

 

   I've got a mass of brassicas waiting for space to become available. I've just continued to pot them on to keep them healthy. Hopefully they will be able to follow on from my potatoes when they all get dug up.

  This is my edible hanging basket. Ive done this for the last two year but its looking at its best this year. It consists of three tomato plants - 'Fountain' and 'Rambling Gold Stripe', which were started off in a heated propagator towards the end of March. It then has nasturtium plants which provide edible flowers for salads.

 

   This is my first courgette harvest. I've grown 'Best of British', 'Safari' and 'Soleil'. I like to have a variety of colours as they look good in dishes. Courgettes are one of my favourite plants to grow so I say bring on the glut! I just hope the hot dry weather doesn't reduce their productivity. I've already had a few courgettes which have been withered at one end which I think may be due to a lack of water.

Sweet success

 

 

   I've harvested my first cob of sweetcorn today. The plants aren't very tall but all have a nice little cob sitting there waiting to be picked. I didn't have very much success with sweetcorn last year but this year has been a vast improvement. Ive heard other people say that nothing you buy can compare to the sweetness of homegrown sweetcorn and i have to agree. Perfect freshly boiled and then smothered in butter- delish! (My dog seemed impressed with my sweetcorn as well!) 

The risk of frost has passed

    Its mid June so all the tender veg is now planted out in their final positions.

   My Tomatoes have been planted out into pots, these include Ferline, Amish Gold and Black Krim. I always plant my tomatoes deep up to the first true leaves, this ensures good anchorage and encourages it to develop feeder roots. I just need to sun to start shining and the rain to stop.

    Up at the allotment Ive planted out my final bed. Its a take on the three sister bed, but mine just consists of two of the sisters. My sweetcorn is in a grid with my squashes planted among that grid. The plan is that as the sweetcorn grows up nice and tall the squashes will spread around the bottom covering the ground which suppresses weeds and keeps in the moisture. (The third sister is runner beans which normally grow up the sweetcorn, but my beans are in a seperate bed.) I dug in a couple of bags of manure because the squashes are greedy plants. I've also planted courgettes and gherkins

out. I think they all might sulk for a little bit as they they sat in their pots a little bit too long as they had started to yellow, but they should soon pick up and get growing.

Tiny Sweetcorn ?!

   This is my first year growing sweetcorn. They seemed to get off to a flying start in modules, but ever since ive planted them out they havent been as happy. First they went quite yellow, however a quick feed soon perked them up and they returned to a lush green. My problem with them now is that they seemed to have 'bolted'. My whole block of sweetcorn have got male flowers appearing at the top and if you look closely you can see small cobs appearing. 'Why is that a problem?' I hear you ask. Well, the problem is that they only come up to my knee!

    When i think of sweetcorn i think of fields full of plants that are taller than me (at 5ft 2 thats not hard) not plants that are as high as my knee! I can only put this down to the dry spring and summer so far this year. My plot doesnt have a water supply so they probably haven't had as much water as they would have liked. Does anyone know if this is normal for the flowers to appear while they are so short still? Will they keep gaining height? Even if i end up with small little cobs of sweetcorn i'll still be happy. I cant wait to taste how sweet sweetcorn should really be instead of the bland stuff you buy in the shops.