Sunburn and black kale

I received third degree sunburn on Saturday. Sunburn! My attention was focused on digging out weeds from the soft fruit patch and as a result I didn’t realise that my skin was getting toasted. Raspberry and blackberry canes, perfect rosettes of dandelion and (worst of all) a carpet of buttercups; they’d all set up home and needed to be evicted. I’ve planted autumn cyclamen in their place for some colour.

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Autumn cyclamen

I also cut out a load of prickly tormenting briars from the raspberries. I’m pondering the future of these raspberries: they fruit well, but they’re unruly and need taking in hand. They’re now coming into ripeness but the bees still hover and hum in their search for nectar.

Meanwhile, a harvest, albeit an inedible one: more ornamental gourds, this time yellow and green, slightly gnarled, and rather wonderful.

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Bi-colour gourd

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The gourd pile

The hops have started to fatten out in the past week, the flowers setting first at the very top and working their way down. They’re green now but will ripen into golden papery pods.

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Hop flowers are forming

The cavalo nero have now been planted out, though they didn’t take kindly to Saturday’s soaring temperatures and are a bit floppy in the picture. I’ve made a temporary bird cage from netting and canes, but need to get something more permanent in place. Left alone, this lot would be devoured overnight.

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Black kale – cavalo nero – hopefully they’ll perk up a bit

Meanwhile, the blueberries are in full swing, as are the purple beans. Late summer harvests.

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Saturday’s harvest

Tidied up: hacked out raspberry briars, pulled weeds in the soft-fruit, pruned the blackcurrants

Planted out: Cyclamen, cavalo nero

Harvesting: green and purple beans, tomatoes, raspberries, blueberries, courgette, gourds, chard, lettuce, spinach, beets, sweet peas, sunflowers, dahlias, last on the bishop’s flower and calendula

The early August allotment

The allotment’s been a little neglected of late, partly due to work, partly due to holidays, partly due to the rainy dully weather. But a visit to Kent at the weekend (of which more in a further post) has shamed me into action: I’ve seen beautifully tended veg patches, weed-free and neat, and return with a few ideas that I will pinch for next year. In our absence, the weeds have grown tall and errant raspberries and blackberries are attempting to set up home where they shouldn’t. I spent two hours in the drizzle yesterday yanking them up, both mystified and impressed with their persistence.

This year’s crop feels less bounteous than last year. Perhaps we had beginner’s luck, or perhaps it’s just not as warm. The cutting garden (which I will now pretentiously call it) is, however, a persistent delight. I’ve been picking sweet peas, bishop’s flower and lavender for several weeks, now joined by love-in-a-mist, cosmos, marigolds, the early dahlias and the most exquisite sunflowers. They leave their pollen over the kitchen table and give Gertie plenty of entertainment as she spots escaping earwigs.

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The sunflowers are out and proud

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I’ve been picking these jewel coloured posies for the last month or so

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The marigolds and bishops flower give colour to the veg patch

The ornamental gourds have given great ground cover but now threaten to take over. I’ve mercilessly ripped out the two least-pretty gourds – productive but pointless. In their place go a few butternut squash seeds just to see if they will grow this late in the season. If they don’t, no matter.

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The gourds threaten to take over

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Bi-colour gourd

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Yesterday’s gourd haul. I’ll leave these to season and then they’ll turn into an early autumn table decoration.

The hops have grown so bushy and weighty that they broke their wooden support last week; the entire hopolisk had to be taken down, repaired and re-assembled. The smallest of flowers are now starting to set so I think we’ll be looking to harvest in mid- to late- September. I discover daily that hop leaves are abrasive, leaving cuts and grazes on any exposed flesh they touch.

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The hops are outgrowing the hopolisk

Down in the greens patch, the Red Russian kale and salad bowl lettuce are starting to fade but the chard, sorrel and beets are still green and luscious. And actually, the winter lettuce (not pictured) is still croppable, though I’m now using it to support netting for the cima di rapa. Some of these will have to come up over the next few weeks to make room for winter greens.

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The kale and lettuce is starting to fade (background) but chard and beet tops are still cropping well (foreground)

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The beets and our first teeny tiny wonky carrot

The sweetcorn are proof that the gardener cannot control everything: the Seeds of Italy corn are tall and strong, whilst the Thompson and Morgan corn are weedy and struggling. The two varieties are right next to each other and were planted out at the same time.

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The disappointing corns…

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…and the good corns

Speaking of struggling, it’s not a great year for beans. I don’t think any of the borlotti have made it, but the purple French beans are now cropping and we’ll also get a few green French beans.

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Purple beans

The tomatoes got a long overdue haircut yesterday. They have been getting a daily water and weekly feed, but really they needed weekly thinning and trimming. Instead of being tall and lean, the plants are squat and fat – but there is still good fruit set. Not much sign of ripening yet, with the weather being so cool.

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In the greenhouse, good fruit set but it’s all still green

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First hint of red on the tomatoes

The three chilli plants are creating so much fruit I could set up stall in the Birmingham markets. These are cayenne but they look like those terrifying chillies you see in Indian supermarkets; I think the cool weather has prevented them from plumping up.

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One of the terrifying chillies

Over the next week I’m going to give the spring onions another go, seeing if planting at this time will make any difference to their persistent failure. The last blackcurrants need harvesting and the first blueberries and autumn raspberries are shouting for attention. Then it’s time to think ahead to autumn and winter, sowing spicy mustard salad and chard, and planting out the cavalo nero seedlings. For now – I’m off to make beetroot humous.

Ripped out: gourds, lots of weeds, lots of stray raspberry and blackberry shoots, dead-heading the flowers

Harvesting: lettuce, sorrel, rocket, red russian kale, chard, courgette, gourd, beets, first carrot, sunflowers, cosmos, sweet peas, love-in-a-mist, dahlia, bishop’s flower, marigold, last blackcurrants, first raspberries, first blueberries

Sowed: late butternut squash