23/07/14 update.

Everything is growing really well, the wet then sunny then wet again weather has been bringing all the crops on in leaps and bounds. There have been a few upsets though, the warm wet weather has caused the diseases on the allotment site to go into overdrive. Blight has hit most of the plots potatoes, we hopefully cut the tops off at the first sighting on our spuds so we're hoping the ones still under ground will be ok.

Next door (the witch) has started to show the failings in their gardening, the lack of work they have put in coupled with no weeding has meant that most of their crops are either stunted or just about killed off with various pests and diseases ! We're having to be vigilant though having them next door is less than ideal as we have to battle with the same pests migrating across.

Our onions were hit with powdery mildew but we lifted them and disposed of the infected leaves, next door didn't and theirs have gone black now.......I just hope that our leeks escape the disease.....we'll just have to wait and see.

This week has seen us eating our veg and salad at just about every meal....I'm loving the taste of organically grown fresh veg.....nothing like it and so satisfying knowing that it all came from our own hard work !

So updated pics of the plot :

 

Now the onions are lifted I've put in some late Purple Sprouting Broccoli.  

 

At long last the Caulis are developing curds, this is the biggest so far , I ve snapped a couple of leaves over the white to keep it clean. I'm really pleased that they are finally coming on.....I'd just about given up on them.....I'm pleased I just left them be now.

The onions are drying on top of mesh, another few days and they'll be ready to hang up on strings in the shed.

 

The best bit, a nice brew and then sit back in the deckchair and admire the fruits of our labours ! 

 

Some of the Beetroot crop is now in jars, some spiced pickled the rest into sweet chutney.....I tried some with a nogging of Cheddar Cheese.....WOW ! It's really tasty...yum yum !  

 

Some of our Courgette glut has been started off as wine....the self sufficiency is starting to increase.....hopefully we'll save a bit of money on the shopping bills over the next few months as well as having a big happy smile and full bellies to show from our plot. 

 

Another bag of lovely fresh food brought back today.....I'm having a big plate of veg in a giant Yorkshire pud for my tea....no need for any meat , the veg are so tasty.

   That's it for now, watch this space in a couple of weeks time.

11/07/2014 update.

We're just coming to the end of a fantastic fortnight off work.......we've been able to spend loads of time down on the plot getting everything in order and generally enjoying the allotment garden.

The annual judging has taken place this week and guess what ? We only went and won best newcomer, we also marked higher than the best long term half plot but the committee decided to make us best new comers because we didn't enter last year due to not getting the plot early enough.

The hard work early on in the year is starting top pay off now with most of the crops going really mad, plus the wet weather coupled with sunny spells has put mega growth on just about everything.

The only down this week is to discover light on the spuds.......a lot of the plots are suffering with it. We've managed to lift the effected spuds and they are not too bad, certainly good enough for eating now, just not for storing.

Working along the plot from the top end.

In the polytunnel the chilli plants are all now bearing fruits, with the cherry bomb cilli being the one most heavily adorned in fruits up to now.

We lost a tomato plant recently but all the others seem to be doing ok with fruits now forming on the trusses. The beef steak plants are doing really well.

I ve got some herbs coming along in pots inside the polytunnel and also a few other trays of seedlings of parsnips,swedes and chinese cabbages.

I'm going to have to put down some beer traps as slugs have been eating the leaves of one of the pepper plants, I don't want the other plants ravaged by the little slimey critters !

Moving back outside, I ve been trying to make use of the wall space with a few bottle planters of Chinese cabbage, the bottles tied off to some lumps of scrap branches.

The rest of the plot is looking really good with steady growth on everything, even the carrots are coming along........who knows if the carrot flies have been busy , only time will tell there.
Oh and we've added a new plot sign....Bob the whirligig bee (plot 19 Bee !)

So there you go a quick round up of where things are at , still plenty of summer left and then the winter digging to look forward to !
Work tomorrow....Boo ! But we're finishing the hols off with a trip over to Leeds....come on the Rhinos !