We’re mid way through the year and June is here already! Bringing lighter evenings and warmer weather, it’s a great excuse to be on the allotment for longer, and I’ve manged to rope the family in for some extra help too! Here’s Mrs G watering the greenhouse and offering her own words of advice when she can, not that I always listen….
What’s ready
Lettuces
Wow, what a fantastic crop this year, not a slug or snail in sight, which I do love to see.
Strawberries
Very pleased to say we’ve had another superb crop of strawberries that are just perfect. The warmth of the sun has made them turn a luscious red and gives a sweet taste to the tongue.
One useful tip I use to prevent them from going mushy and provide them with enough warmth to ripen is to wrap them up in straw or hay.
Potatoes
I’ve dug up my first earlies, almost like finding nuggets of gold from under the ground.
In the kitchen
Potatoes and strawberries
First I boil the potatoes, then drain off the water and put into a bowl, adding some butter. That’s all that is needed for a tasty dinner.
I like to eat my fresh strawberries with ice cream when I haven’t got any cream to hand, which is perfect for those warm summer evenings.
Mundane maintenance
Compost heap – one side of my heap was completely full so it was time to turn it over and move it to the other bay. Which will provide excellent compost for the beds in August. This now leaves me with an empty bay to start the compost heap all over again.
Greenhouse – I’m trying a new 100% natural jute net from the garden centre to support the cucumbers and also tying in the tomatoes with natural coir to support them while they grow.
Carry on…… planting
I’m planting out the sweetcorn grown from seed. Remember, sweetcorn needs to be planted in blocks to make sure they fertilise properly. I also keep on sowing lettuce seeds for succession planting.
Mrs G has persuaded me to give her another bed for her cut flowers (Cosmos and Sunflowers) which I have agreed to reluctantly….!
