Harvest Monday, slug control, and some allotment pics

I wish I'd looked ahead on the weather forecast.....the next few days are expected to be very windy with heavy rain...so any plants that have managed to avoid the slugs will now get a battering. I've still got a few things that need planting out though, so those will wait until the weather improves. Some of them are showing signs of distress (used up the nutrients in the compost), so I'll pot those into bigger pots. I'm also re-sowing some squashes (six have been eaten) and beans.

Slug control

Last night I went into the back garden around midnight with a light and *ugh* I could not believe how many slugs were around, it's a surprise any plants survive at all. I'd seen a comment on a blog (I think either CJ or Shaheen's) where someone mentioned using a yeast and sugar mixture to draw the slugs out, similar to a beer trap. I had an old pack of yeast and some old sugar, so gave this a go. I wasn't sure about the quantities so just added a couple of shakes of each (the sugar feeds the yeast) and mixed it up with a bit of water. And, hey it works! It only seems to work for a day though, the following day I saw slugs going into the tub and then climbing back out (rather than drowning) so I presume it needs topping up. But it was definitely effective for a while, and as its using up old stuff I already had, that's a bonus too. I've found an old pack of bran in the cupboard that's meant to be good as a slug barrier (they eat it and swell up, a bit grim), but I'll save that for when the wet weather's passed and use it round my remaining lettuces. Plus I've spent goodness knows how long checking hidey places and trying to reduce the number of hidey places (most annoying was actually under chunks of manure around the squash plants...after keep seeing more slug damage but not finding the critters I had a sudden thought that they might be under there, lovely and warm and moist for them. They've been dealt with and the manure broken up smaller. You live and learn eh).

The harvests

On to more pleasant news, I've had a bit more variety on the harvests this week...

I was given a couple of looong asparagus spears by my friend that I got the horse manure with, which went into a noodle soup

My self-seeded chard from last year has started putting on quite a bit of new growth and I've made a couple of decent harvests. I'll let most of them go to seed again this year to save sowing any myself.

I made flapjack again, this time using some rhubarb but with a few defrosted strawberries from the freezer (the last tub of them, but not to long until this year's first ones). I'd started putting the topping on when I remembered to take a pic.

In the back garden I had a couple of old rocket plants that put on some fresh spring growth, so I picked all of it, to make space for lettuce plants. We had some in a salad and I've used the rest to make a pesto.

Every year I think 'I must try making blackcurrant leaf tea'. Well, today I finally did it. It's really easy, I just ripped up three lovely fresh leaves and steeped them in boiling water for a couple of minutes. The flavour was actually quite nice and refreshing, so I'll give that another go.

We've also had a couple of nice harvests of lettuce leaves (no pics) from the ones I've been growing in modules...some have been planted into the back garden (by now some of which have been slugged or catted) and some are still waiting to go out. Well, at least if none survive we've had a couple of pickings...better than last year when my direct-sowings came to nothing.

On the allotment...

Jan came and helped a couple of times this weekend and took some lovely photos whilst we were there.

 

Loads of strawberry flowers

Soon be time for those sweet fruits

Early potatoes already in flower. The plot's very dry at the moment so I gave these a water as flowering time is meant to be when the tubers bulk-up. Instead of earthing-up (to prevent green potatoes) I use dried grass clippings as a mulch.

Blueberry

Here's my Saskatoon bush

The flowers have been and gone, but masses of berries are following on behind. The gooseberries and currant bushes are quite fruit-laden too.

Back at home I've finished potting on the tomatoes and have 18 plants altogether (I gave 11 spare plants to some friends)

Lettuce, dill and coriander still to plant out (when the weather's calmed down, if they haven't bolted by then)

I've potted-on all my brassicas as I'm not ready to plant these out yet either (the beds and nearby plot edges need clearing and are no doubt harbouring lots of slugs)

And Jan snuck a pic of the plot (about two- thirds down) with me weeding one of the beds. I'm just starting to feel like the plot is coming under control (ish) so if it wasn't for the slugs and the weather I'd be happy (ish)!

Thanks for reading this week. I'm linking in as usual with Harvest Monday hosted by Dave at Our Happy Acres

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Harvest Monday

This week my harvest is rhubarb again but I wanted to show the difference between mine (grown in a large pot in my back garden) and my friend Andrew's, grown on his allotment.

 

Mine are the smaller ones!

If I hadn't seen Andrew's I'd be quite pleased with mine. Actually, I am still pleased with mine, I get about the right amount for us from the pot, without thinking 'what the heck am I going to do with all this rhubarb?'. Andrew didn't need anymore of his rhubarb this week so I gave all of it away to some happy recipients in my art class this morning (including the tutor, not that I'm trying to be teacher's pet of course, hehe).

 

I've started setting out all of my little plants grown from seed...about half the tomatoes (and as usual have lost track of which varieties are which....I'm hedging my bets by picking out groups of three from the trays, hopefully getting a reasonable mixture), some of my squashes (a few of which are already showing signs of powdery mildew, caused by dry conditions I think, so I really need to get a move on with these), my sweetcorn (which I've under-sown with dwarf French beans) and a few runner beans to grow up a couple of wigwams at the allotment.

 

I still have all my brassicas, lettuce, dill, coriander and peppers to sort out too. Wah! But I did get some really lovely well-rotted horse manure yesterday, so the squashes and tomatoes will hopefully be happy.

 

I've been noticing quite a lot more slug and snail damage...pea plants in the back garden are getting eaten, as are the bean seedlings that are popping out of the soil, and my little row of rocket seedlings are nearly all gone. I'm going around each day (most days anyway) checking under and behind things that might be hiding slimey munchers. It takes a while but is worth it to reduce the chances of losing plants and seedlings. I've also tried putting hair trimmings and cat fur around seedlings but tonight I found slimey trails going right over the fur and hair so that's obviously not working! Maybe I've made it too thick and it's too easy for them to move over.

 

A walk from Winterton-on-Sea to Martham Broad

I got the bus from Norwich to Great Yarmouth, then changed to head up the coast to Winterton. I haven't explored this area that much before and didn't realise how easy it is to get there by bus....and quite cheap too, only £6.50 for a special ranger ticket to cover the whole journey.

 

For this particular walk, I headed inland along pretty lanes to reach Martham Broad....lots of birdie treats including good views of a cuckoo, a marsh harrier and buzzard having a fight, and house martins swooping low over the water, dipping their heads expertly for a drink.

Definitely an area to explore more. I bumped into a couple out walking and birdwatching who were on holiday there for two weeks, even though they only live just south of Norwich....brilliant, why bother to drive miles when you have this on your doorstep.

 

That's me for the week, thanks for reading. I'm linking in with Harvest Monday hosted by Dave at Our Happy Acres.

 

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