Spuds 2022

 

So I'd been thinking about them all night . I need to go and investigate and see if they are ready .

Despite doing my rain dance , we only had a little bit of Cornish mizzle here this morning . Did you get any rain ? I'll try again later on . 

So the ground is still very dry , but I'll get my trusty old garden fork in there and see what we can find .

If you remember , I found a small bag of potatoes in the reduced counter at the supermarket  for 20p .

I hadn't planned to grow potatoes this year , but thought I'd throw them into this spare little corner .

I have pretty much forgotten about them . I only earthed them up one time with earth and second time with grass clippings . I didn't water them much either , because of the stupid falling apart hose situation and it was a long way to carry the watering can and I needed to prioritise the precious water for all the other more important vegetables . 

We don't eat a lot of white potatoes , I prefer Sweet potatoes , but just occasionally  a few hot buttery little potatoes with some garden mint and salad is nice .

These are from just two plants , that is just two of the bargain reduced to 20p potatoes . So if all of them produce this many potatoes , I think we have done well .

At this point I became of aware of wasps , lots of them (screams) flying out of this nearby tree stump  !

 Look at the size of that hole at the base of the tree stump !  

I realise that I am standing right in their flight path in a skirt and a sweet heady perfume . My camera couldn't focus in on them they are flying out so fast .

So , that's all for today folk !  I'll come back and dig up the others over the next couple of weeks and when the wasps are  not so active . 

Rain Dance

 

                                             Doing my rain dance .

                    For my friends who need rain for their vegetable gardens .

Happiness is ....

                             Happiness is a dish of freshly picked vegetables .

Split logs and Pink ribbons

              Some of the wood I,ve been bringing in from the rickety old woodshed .

                                                   That was a real fun job  !

Had to clear it all out and bring it into the porch , ready for the new woodshed  to be built in a couple of weeks time .

I normally fill up the side of the fireplace up to the beam before any bad weather coming in and maybe a few in the porch . Never this much . This much hurts !

Anyway .....

Had a lovely couple of days with my grand-daughter staying over . 

She showed me how to do cartwheels and handstands ....

....and how to spin seven hula -hoops at once ! We did some yoga together ( that made my back  feel so much better !  🙄 )

Then for some quiet time .....

  I showed her how to tie a bow . 

Over and over and over and over again .

She really wanted to be able to do it !

                            After many " have another go " and try , try again s  .....

                                                            Yay !  

She took it home to show Mummy and Daddy .

I am so tired . I can't wait to go to bed . I'm going to dream about split logs and pink ribbons ! 

Ups and downs in the Vegetable garden - End of July update

 

The vegetable garden is in full flourish right now and I am keeping up with the watering . We have had a small amount of rain and a couple of cooler days for everything to be refreshed .

Purple Sprouting Broccoli , Greyhound Cabbages and Brussel sprouts all looking fine after a good weeding session and pulling off the tatty lower leaves . I chased away a couple of Cabbage White butterflies and quickly recovered with butterfly net . Isn't it amazing how fast they will zoom in when you take the net off ! 

 I have sweetcorn in several places around the vegetable garden , growing in blocks and I am hand pollenating where necessary too . 

                     

                        I can't eat it , unfortunately , but I love , love , love how it looks !

The tomatoes are really doing well in the greenhouse .

They are even trying to escape though the greenhouse window !  

I am struggling to keep this lot watered . It is hard to get in there with the watering can . Reaching in to pick them is a bit of a nightmare too . I had to crawl in and sort of lie down to reach some of the tomatoes that had ripened in the furthest corner .  Doing that was fine . It was crawling out with my bowl of tomatoes and getting back up again that was a bit of a problem .

Halved and into the freezer to make free-flow packs . The blackberries are coming now too . I'm thinking crumbles !

The cucumbers are also scrabbling about everywhere , like out of control ! 

Plenty of cucumbers still to come . Next year I'll have to think of a better way to support them .

Oh ! My goodness ! The Butternut Squash bed is also going crazy ! 

                    Underneath those sprawling leaves , I can see Butternuts a coming ! 

 

The bad news ....

....well not a complete disaster , as I have been picking and freezing some of both , Runners and French beans . Just not as many as I would have liked .

                         As I go along the row I see whole stems wilting .

                                        Leaves withering .

When I look at the bottom of the plants I can see they have been severed as if someone has cut through the stem with a pair of scissors . 

If it was an animal ,then why would an animal do that ? Nothing has been eaten , the leaves of this young French bean plant just lying there on the ground  .

If you click to enlarge this picture , you can see I did sow more bean seeds and other things too and they were coming up . 

The beanpoles I cut from my own Hazel bushes , so from scratch , putting up the bean frame was a lot of work for me . The ground prepared properly , The beans were grown both undercover , then planted out and some sown direct .  I have always grown Runner-beans and never had a problem with them .         They would grow lush and plentiful , some years I had to re-enforce the bean-frame the crop was so heavy .

Runner beans are easy !   I never had to protect them like I'm trying to now .

So now I'm thinking , maybe I'll have one more try next year .

The seedlings are coming up , carrots , beetroots and lettuce and maybe a few more beans. . . . but I am heart-broken about the beans . 

This is the third year that this has happened .

Sorry to end on a low note .....  sigh .....

I'll try and think about all the Butternuts coming  .... yay ! 

Hope you are having a great week .

Then the Sun came back

We had some terrific thunder and lightening ,which made the electricity go off , a couple of heavy rain showers and then about 11am the sun came out again . 

So now it is ---

12.19 pm - 83 degrees F and rising . Uncomfortably  hot and steamy . The heatwave continues .

Opened up the greenhouse windows , gave everything a drink  . 

Yay ! We have our first Butternut Squash flowers !

I hear thunder !

 

    After a very uncomfortable night . 6.30am just now .We are having a beautiful sunrise on one side of the garden .

.......and dark clouds and thunder rumbling away. pushing in from the South .

I moved all the tubs and pots away from the workshop and dragged them up to the greenhouse .

Nothing more to report this morning . There is a storm coming in as I am writing this . Thunder getting louder and big spit spots of rain .

I'll water in the greenhouse and shed later after the storm . At least I don't need to water the vegetable garden this morning .

6.51 am - Thunder getting much  louder ....lots of it .....proper scary thunder .

I'd better go and switch off the computer now .....and make my morning cup of tea before the electricity goes off .  ... ..and now torrential rain !  Bye !  

80°F

 

                                  80°F and rising .

Heatwave continues 78 degrees F

 Hot hot hot 78 degrees F  and rising . I picked a lovely bowlful of courgettes early this morning . I normally like to pick them when they are larger , more to fill our tummies rather than smaller , but today I am picking all of them big and small , because I think if I leave them on they will just cook where they are growing in this heat .

Very happy to have plenty for us and also to take over to my daughter .

So I'm walking around reaching in over the chicken-wire to cut the courgettes ,when I caught sight of this !

What ?!!!   It's a rabbit burrow !  I think . 

Then had a falling out with my husband who wanted to just fill it in ! 

How could anyone be so cruel ! There might be a little rabbit still in there or a big fat toad  , they also dig in to the earth to keep themselves cool .

I peered in as best I could but couldn't see anyone . I didn't want to put my hand in there in case there was a big spider or some other creature .

So I very tentatively  pushed a bamboo cane in ..... nothing came running out to bite me , thank God ! 

Yep it's a dead end ...no tunnel , I'm quite sure of it . So where has  "it" gone ? The courgette and sweetcorn bed is surrounded with chicken -wire . I am going to have to check it all around .

Strange that it didn't eat anything and I am very glad of that !  

I will fill it in , but not just yet . It's too hot . 

I put Mr Slithery to keep a look out for trouble .

I think this is what my husband had in mind !

I,d never harm any creature , we should live in harmony with our beautiful wild animals .

Wow it is so hot here . If we are still friends , then we might go for a walk along the cliffs later on .

Have a beautiful Sunday my lovelies ! Take care in this heatwave  💛