Life on The Weald...
in the garden and the kitchen and other distractions
June 2024
The beginning of June marks the start of meteorological summer and it certainly felt that summer had arrived but the weather forecasters warn us that this is not the start of a heatwave.
We are told that as the area of high pressure retreats and the jet stream dips southwards, cooler air is set to spread across the country this week with temperatures dropping below the seasonal average in places. We wait with baited breath!
1 June
On Saturday we finally erected the walk-in cage where I will grow brassicas, hopefully safe from pigeons but we have yet to put the net on. I took my remaining surplus tomatoes to the Allotment shop and gave my spare purple sprouting broccoli plants to the organic gardening group (BHOGG) one of the community groups on the site.
There were still lots of broad beans for picking.
I cleared an area to plant the cucumbers and raked in some compost.
2 June
Sylvi made progress with the greenhouse whilst Luke took a chainsaw to some of the plum trees that we wanted to remove.
I cleared a patch for cucumbers and mended the frame for them to climb up. I suspect that this is the last year for the frame! I cleared the adjacent area of bindweed (but it is so deep it will return) ready for more brassicas. I have preserved a large water butt for drowning bindweed and hopefully after about 6 weeks the water can be drawn off as liquid fertiliser and the bindweed consigned to the compost heap.
It was a very hot sunny day. The wild flowers were looking very attractive and attracting pollinators.
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| Ox-eye daisy attracts pollinators |
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| Ox-eye daisy with thick legged flower beetle only the male has thick legs so this is obviously a female |
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| Love in a mist attracts the bumblebees |
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| The cucumber climbing frame |
I constructed a wigwam for some more climbing beans
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| Preparing for more climbing beans |
We also lifted some early Red Duke of York potatoes. They were smaller than previous years, but otherwise healthy.
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| First early Red Duke of York potatoes |
We also cut back some of the brambles and bindweed encroaching on the path with our neighbour's plot.
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| The boundary path between us (247) and our neighbour (248) |
3 June
Monday was cloudy but a pleasant temperature for working. I sowed some Borlotti beans around the wigwam that I hade created the day before and left a space in the middle to plant out Patty pan squashes. I also sowed some Cobra French climbing beans in the gaps along the bean frame. I planted out a Crown Prince and a Hungarian Blue squash in the 3 sisters bed and two more sweetcorn plants. At risk of overplanting, I decided there was room for another row, so planted some more sweet corn, Cobra beans and courgettes and covered the area with a mulch of strulch to keep the slugs away.
4 June
More planting today, three ridge cucumbers, some red cabbages and in the middle of the wigwam two Yellow sunburst patty pan squashes.
6 June
Sylvi and I eventually managed to put the netting on the fruit cage where the purple sprouting broccoli was growing. It was looking good but the pigeons had attacked my sole remaining kalette plant which I have now placed a cloche over, hoping that it will recover.
7 June
At home we harvested more chillies - fajita from the plant I had rescued from the garden centre, and Zimbabwe black which I had grown from seed last year and overwintered indoors.
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| Fajita chillies |
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| Zimbabwe black chillies |
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| Zimbabwe black chilli, flowering and fruiting |
9 June
It would have been a good day for the allotment but we had already volunteered for a beach clean up session with our neighbours from Berriedale Avenue and then a litter pick around the Lagoon with the Friends of Hove Lagoon
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| Beach clean-up with the neighbours |
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| Operation beach clean |
10 June
We managed to harvest some redcurrants and mangetout peas although the birds had already had a feast on the redcurrants before we had managed to get the net on.
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| Red currants |
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| Mangetout |
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| Red currants |
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| Mangetout & broad beans ready for the steamer |
11 June
I lifted a few plants of Red Duke of York potatoes and the softneck garlic which sadly had developed rust.
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| First early Red Duke of York potatoes |
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| Rust on the garlic |
Hopefully the rust hasn't affected the taste of the garlic but the bulbs are much smaller than last year.
I planted out 3 ridge cucumbers by the cucumber frame and some red cabbages under some netting and planted yellow sunburst patty pan in the middle of the wigwam where I had sown borlotti beans.
12 June
Our fox was back in the garden today but it was another day with below average temperatures.
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| Our resident fox |
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| Our resident Fox |
On the allotment site we have managed to procure a regular supply of coffee grounds from the restaurant of a local garden centre. I have located a container to store them where plotholders can help themselves. They are good to add to compost but I usually use them as a mulch mixed with crushed egg shells to deter slugs and snails.
12 June
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| Our coffee grounds repository |
Another day with temperatures 3-4 degrees below average for the time of year but I managed to plant out some Teepee purple French beans.
13 June
Our fox has cerainly made itself at home and found somewhere to sleep during the day!
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| Let sleeping foxes lie |
It was, however, another cold day, 4 degrees below the seasonal average. Will anything grow this year! I did manage to clear one of the broad bean beds and sowed a half row each of Teepee and Amethyst purple French beans.
14 June
Time to do something with the redcurrants which had been sitting in the fridge. I decided to make redcurrant jelly.
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| Redcurrants |
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| Blowing away the cobwebs |
15 June
Heavy rain today and a maximum temperature of 14C.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating - or the proof of the jelly or jam is in the setting. Thankfully I had a good set.
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| Red currant jelly |
16 June
In the garden the tomatoes were flowering and in need of a liquid feed sometimes I use a commercial liquid feed but on this occasion I used my own, made my soaking banana skins in a bucket of water for several days. This will produce a feed containing magnesium, potassium, phophorous and calcium.
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| Tomato plant |
The bottle brush plant was in full bloom.
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| Bottle brish plant |
I planted some more borlotti beans and Cobra French beans where broad beans had been growing.
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| More beans sown |
The chard and purple sprouting broccoli were making progress
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| Rainbow chard |
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| purple sprouting broccoli under the netting |
17 June
The Cobra beans and squashes and the 3 sisters bed appeared to be doing well
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| Cobra beans and squashes |
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| The 3 sisters bed |
20 June
At home the chilli plants were still producing fruits
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| Fajita chillies |
21 June
Another distraction! We finally took delivery of our campervan - how many lost allotment days will there be? Is this a crazy idea as I approach my 80th birthday in two months' time?
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| The campervan |
23 June
A hard morning's work with fellow plotholders, clearing the area around the allotment building.
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| 23 June - operation clean-up |
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| 23 June operation clean-up |
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| Lemon posset |
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| the recipe |
I managed to pick some chard before heading home.
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| Rainbow chard |
24 June
I harvested the Fajita chillies from the plant we had rescued from Waitrose.
But there was little gardening activity as my eldest grandson, Felix and his girlfriend were down for a few days. It did mean some hours in the kitchen and it had been a long time since I had made a seafood paella!
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| the chef at work |
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| John's seafood paella |
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| enjoyed by all |
Another lost plot-day! But good to spend time at the beach and in the garden
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| A rare stroll along the Promenade with Felix |
And at last some blue skies and the garden was feeling quite tropical and colourful with the bottlebrush and the buddleia (butterfly bush)
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| Bottlebrush and palm tree in Hove actually |
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| Bottlebrush & buddleia |
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| buddleia |
26 June
The recently pollarded eucalyptus was beginning to recover!
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| Eucalyptus in recovery mode |
27 June
I did manage a brief visit to the allotment and was pleased to see signs of a new generation of ladybirds on the sage, probably Harlequin
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| Ladybird, pupa stage |
The recently planted beans were looking good and I applied a mulch of strulch.
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| climbing beans |
And the cucumbers were making progress.
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| Cucumbers |
At last, the sweetcorn in the 3 sisters bed showed signs of growth.
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| Sweetcorn and squashes |
And the recently planted borlotti beans and patty pan squash were looking good.
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| Borlotti beans and pattypan squash |
And there was a sign ofthe first courgette.
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| Courgette |
29 June
One of my fellow plotholders who had been helping with clearing the building gave us some of his beautiful sweetpeas.
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| Richard's sweetpeas |
I made good use of hacing Felix around, carting barrow-loads of manure to the plot.
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| Felix and manure |
I laid cardboard in my new fruit cage and we spread a layer of manure and compost on top. There was already some broccoli growing at the back of the cage to which we applied a good mulch.
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| The fruit cage (ready for brassicas) |
30 June
The last day of June was spent weeding and removing remaining bottle cloches from the cucumbers and squashes, hoping they were sufficiently developed to resist slug attack. Just hoping that July will see more seasonal temperatures.
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