Life on The Weald - May 2025
and sundry distractions
Thursday 1 May
At home, the Quince tree - a true quince, Serbian Gold, was in full flower.
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| 1 May - Quince, Serbian Gold |
The three cornered leek was dominating the south east corner of the garden.
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| 1 May - 3 cornered leek |
And in the seed tray, there was one lone Cobra, climbing French bean, that had germinated.
At long last the water supply has been restored and the first task was to fill the dipping tanks and the water butts. There is a strong urge to drench the whole plot using a hose but that would be foolish for a number of reasons. Because the ground is so dry, the water will stay near the surface and 80-90% will be lost through evaporation. Also a sudden change in availability of water can cause plants to bolt or fruits to split and if there is an abundance of water around the surface it inhibits the plant from developing a strong root system searching for water - so it's much better to use a watering can applying water regularly near the base of the stem and preferably early morning or evening and not during the heat of the day. Luckily, I have a dipping tank adjacent to my plot, so I mainly use the hose to make sure this is kept topped up.
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| 1 May - Cobra French climbing bean |
At long last the water supply has been restored and the first task was to fill the dipping tanks and the water butts. There is a strong urge to drench the whole plot using a hose but that would be foolish for a number of reasons. Because the ground is so dry, the water will stay near the surface and 80-90% will be lost through evaporation. Also a sudden change in availability of water can cause plants to bolt or fruits to split and if there is an abundance of water around the surface it inhibits the plant from developing a strong root system searching for water - so it's much better to use a watering can applying water regularly near the base of the stem and preferably early morning or evening and not during the heat of the day. Luckily, I have a dipping tank adjacent to my plot, so I mainly use the hose to make sure this is kept topped up.
Sylvi did a great job of weeding the raspberries which were engulfed with bindweed and couch grass - a perennial problem . The other problem with raspberries is that they're on the move - they throw out suckers and emerge as much as two metres away in the vegetable beds where you don't want them. I spent some time digging out these unwanted ones. It's hard work as the roots go very deep. Sadly they have destroyed my asparagus bed as they cannot be removed without disturbing the asparagus and I think I have only one crown left still producing.
We picked lots of kalettes and radishes and tasted our first broad bean, but we will leave them for a week or two before harvesting.
At home, I sorted the plants that had been put outside to harden off and kept the stronger ones outside and put the weaker ones in the mini-greenhouse.
We spent a whole day at the plot to get as much done as possible as we would be away for a few days over the May Bank Holiday.
2 - 6 May
We spent the weekend in Hastings, camping on the edge of the Hastings Nature Reseve on East Cliff just outside the Old Town.
We were in Hastings for the totally bonkers spring festival of Jack-in-the-Green.
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| 3-5 May -Jack-in-the Green Festival |
I say bonkers advisedly - the parade is as crazy as the Spanish Moors and Christians that we used to experience every September in Santa Pola minus the fireworks in the middle of the day! And unlike the Fallas/Falles in Valencia, they don't set fire to the giant puppets,
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| 4 May - eve of the parade getting to know the locals |
What they do have in common is dancing, marching bands, an opportunity to dress in silly costumes and an excuse for an eating and drinking binge! Totally mad but thoroughly enjoyable and a great community event.
The shoots of the Pink Fir Apple potatoes planted in a grow-bag were just beginning to show above the level of the compost, so I added more to cover them and encourage more growth.
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| 7 May - Pink fir apple shoots emerging |
There were quite a few annual weeds growing in the bed that I had used for ther 3 sisters method last year and which I intended to use again this year.
Last year I planted 3 rows with the following arrangement - 8 squashes and 7 sweetcorn (each surrounded by 4 climbing beans)
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| 3 sisters layout 2024 |
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| 3 Sisters, proposed layout 2025 |
I had 7 sweetcorn plants that I had grown from seed and planted these, together with a mystery squash given to me by Luke.
The broccoli and kalettes were now finished and in full flower, so I started to cut them back before they start scattering seeds everywhere. I have summer broccoli plants to put out, but the bed where they would go has been invaded by raspberries and I haven't yet found the time to clear it.
The pond needed topping up which I did from one of my water butts.
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| 7 May - the pond |
At home, one of the chillies from last year, that had over-wintered, was beginning to flower but I don't know what variety it is!
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| 7 May - last year's chilli flowering |
I had grown some Calendula from seed at home and these were ready for planting out. The flowers are edible but I am growing them as a sacrificial plant i.e. to attract pests such as aphids away from my beans and brassicas. I planted several around the perimeter of the 3 Sisters bed.
Several of the onions had produced flower scapes, which I removed. The dry sprng weather probably encouraged the production of these and it means the onions probably won't store well. In the meantime the scapes can be used in stir-fries.
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| 8 May - onion with flower scape |
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| 8 May - flower scapes removed |
We did manage to harvest some radishes.
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| 8 May - radishes |
At home the additional sweetcorn plants I had sown were beginning to germinate.
9 May
In the back garden at home, the mock orange (Philadelphus) and Bowles's Mauve (perennnial wallflower Erysimum) were in full flower and so were the lilies.
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| 9 May - Mock Orange (Philadelphus) |
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| 9 May - Bowles's Mauve (Erysimum) |
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| 9 May - Arum lily |
On the allotment the chives were in full flower and very popular with bees
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| 9 May - flowering chives |
Despite the drought in early spring and absence of any water supply, the potatoes were looking healthy
11 May
The organic gardening group, BHOGG were having a plant swap, so I donated some of my spare tomatoes and came away with 1 sweetcorn, one blight resistant tomato, Crimson crush, and one Turks Turban squash.
12 May
I planted the sweetcorn, and the Turk's Turban from BHOGG, in the 3 Sisters bed and found a suitably sized pot for the Crimson Crush tomato. I watered the Pink Fir Apple, whose shoots were showing again, and added another layer of compost. It was time to start tackling the intrusive raspberries!
13 May
I finally cleared cleared the area for the Summer broccoli...
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| 13 May - a site for summer sprouting broccoli |
...it was mostly annual weeds, which were easy to remove and went straight into the compost bin, but there was some bindweed and stray raspberries which needed to be dug out ...
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| 13 May - cleared for broccoli |
...and with Sylvi's help moved a fruit/vegetable cage from the other side of the plot. I planted out 6 summer broccoli plants and two Kalettes inside the cage, which hopefully will keep the pigeons at bay.
14 May
I planted out sunflowers towards the front of the polt, near the bay tree, where little else grows, and in so doing discovered some gladiolus (acidanthera) corms that I had planted some time back. I assumed they had died or been eaten, but here they were, beginning to sprout. I decided to move them elsewhere and replanted them between the calendula on the edge of the 3 sisters plot.
15 May
We picked a bumper crop of broad beans, which had only recently been infested with blackfly, but this had not affected the beans which had already set. The advantage of autumn sowing of broad beans is that they crop a few weeks earlier than those sown Febriary/March and often beat the blackfly. I had a few left over Charlotte seed potatoes chitting at home, so I planted them in a grow bag on the plot alongside the pink fir apple.
The irises in the pond were flowering and the rockery area that I had created alongside was beginning to look good with the stonecrop and saxifrage in flower, the sedum providing an attractive colour contrast and the wooly thyme beginning to spread.
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| 15 May - Irises |
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| 15 May - Sedum |
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| 15 May - Saxifrage |
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| 15 May - Stonecrop |
At home I sowed some Cobra French climbing beans in trays.
16 May
We carried on with the task of clearing bind weed. In addition to the ordinary bindweed which sends out long runners that can then root far away from the original plant, we seem to have more field bindweed this year which form dense deep rooted patches.
I had made some garlic spray at home, seeping crushed garlic in hot water and leaving overnight and filtering in the morning. I added some hot chilli oil and washing up soap, diluted with water and sprayed the broad beans.
17 - 18 May
I was on duty at the allotment shop on Saturday morning, receiving donations of plants for our allotment plant sale the following day. We donated all of our surplus tomato plants as well as lots of house plants, mainly Crassula, that Sylvi had sown.
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| 17 May - my surplus tomatoes etc |
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| 17 May - plant donations |
On Sunday the day of the plant sale had arrived.
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| 18 May - plant sale in main car park |
We also saw the Plant Sale as an opportunity to sell of the surplus seed potatoes and onion sets left over from Seedy Sunday.
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| 18 May - selling off potatoes and onions with the Weald's Chair |
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| 18 May - my neighbour, Viv, with the BHOGG stall |
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| 18 May - Amos from Roedale Allotments with his plants |
Whilst I was helping with the plant sale, Sylvi was putting finishing touches to the greenhouse.
Later I planted out some more squashes in the 3 Sisters bed, that I had bought from the plant sale, and also a couple of Sempervivum around the pond. The 3 Sisters bed was now looking like this (although some of the corn spaces are yet to be planted):
Vacant | Corn | Butternut | Corn | Turk’s Turban | Corn | Vacant |
Corn | Courgette black beauty | Corn | Patty Pan | Corn | Courgette cocczelle | Corn |
Butternut | Corn | Green Courgette | Corn | Green courgette | Corn | Luke’s mystery |
19 May
It was a very hot day and the plants were in need of water. I spent some time clearing bind weed from around the bean frame and the currants which are on the border with my neighbour to the east.
20 May
The large walk-in cage was at a very jaunty angle following earlier strong winds and I had help from Luke, Nicole and Sylvi in straightening it and securing it. I started to cut down the flowering broccoli which was going to seed and clear the annual weeds and some encroaching bindweed from within the cage. Luke was busy with the pruning saw, cutting back some of the plum trees and Nicole weeded the red onion bed.
21 May
Wednesday saw the AGM of the allotment association, of which I am vice-chair. We were expecting a difficult time with the possibility of some disruption from one member but he didn't turn up and the meeting was a very pleasant one and everything went smoothly.
22 May
On Thursday, I repotted the chillies that I had grown from seed which were doing well in the front porch at home, (Aji Limon, Aji Red & Santa Fe)....
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| 21 May - chillies in front porch needing re-potting |
... and transferred them to the greenhouse which, thanks to Sylvi, could now accommodate them.
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| 22 May - chillies relocated to greenhouse |
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| 22 May - chillies relocated to greenhouse |
We continued clearing the area between 3 sisters and blackcurrants where some purple sprouting broccoli had been growing in the cage that we had moved the previous Tuesday. I planted out some sweetcorn, filling the vacant spaces in the 3 sisters bed and planted a newly acquired Sedum by the pond.
The Achocha, that I had grown from seed was eventually climbing up the frame that I had constructed. Achocha, scientifically known as Cyclanthera pedata, is a South American plant related to cucumbers and squashes. It produces edible fruits that are described as having a cucumber-like flavor and a sweet pepper-like texture. The fruits can be eaten raw when young, or cooked when mature, and are also used in pickling and chutney.
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| 22 May - Achocha |
It was a glorious day with bright sunshine and slightly cloudy blue skies.
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| 22 May - from plot 247 looking east |
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| 22 May - from plot 247 looking west |
What could have been a productive Bank Holiday weekend on the plot was taken up by a trip away to Norfolk to celebrate my brother's birthday. We went in the campervan and parked in a Pub car park right by the beach at Bacton - but more of that in a blog yet to be written about adventures with the van. In the meantime, here's the view from our van!
28 May
On our return, we discovered that our walk-in cage had gone wonky again. It clearly needs some guy-ropes or some other method of stabilising.
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| 28 May - the wonky walk-in cage |
The borlotti beans which had been directly sown were beginning to emerge.
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| 28 May - Borlotti beans |
The Blueberries were looking healthy but would need to be netted soon...
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| 28 May - Blueberries |
...and the Charlotte potatoes had put on some growth and needed to be covered with another layer of soil/compost.
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| 28 May - Charlotte potatoes in grow-bag |
29 May
Whilst the Charlotte potatoes growing in the gow-bag were just sprouting, those planted out were just beginning to flower and would be ready for lifting soon.
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| 29 May - Charlotte potatoes |
The photo below shows a section of the 3 Sisters bed (bottom left), the potatoes (bottom right), the blackcurrants bordering our neighbour (top) and in between the area from which we had moved the cage where broccoli had been growing until recently. It was this latter area which now needed some weeding and preparation as it is the potential site for tromboncinos and cucumbers.
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| 29 May - 3 sisters (left), potatoes (right), black currants (rear) |
30 May
There was a pile of composting organic matter at the front of the plot but when I lifted some, I disturbed a slow worm, which disappeared under the nearby compost bin.
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| 30 May - Slow worm |
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| 30 May - Slow worm takes refuge under bin |
I put a paving stone on the remaining compost to provide a safe haven if the slow worm returned. Sylvi cleared out some of the trays from the wormeries and I spread some of the compost in the long cage where I would be planting out Cavolo Nero and Kalettes. It was also time to continue preparing the area for tromboncinos and cucumbers.
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| 30 May - a site for tromboncinos and cucumbers |
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| 30 May - a site for Cavolo Nero and Kalettes |
The pink fir apple potatoes were looking lush and the Charlotte in the grow-bag were rising above the surface, needing another layer of compost and a lot of water!
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| 30 May - Pink fir apple potatoes |
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| 30 May - Charlotte potatoes |
I missed them with my camera, but the stonecrop in flower seemed to be attracting a large number of bees.
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| 30 May - Stonecrop a magnet for bees |
Just to see how they were doing, I lfted a few Red Duke of York first early potatoes and was verty pleased. They are excellent roasted in their skins with a dusting of parmesan. I will probably lift more next week.
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| 30 May - Red Duke of York potatoes |
31 May
I planted out some Cobra climbing French beans and three squashes, two butternut and one Turk’s Turban in the 3 Sisters bed.
I had heard that several neighbours' onions and garlic had been infected by white onion rot, so I lifted a couple of the Kingsland Wight garlic to see. Sadly it had succumbed, so I lifted the whole bed. Initially, when lifting the Eden Rose in another bed, it looked unaffected but the good news was not to last and about one third showed signs of white rot. Again I lifted the entire crop in the hope that some can be salvaged. I'm told that the spores can remain active in the soil for about 7 years, so I will need to be careful where I plant garlic and onions in future. Thankfully, the Elephant Garlic growing alongside the Kingsland Wight seemed unaffected.
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| Elephant garlic a few days after lifting |
Following the previous month as the UK's sunniest April on record, May rounded of the season as the second sunniest May on record. We had, however, experienced periods of very strong winds on the south coast so at times it didn't always feel like the warmest spring since records began in 1884.
John Austin
