Warmer days allowed the pruning of my fruit, espaliered apple "Sunset" above and year old Blackcurrant "Ben Alder" below to progress steadily.
When my daughter drew my attention to the Robin over the garage this wasn't what i expected to see.
Here are a couple of pictures of our hens, aka "the fans", aka "the molusc disposal posse". Most of them you see are Cuckoo Marans. Our friends clocker hatched a clutch of eggs for us this summer, so far 5/5 seem to be cockerels. We'll know for sure when they start to crow.
The girl in the middle here is one of last years chicks, she is now definately "Queen "of the run.
The Chinese lanterns that look so none descript for so much of the year are now showing in all their glory.
An hour or two later....
A week later and taken from almost the same spot the scene is entirely different.
This year I sowed some Toadflax and transplanted the seedlings along the edge of the top path. They are now flowering profusely and seem to be enjoyed by the bees.
Behind the Toadflax the later of my two espaliered apples, "Sunset" is now ready for picking. The Apple crop this year has been massive, in part this has been due to the thorough chilling of last winter. There has been a little codling moth damage so the trap will have to go up next year.
Each year for the last three or so I have grown some Sunflowers, my current favourites are "Pastiche" and "Velvet Queen" both of which are branching , multi-headed types. These are planted out pretty much any where there is something I can tie them to. This usually means at the ends of Pea rows or on the corners of the Broad beans or any where else there is a handy cane or stake. If I have any spare canes I also let any that have self sown and ended up between rows of veg remain. Through the summer I cut a few flowers for the house but otherwise leave them to go to seed for the birds. This year the birds have been very keen, i dout there will be many self sown next year. Birds seen taking seed this year include, Dunock, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit and, for the first time that i have seen, Bramblings. I am so pleased to be able to help these creatures out. I hope they will return the favour by eating some pests for me.
On return from a few weeks away everything was found to be thriving thanks to the care of my allotment sitter.
August, last winters coldness seems to have benefited my Garlic which has all bulbed up nicely. After three years of replanting the cloves that originated in the Isle of Wight i can now consider them reasonably naturalised to local conditions.
This year I grew a 50/50 mix of Sturon Globe and Red Barron onions. All have reached a reasonable size and there were few casualties. Most of those who didn't show or gave up where Red Barron, I believe these dont keep as well as the white ones and if this prooves true I'll probably revert back to just the Sturon.
The Munchen Bier radishes are now cropping. The crunchy spicy pods can be seen here and make an interesting addition to a salad or indeed with a Beer.
The Dill is now approaching its arcitectural peak and is impressive in stature and detail. Now i an collecting and drying the leaves as wll as using them fresh.
This, as far as i can identify is a Palmate Newt we found under some scrap wood. Close up it is incredibly delicate and beautiful.
Hurrah , here come the Raspberries, the summer ones of unknown variety ,hopefully the harvest will be more sensible this year as I replaced a whole 4m row with autumn ones this spring.
Likewise my Blackcurrant "Ben Alder" bushes have been reduced by one down to two mature bushes. It looks like still being more than we can use...I feel some wine coming on.
