Garlic Harvest!

In between the rain showers we harvested this years winter-planted garlic. I haven't had to buy garlic for the last 2 years, and hopefully I won't have to this again this year! 

It looks like we'll get a bumper crop of blackcurrants this year. The branches are so heavy with fruit that some of them are touching the floor. When the currants on these branches are ripe (as you can see below, some of them are already) am I going to cut the branch off and harvest them that way.

The loganberries and raspberries are desperately in need of some sun. The fruits are there all waiting to ripen but nothing seems to be happening. The 10-day forecast is for showers and a high of 15C, so I am beginning to lose hope :(

We grow some borage (Borago officinalis) or starflower, each year and lo and behold some new plants have sprung up around the plot. The flowers are so pretty (open and unopened as below) and the bees love them. 

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Will I ever be able to visit the allotment?

Arrghhh...the rain. It has done nothing but rain. Managed to grab all of 10 minutes at the allotment on Saturday before it started to rain :( However, the weather forecast for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday is good, so I am really hoping that I can get some things done. I went to the plant stall that comes to our local market on Saturday and everyone was complaining that things simply aren't growing - courgettes, spring onions, and first early potatoes being the most common complaints. Anyway, after I get Ethan's sports day done and dusted tomorrow morning (weather permitting), I will hopefully get something done (also weather permitting)!

Summer Sunshine at Last...

...unfortunately I had to travel 2500 miles to find some. Anyway, I'm back from my holidays and was looking forward to visiting the allotment to see how much everything had grown in my 2 week absence. Unfortunately, it hadn't really (except for the weeds) as the weather has been so dismal. Today is too wet to even venture up there, never mind do anything. So, I thought I would add my holiday pictures instead.

Our camp for the evening in the Sinai desert.

The View from our Bedouin tent.

Red Sea coral reef.

My transport for our evening stay in the desert!

The intrepid explorers set off on their hot and dusty trek!

Ethan enjoyed the trip on the Red Sea.

Lots of pretty flowers in the hotel grounds, this little pink flower was my favourite.

The Bedouins demonstrated how they make bread - it was very nice!

The Sinai Mountains.

I have a thing for taking pictures of textures and repeating patterns - therefore I loved this palm-tree trunk!

The Red Sea with Tiran Island in the background, the water was shallow enough to walk out among the reefs for a good 45 minutes, it was also toasty warm.

Ethan setting off to explore the reefs.

Colourful rag rugs in the Bedouin tent.

Dusk in the Sinai Desert.

This was the view from the door of our hotel room, it was lovely watching the sunset over the mountains each evening. The view from our balcony (which I neglected to take) was over the pool and down to the Red Sea, with Tiran Island and Saudi Arabia in the distance.

Shadows at sunset.

There were a couple of trees at the Bedouin camp. The colours and shadows at sunset were fantastic.

In Bloom...

Everything seems to have been undergoing a bit of a growth spurt in the last few weeks. The blueberry flowers have gone and have been replaced by baby blueberries. I apologise in advance to those who think flowers have no place in a vegetable garden, but I love flowers and always grow some, and this is a bit of a flower-filled post! First up are my Sweet Williams, which are just coming into flower (nicely in time to be in full bloom when I am away).

After the rather dismal Spring/Summer we have had so far it has been great to see everything coming into bloom.

I really love alliums and am going to add some more to my flower bed next year. I had left some leeks to flower so I could take pictures of the flowers, but they were taking so long to come out that we had to dig them up so the pumpkin would have space to spread.

Finally, some vegetables! The flowers have begun to appear on the Desiree potato plants, but not on any of the other varieties we are growing this year (even the first earlies).

There are a few things still in the coldframe waiting to be planted out - sweetcorn, a pumpkin, a Lebanese courgette (the yummiest, most prolific courgette I have ever grown), borage, nasturtiums and marigolds (for pest detraction strategies), kale, and sweet peas.

Starting from back to front we have lupins, spinach, lettuce, and mixed salad leaves. With a few marigolds dotted around the side for good measure.

The fruits on the loganberry seemed to appear overnight. These look like they will be ready to eat in the next few weeks.

Finally, the rhubarb on a neighbours allotment has flowered. You are supposed to chop off any emerging  flowers as soon as you spot them, otherwise you won't get as many stems of lovely rhubarb. For whatever reason our neighbour has left his and I am quite pleased as I think it is a particularly beautiful flower.