Rain? What rain???

We popped down to see Doug very quickly this Sunday - I had to study so we couldn't stay long.  

There wasn't much we could do however.  The ground was sodden and digging it would have been pointless, even standing on it was ill-advised.

We are suffering the same problems as every other allotment-holder, gardener, arable farmer in the country - too much rain, vital nutrients being perpetually washed from the soil, not enough sun, not enough warmth.  We've had some amazing successes but we've also had some devastating failures.  Never, in the last four years of growing tomatoes in Nigel, have we ever failed to get good plants with a decent crop.  This year, we can't even get the plants to grow, let alone crop.


The turnips have grown really well, the swede have grown but not bulked out and were woody.  The beetroot has done as well, if not better than the turnips.  All in the same patch of ground and planted at the same time, so not sure why the difference in growth.  Behind them should be the tomatoes and aubergines.  Whilst the plants are mostly still there, they've not grown above 6".  Behind them are the parsnips, which are looking very healthy and further back is the area where we had to cut off the tops of all the potatoes to stop the spread of blight.  Such a mish-mash of success within a small area is baffling.

We also tried pulling one of the handful of carrots we managed to grow - literally no more than a dozen have survived from three packets sown.  It was a rather amusing shape but again was too woody to eat.

On the other side of Doug we had a good show from the brassicas.  The cabbages look like they're close to being ready to harvest.  But we had to pull up all the radishes because they bolted before bulking out.  Yet in the same patch, the peas are growing apace and seem to be thriving - along with the sweet peas which are truly resplendent.  

We have a single (possibly a second) sweetcorn plant coming through and the lettuce does look like it'll get bigger and better.  The Borlotti beans are finally showing signs of growth but we've lost almost all the dwarf french beans (again - third sowing lost) with only two plants surviving and even those are barely alive.  The herbs do appear to all be flourishing with one exception.  The local slugs and snails do appear to think we only grew the basil for their own delectation.... I was actually thinking more tomato, mozzarella and basil salad but since we don't have the tomatoes either, I guess it's not the end of the world!

In summary, it definitely hasn't been summery and some of the failures have been devastating but to have just some of our own grown crops in our kitchen, freshly picked when we want them is worth every ounce of disappointment.  Let's see what the rest of the "summer" has to offer :)