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The odd thing about our tomatoes is that the ones grown outside and presumably in colder conditions than our greenhouse tomatoes have produced a better crop. I take your point though that June and July were cool and must have had something to do with the crop.

Hi you two, we are the opposite way around to you. Our outdoor tomatoes have done better although I wouldn't say they've done very well.

I used the same compost as previous years so I'm not sure why we had such a poor crop. The fuchsia is growing in a large tub but it has grown very large this year taking over part of the lawn. Ruby will be pleased to get an extra cuddle.

Sorry to hear that. At least you have some idea on what caused your poor crop. Ours didn't set fruit either or not very much and that's when I just left them to grow as they wanted. I just kept them watered.

Normally I remove any side shoots but don't remove any lower leaves. I tended to give up looking after the plants this year when the flowers didn't set any fruit. I've used more or less the same growing method for the last 40 years without any problems.

Hi you two, it's our best crop of potatoes for a good number of years. Will have to give some away! A bit odd to see the Pongo beans climbing through the sweetcorn. I don't know why either it must just be the way we grow them or the growing conditions that affect them. It's gardening there doesn't seem to be any hard and fast rules otherwise it would be easy. They still produce beans though.

Hi you two, much the same as here then. Amazingly we didn't get any rain other than a few drops which didn't do anything to improve our dry ground. I've decided to leave our sweetcorn flat to see what happens. I think trying to stand it back up will do more harm than good. Checked it today and it's not ready to pick

Hi you two, I'm pleased to say that you introduced us to Zebrune shallots. I was a bit dubious about growing from seed but they seem to do well. We haven't tried Long Red Florence shallots but I'll keep an eye out to see if I can find some.

I don't particularly use any special fertiliser for our potatoes. Since the UK energy crisis fertiliser became difficult to buy and very expensive. I've used a fertiliser called Growmore which is general fertiliser to use on all our crops. I think our hardiness zone is 9a as our winter temperatures don't normally fall below -6 degrees centigrade. Our spring and early summer was wet and cool his year and the potatoes seemed to love the conditions. It's certainly been one of our best potato harvests.

I'd like to say that we take a lot of care about the number of eyes we live on potatoes at planting time but the truth is we don't bother at all. The potatoes just get planted with the number of shoots they have decided to produce. I'm not sure what grow zone we are in but I'm betting it is much cooler than you have through summer. I'll see what I can find out.

The weeds took over late on in the growing cycle once I'd stopped earthing the potatoes up. I was still a bit surprised by how good the potatoes were given we've had a dry spell of weather. Our potatoes don't get watered as we just haven't got the time.

Not tonight when she pinched some treats from the table.

Just the packer though , she didn’t eat any

Hi you two, Ruby wasn't impressed about us today. She's just had a shower ready for trim up with the groomer tomorrow.

@@greenfingers41 oh bless her she a beauty for sure

Hi you two, I think you are right that's the best lot of potatoes I've lifted this year. However, having actually lifted the Sagitta potatoes from that bed I've been pleasantly surprised. Video coming soon.

Our plots are supposed to be "weed free" at all times. Rules obviously thought up by a none gardener.

I've decided Ruby has an inbuilt GPS system and knows the walks we do and the places where we might have a game with a ball. We are lucky to have some nice walks so close to home.

Glad you enjoyed it. I thought about you when we were walking round. I had a sneaky feeling that you might enjoy it. I noticed that they had a little hut where they sold off produce grown in the kitchen garden. Just an honesty box for a donation to the garden. Everything had gone by lunchtime. I bet some of the apples are really tasty. Might have to make a return visit. Only trouble is Ruby expects a walk around the lake after the kitchen garden tour. It's about 3 or 4 miles!!

@@greenfingers41 you are both fit people so not a problem and having Ruby makes it fun

I thought the figs were good too. We have a fig small fig tree in the garden but it doesn't ever have figs.

I'm waiting for some rain before I set Sue off digging over the beds. We've got some sweet Williams almost ready for planting but I'm not sure how we prepare any ground for them at the minute. We really need a good days rain. I've some more potatoes to dig out of rock hard ground. watch this space!

Yes, thank you

Hi Bill, glad you reminded me about Sue digging over the bed or I would have forgotten and done it myself. The bed the spuds were in had had lavender in it for a good number of years and I put the spuds in as a "clearing the ground crop" so didn't expect much off them. Hope they haven't outperformed our main crop potatoes.

Hi you two, our dahlias seemed to take an age to get going this year but are doing well now. It's been the same with the sweet peas. Ruby really enjoys visits to the allotment so many things to investigate.

I’m thinking we might have to try courgette crumble.🍿🍿

Ruby says it made her day too.

Ah cauliflowers aren't they awkward. It's been just the opposite for us and Boris has outperformed Clapton. Clapton haven't produced at all so a taste test is not an option for us. I think I have a later batch of both Clapton and Boris coming along so Clapton has a chance to redeem itself. Clapton has normally done well for us so I'm not sure what has gone wrong this year.

Glad your cygnets are doing okay. Our pair lost one cygnet when they were very small but the remaining ones are growing very quickly now.

I think we are due a couple of days of summer over next weekend. Got rained off at the allotment today (Tuesday)

Near Wakefield in West Yorkshire

Might have to try the same ones again next year. Must have been a good year for potatoes.

They've devastated a few of our cauliflowers and left the broccoli. Happy gardening.

@@greenfingers41 you too

I don't think our peppers will manage a crop this tear. Still waiting for summer to begin.

@@greenfingers41 ours have just started to ripen a few days ago

We don’t eat any part of our cardoons but the bees will miss out on the flowers

No problem

We got plenty of rain today (Tuesday) so we can put the watering cans away for a week or so. I left the cardoons laid across the compost heap in the hope the flowers will come out for the bees.

The gales have thankfully calmed down here as well although we've missed any sort of wet weather. The plot and garden really need a good drop of rain now. Fortunately or not some cold nights have slowed down our sweetcorn so its not very high and escaped any wind damage. So far the uncovered peas have not been noticed by the wood pigeons, they're too busy scoffing berries. Like you we are still waiting for summer to begin.

Thanks and 🤗

Hi you two, we thought International Kidney were rather prone to slugs so haven’t tried them for a while. However, the ground is very dry so perhaps that has had an effect on the slugs. I’d better get them dug up before we get any wet weather. Cold, lots of showers and windy here. Would be nice if summer could begin.

We’ve spotted them weighing nets down to get at brassicas. Having eaten virtually all our fruit it’s becoming more difficult to find ways of protecting our vegetables.

Our plot neighbours peas have been decimated and he’s given up on them. Waiting to see what happens to the ones we’ve uncovered. We need a gigantic net to cover the whole plot.

I’ve never had a problem with potatoes splitting. I always leave our potatoes in the ground until the skins have set before lifting and storing them. I’ll probably lift the rest over the next few weeks.

Hi you two, I was surprised at how dry the ground was. I’m guessing that was the reason they were slug free. Perhaps all the slugs have headed to our strawberry patch where they’ve damaged lots of the crop. It will be interesting to see if all the other roots of Ulster Prince produce big potatoes. Luckily the ones we harvested cooked well and tasted very nice.

That’s an idea. I’ve noticed that our beans normally send up new shoots from the base if we leave them in the ground. Thanks for the tip.

Hi you two, I’m going to try some new potatoes at the end of the week. Some of our Pongos are doing better than others. I’ve got some seeds left so I might try another sowing for a late crop. I’ve not got much to lose. It would be nice to visit the plot and not have to rush to the shed to escape yet another heavy shower.

Hi you two, we thought from last year that Ruby liked strawberries and were careful to make sure she wasn't snaffling any as we picked them. She's a very good snaffler. Then later when we tried her with one she turned her nose up at it. Luckily the slugs and snails have left us a few untouched berries.

Hi you two, it was bit of a treat for us to see both the young cormorant and heron on the same visit. I just missed the heron catching the fish.

Not very often that we see a cormorant and heron on the lake at the same time.