Catch up time

We seem to have been very negligent of the allotment over the last couple of weeks, partly due to needing to catch up one bowls matches and also because we have spent so much time watering even when we have been here. Today is an update on what is growing where.

The pumpkin patch on 53 is doing wonderfully and we have three potential giant's mainly due to the regular dosing with comfrey tea.

We have supported them on dustbin lids but I am concerned that they are a non-porous material andthat water could gather underneath and rot the bottom of the pumpkin. I am going to make some pillows out of ground cover which will let any water through but will be a nice soft cushion.

The melons in the small greenhouse and doing well but it was a mistake to grow them in pots as we can't keep up with watering and the leaves always look limp. It won't be long before they need support so the nets are being prepared with strings long enough to suspend them from the roof. I am worried that the greenhouse will not be strong enough to support the weight of so many melons. We may need to build some sort of frame inside the greenhouse with melow supports. It is already bowing under the weight of the cucumbers.

Another fruit which has taken us by surprise is the fig. You may remember that Katy bought me a plant for mothers day which we put in a pot outside the small greenhouse. Well, there are tiny figs appearing at all the leaf joints. I don't think there is enough summer left for them to mature this year, but if we move it inside over the winter the fruit should stay to mature next spring. It has almost outgrown its pot but aparently (according the Bob Flowerdew) they like their roots restricted, so when we move it to its final home on 53 we may bury a dustbin in the ground and plant it in that.

We have more colour on the allotment this week as the sunflowers have burst into flower. We decided on dwarf varieties that grow no more that four feet tall. This was mainly due to the wind that whips across the allotment as people who grow full size seem to have to support and we need every tall cane we can find for the runner beans. Maybe next year we will go large as they are very good to grow to put the seed heads out for the birds in the autumn and winter.

A final note for this week is a warning to all would be allotmenteers. It is wonderful harvesting fruit and veg and we brought home a load of courgettes, some peppers, onions, tomatoes, french beans, an aubergine, a bunch of fresh basil and three ridge cucumbers. The problem is you have to do something with all this produce so you need a good supply of pans to pickle the ridge cucumbers as gherkins, blanch the courgettes for freezing and cook the rest. This leads to a lot of washing up.