With the never-ending monsoon and the lackluster vegetable performance at the allotment, I’ve been pretty much lost for things to write about. I could tell you about my senescent sweet peas, my blighted potatoes or my battered broad beans but I fear most of us are placed firmly in the camp of crap summers already. No, let’s maintain the stiff upper lip and casually move on. Surely as we are in the midst of the Olympic Games we can adopt some of the athletes grit and determination to succeed. Small victories and all that.
In the garden, all is not lost in the fight against weather, pests and time really. It’s close to being completely lost but I think I’ve managed to just about hang on in there. With that being said we did have a patch of very nice weather recently and for the few tough nuts of the vegetable world it worked wonders on lifting their spirits and helping them to put on a bit of late growth. The courgettes that sat and sulked for weeks after planting appeared to relish their time basking in the warm sunlight. With a new mulch of haylage, a left over from my horse, they seemed to be rather cosy and content. This is a new practice I adopted late last year and it seems to be working really well. The Sarpo Mira potatoes that I’m trialling for Thompson & Morgan also appear to be doing very well, despite being across the path from the rest of my blighted spuds.
In chicken news, “Chick” continues to grow strong and is now 11 weeks old. I have an inkling, however, that it may be a male as several attempts to pick it up has resulted in it coming towards me as if to attack. Only time will tell and this could mean him either going to a new home or becoming lunch – I’m undecided yet.
The winner of the last Ryan’s Garden competition to win a £50 voucher from Creative Garden Ideas, is Claire Davies of ‘License to Kill Slugs’. Congratulations! Please email me: ryan@ryansgarden.co.uk to claim your prize.