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Sunday, 29th June
Yesterday I bought a copy of Gardeners' World magazine.
I dont' normally purchase such exhorbitantly priced publications (£3.30)
but I couldn't resist the picture of a slug on the front with the heading
"Public Enemy No. 1. IT'S TIME TO FIGHT BACK!". In fact they
covered a whole range of pests and weeds and I'm really only concerned
with the munching molluscs so I didn't learn too much apart from trying
used ground coffee so today I started collecting my coffee granules. Out
of seven squash I now only have two and a half left so times are desperate.
Anybody got any spare squash plants?
Yesterday afternoon my wife and I made our way to Broadwater Green for
the Worthing Horticultural Society's Summer Flower Show. How they erected
such a huge marquis in that wind I've no idea but I didn't have to do
it so that's OK. Apart from the wind it was a lovely, sunny Summer's day,
so different from last year when it tanked it down. Inside we encountered
many familiar faces as we admired the beautiful exhibits and then we had
a cup of tea and a huge coggin of cake for the princely sum of £2
each! What a lovely way to spend a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon!
To see photographs and news of the show click here
to take you to our News Page.
Wednesday, 25th June
Very
pleasant out there but a bit on the blowy side. Not too many apples have
fallen and those that have have probably been part of the normal "June
drop". I'm trying to make sure I don't loose so many to the dreaded
maggot this year (codling moth larva). As I don't like spraying things
which I'm going to eat I've invested in a codling moth trap (see picture).
It looks a cheap-jack affair which you assemble and hang in the tree with
a piece of wire akin to a coathanger. The bottom of the trap has a very
sticky coating and the male moths are enticed to their doom by a female
pheramone lure. If there are no male moths the females will not be fertilised
and so not lay their eggs on the apples. Or something like that anyway.
We shall see.
I think several things have suffered from the wind, not making the growth
the should in this warm spell and so falling victim to slugs and snails.
I've lost another squash (they're just not growing) and courgettes are
being attacked but in a sheltered position our back border is coming on
fine. What do I invest in next - windbreaks or slug pellets?
Monday, 23rd June
Made
for Eastbourne this weekend and a lovely time we had too in the Sussex
sunshine. Unfortunately so did the local seagulls. I had to park my car
on the seafront and when I went to pick it up the next morning it was
absolutely splattered. The front half of the car was a mass of white (and
green!) blobs, so bad I had to wash it off and I'd just given the car
its annual wash before we set off the day before. I was more impressed
with some of the other local birds including this group of cormorants
in the new(ish) Harbour Village. 
There
were some lovely boats there but we resisted the temptation of a 30 minute
boat tour of the harbour and instead enjoyed a leisurely stroll.
Back to the allotment this morning and the exciting task of weeding the
carrots which annoyed a couple of ant colonies. I also did a spot of watering
and noticed another squash had been attacked by the slugs. At this rate
I'll be lucky to get any. The strawberries seem to have finished but the
raspberries are underway and I have got a few loganberries but the birds
have found them. I'll drown my sorrows at the North Star tomorrow night
- Pub Night.
Thursday, 19th June
Well, there may have been a drop of rain last night - at last - but the sun continues to shine in the daytime so I'll continue to make the most of it. Yesterday afternoon I enjoyed a stroll through Whitebeam Woods and Longcroft Park in Durrington. It wasn't all skive though; I did mow the lawns with a push-me pull-you jobby and then I planted out 7 courgette plants, the same number by coincidence as squash that I planted out earlier. 4 squash remain but if you're averse to using slug pellets you have to accept a degree of loss. Today I planted out some lettuce and half a dozen tomato plants, a veritable slug-fest. I ventured to plant out some more nicotiana too even though the slugs have already eaten half of those I put out last week. Yesterday's newspaper said it was going to be a bumper year for slugs with around 4 times as many as usual because of weather conditions. I don't think I could squeeze that many more into my garden. They don't even taste all that good either, do they? What a waste of space they are!
Tuesday, 17th June
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Well, the glorious weather continues, so I took the morning off yesterday and joined in the West Sussex Walk Day. I went with the 4-mile group, setting off from Pulborough Brooks RSPB place around half past ten, getting back in time for lunch. A lovely walk it was too, across the meadows to Pulborough and back, calling in at the thirteenth century Wiggonholt church. Apart from the beautiful scenery we saw various faces of nature including herons, skylarks, deer, butterflies, a stag beetle and cattle. (For pictures of the walk, click here) What a great way to spend the morning but I did make it to the allotment later on. I walked as the weather was so favourable (and the petrol so expensive!). It was nice to see the reserve runner beans have come through and will more than compensate for those I lost to the elements. I also got round to planting out my squash at last and, of course, every time I nip down there I pick a few strawberries and raspberries. Yesterday I picked some more rhubarb too. The time when you benefit from your previous hard labours is definitely underway.
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Friday, 13th June
Friday the 13th - I should have realised all would not go
well. I trotted off to the allotment this morning armed with my freshly
charged
strimmer only to find out when I got there that I'd forgotten to put the
new blade in. Sow had to resort to Plan B, picking and weeding strawberries.
I filled my little box with juicy strawberries and the first of my raspberries
amd we had strawberries for tea - AGAIN - that makes 5 nights in a row,
I think. Good job they're quite nice. I've been repotting a few things
as well and lamenting my vanishing parsnips. Those I grew in pots transplanted
OK and were doing quite well, then they all disappeared, eaten by gourmet
slugs, I presume. Next year I'm going to start them off in loo rolls so
they're much bigger when I transplant them. Meanwhile, of those I sowed
directly on the allotment I have 5 so far.
This afternoon I gave up on gardening and went to St Richard's church,
Maybridge, for their flower show, celebrating their 25years as an independent
parish. There were some wonderful arrangements; I reckon I'll have to
persuade some of them to enter our show this year as I know there are
Association members among them. And it's not over - you too can go and
have a look 10.00am - 4.00pm tomorrow and 11.00am - 4.00pm Sunday. There's
more than just the flowers: tomorrow it's the Summer Fayre and dog show
and there's refreshmments on both days. I can personally vouch for the
quality and value of the cakes!
Wednesday, 11th June
What glorious weather these past few days! Things have certainly
come on apace; even though there's not been rain to speak of I 
can
hardly keep up with the grass, not just the lawn but the grass paths between
the allotments grow so fast too and it's a bit of a battle to keep them
nice and tidy. The cabbages have come on a treat under the fleece (to
keep the butterflies and pigeons away) and I thought it must be the fleece
that had kept the weeds down - until I looked under the fleece covering
the strawberries, that is. A fantastic crop of weeds! Fair enough, a lot
of strawberries as well but I'm not fond of weeding.
In the greenhouse the tomatoes are doing well, about 3ft tall and a few
flowers. There's been the sideshoots too which have to be nipped out if
you're growing cordon varieties (up a cane or other support) as opposed
to bush varieties like The Amateur. Be careful when you nip them out not
to damage the stem - I carelessly nipped a stem in half! sideshoot
to be removed
Of course, now I've gone on about the weather it's bound to rain for a
fortnight but look on the bright side - it'll make it easier to plant
things out and cut down on the watering.
Monday, 9th June
Our
swarm of bees has gone from the back garden after about a week's residency
on the branch
of an apple tree. They were very quiet really, just like a rugby ball
suspended from a branch. Of course, I don't know where they've gone, that's
the trouble. I've checked the loft, the garage and the shed but the only
evidence of their stay is the honecomb left in the tree and even that's
not there any more because I just fetched it down for my wife to show
her class of little darlings tomorrow.