August update

After a couple of weeks away in France at the end of July, it was good to get back to the allotment. It didn't actually look as overgrown as I'd feared!  Up until we left for France the poor weather had continued. It turned the ground into mud when I tried to weed and clear up a bit before we left.

We had enjoyed the First Early Lady Christl before we set off, and expected the Charlotte to be ready on our return.  The haulm had died back on all the potatoes in fact, and word was going round about blight being a problem this year.  I did all I could to get the Charlotte (both batches) dug up, dried and into storage sacks, and got advice from the Professor that I should cut off and remove the haulm from the Early maincrop Picasso potatoes without delay.  Linda had read that the potatoes themselves could then stand a couple of weeks still in the ground but today (after around a week) I dug some up to check what they looked like.  They seem a good size, have a white tinged with a little pink in their skins, and look fine apart from a kind of nick in almost every tuber, despite their not having been struck by a spade or anything. Strange! We'll just have to see how they go.

The courgettes are in full production (yellow, green and Romano - with stripes), as are the runner beans, to be followed closely by the climbing French beans. The broad beans were good but there were not enough of them.

In the netted cage, the purple sprouting broccoli plants and sprouts continue to look OK so we're really hoping to get some crops off them later in the year. Similarly with the leeks, they are looking good and maybe need a feed now and again. The lettuces look and taste fabulous - Rouge Grenobloise, bought in France last holiday - the beetroot are coming on at last, with more to plant today, as is the Chard but it's growing in a part of the allotment which doesn't seem very fertile so I'll get more planted elsewhere. the outdoor cucumbers are way behind those in the greenhouse but hopefully will be productive. The squash plants are much slower to develop than the courgettes but finally seem to be growing and spreading so a crop in September and October seems on the cards.