The hot summer weather continues punctuated by severe thunderstorms and downpours. The result is that everything is growing like crazy. At the weekend I picked 4 large buckets of broad beans - and there's more to come - and I dug the first two rows of properly-planted potatoes. These are Colleens which I've had before and are pretty good. With all that rain the soil was muddy and not ideal for potato-picking but needs must as I want the space for some leek seedlings left over from the main planting-out.
Harvested about 30lbs of potatoes from the two rows (22 plants). They are in fairly good condition with only a few worm / slug holes. Had to pull one small slug out of a hole and chucked it over the hedge into the field (sorry Billy but the cattle probably don't mind!). Paul spread out the potatoes on newspaper on the conservatory floor to dry off and this morning I brushed the mud off, sorted out the damaged ones for immediate use and the very small ones for potato salad and stored the rest in cardboard wine boxes. Wine boxes are great because the cardboard sections prevent any rot spreading through the whole batch. Stored in our cool, dark garage they will provide good eating during the winter.
We have a large garden in semi-rural Leicestershire. This blog is about what we do and what's happening out there because of - or in spite of - our rather amateur gardening efforts. We grow vegetables, we have an orchard with apples, plums and pears, as well as an extensive ornamental garden. Surrounded by fields we enjoy many species of birds, frogs & toads and occasional foxes and other four-legged visitors. Enjoy!
Tuesday 22 July 2014
Thursday 17 July 2014
Rainbow
We're having a proper summer this year with spells of hot sunshine, warm winds and occasional heavy downpours. Great for the fruit trees and vegetables. Yesterday evening we were treated to a magnificent rainbow as the setting sun shone on the falling rain.
An eerie glow and you can just see the double rainbow with colours reversed. |
Magnificent rainbow over Froggarts Cottage Garden |
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