Saturday 7 June 2014

munch, munch, munch ... !!!

Well the next Allotment Open Day is fast approaching, but at this rate the slugs & snails will have eaten everything in sight !


It looks quite nice, until you get up close and see the damage !

The courgettes are a shadow of their former selves !

The Crown Prince and Queensland Blue are growing OK, despite losing a couple of leaves

Queensland Blue

Even the onions are being attacked :(

The dwarf french beans have started to flower

but they are under heavy attack !

The ChaCha squash have started to produce fruits, if we get a little sunshine then we might see some flowers !  The plants have grown quite a lot, so I've now got them trained into the trellis. Hopefully that will keep them safe from the all night buffet

Pea pods are starting to appear !  The plants seem to be escaping the slugs, as the broad beans next to them are bearing the brunt of the onslaught

Ughh !! I didn't see this web full of baby spiders until it was too late ... my skin is still crawling at the thought of them

I found the cat sat on the cabbages earlier ... as if we've not got enough to contend with, with slugs

I've had to replant the sweetcorn - I think the Magpies that are nesting in the tree above them have been pulling them out when looking for nesting material.  I failed to get my sweetcorn to germinate for the second year running, so these are ones that my folks bought from a local nursery


In the greenhouse, all 6 cucumbers are still alive, but they are being attacked by something - flea beetle perhaps ?  I can't see any creatures, but the evidence is there for all to see

the leaves are like paper lace

I'm afraid to say I've resorted to a spray to try and fix the problem


Basil seedlings ready to be transplanted

I've got hundreds of lettuce plantlets 

The rocket is doing well and the next batch has just germinated

The raised planters at the bottom of my garden are doing much better than the allotment, with little eveidence of slugs or snails and the plants are much bigger and healthier.
Box one has strawberries, beetroot, fennel, cosmos & raspberries

beetroot & fennel

Cosmos

Box two has carrots, onions, courgettes, fig & tayberry

The garden courgettes have leaves & flowers


The fig only has a couple of fruits on it this year, but I'm sure next year it will be better

The Tayberry is settling into it's corner

The third box has potatoes and a Globe Artichoke.  The artichoke really needs to be moved to the other side of the garden, but I've got a lot more digging to do first

I am very pleased with them even if I do say so myself - with a little more sunshine the allotment might catchup and put on a good show for the open day !