July potager
Let me see. Tax return? Pension tax reclaim form? Lease extension form? Property survey form? Cleaning office. Sorting the dread boxes under the desk in office?
I can’t believe the number of things I am not doing today. And not doing this week. You must have all been lulled into a false sense of anticipation for daily blogs last month. I was on a roll. And then…
Alas.
I have had to nip over to London for a week for yet more admin. But with the delights of a metropolis in between chores. And that includes a haircut.
Ten quid fora small bunch of lavender? You must be joking! But that’s swanky Primrose Hill for you. I have loved the juices – kale, lime, ginger and something else I can’t recall. I am so excited just to be drinking something that exotic I don’t hesitate long in front of the chalk board. Passionfruit perhaps?
But I’m not defecting to the city. Not when I have flowers to pick and the farm to manage.
It is July which means the big ball of string comes out and the dahlias get corralled
I had a lovely after dinner session tying in things and fending off The Creature who loves a post dinner snuggle.
She is a welcome creature in the Potager.
Not so the effing mole rat. Residence is confirmed by the large hummocks in the top right potager bed. And of course the cat has shown no interest whatsoever. Despite my cajoling.
I came out one morning to find one huge sunflower felled.
Just as it was poised to flower too. Grrrr.
In fact in order of pests in the garden I would have to say this mole rat is number one. And then the sudden hail storm and huge downpour last week came a close second.
The hail tops on the raised beds did a marvellous job of keeping off the bullets of ice that thundered down in a dramatic half hour of drama. I was standing well inside hiding in the office looking down.
Not too much damage. A bit of shredding in the courtyard water lilies. And the vines that cover the oak table. But we have had worse.
It’s just starting to get interesting in the vegetable beds.
We are harvesting the tree spinach daily. It takes over from the ‘normal’ spinach which has bolted in the heat.
The courgettes are starting. And the first aubergine has been harvested.
I ate two tomatoes – before I had a chance to photograph them. The greed of the home grower knows no bounds.
And I must say that the cut flowers are more interesting than the broad beans and peas. My paltry harvest of the latter was merely the pea shoots. Barely a pod.
The barlotto beans are putting on their usual vigorous growth. And if I cut off the spent nasturtiums, I might get a second flush. They have been marvellous contrasted with the amaranth and the strawflowers in this first raised bed.
Quite the jungle.
After a week away with the usual absurdly hot dry weather we shall see what is burgeoning or what is gasping.
And if that mole rat has felled another sunflower……
