I think we will get the bad news out of the way first - BLIGHT. In 10 days my potato bed went from a beautiful green area to a patchwork of green and dying stems. now as you can see I have cut them all down to save the potatoes. The majority of the damage was done over night on Saturday. When I left on Saturday at about 6 o’clock it wasn’t too bad and on Sunday I was going to cut out the damaged stems and leave the rest to carry on growing, but the damp conditions overnight and Sunday morning ruined the majority of the plants.

Now for some better news the beans are thriving as is the celery and most of the brassicas. The crops in the tunnels are coming on in leaps and bounds, the sweet corn has just started showing the silks and the tassels are begining to drop the pollen. The tomatoes are forming and growing, as soon as we get some longer periods of sun they will start ripening.

I think that a lot of the outside crops are suffering a bit with all the rain as it is washing away the food in my sandy soil, so I will have to do a bit more feeding than I normally do.
This year I have planted the melons in large pots to stop the stems rotting before the melons get to a reasonable size, they are beginning to run now so we need to start to train them.

The experiment with cabbage in bottles is working because the pigeons cannot get at the growing heart to stop growth. The squash are starting to send out runners and flowers are forming with some fruit setting, and the buttercup squash planted out later have now settled and are beginning to start growing. At last the courgettes are putting on size and looking healthy.

JOBS FOR THE WEEK
1 Remove old compost heap
2 Weed rest of the beds
3 Plant out lettuce,chard and brassicas. Done
4 Sow carrots in tunnel 1 for a late crop. Done
5 Sow next batch of brassicas,lettuce and other late crops. Done

WORK DONE THIS WEEK
Sunday
Finish weeding round old shed and compost
Cut down potato haulms
Water
Pick
Tidy out old plants from cold frames
Monday
Sow next letttuce, calabrese, spring cabbbage and spinach beet.
Transplant lettuce into modules
Sow beetroot, radish,spring onions and swede in beds
Water
Pick
Tuesday
Weed
Pick
Water
Feed
Wednesday
Pick
Water.
Weed tunnel 1.
Tie in grape vine leaders.
Thursday
Water
Pick
Friday
Plant out chard and lettuce
Sow carrots in tunnel 1
Pick
Water
Saturday
Weed tunnel 2
Water
Tie up tomato stems to wires
Pick

CROPS PICKED THIS WEEK
Potatoes
Lettuce
Beans
Strawberries
Cucumbers
Courgettes
Calabrese
Cabbage
Tomatoes