We are having a nice mix of hot/warm weather together a good watering of rain, which together make everything grow. The most important thing to be aware of with these conditions is that they are ideal conditions for BLIGHT on potatoes and tomatoes, so be on the look out for the signs of blight . I have finished weeding the plot, but as with the forth railway bridge, it is now time to start again at the beginning again.

Everything on the plot is now growing well and just needs keeping up with. I still have some late brassicas to plant out and I will still be sowing salad crops for some time to come. The comfrey is ready for its next cut, I must empty the bin and refill it.

All the time more crops are starting to mature and need picking so life does not get any easier.

JOBS FOR THE WEEK

1. Erect next brassica frame
2. Finish digging bed 5 for frame
3. Weed

WORK DONE THIS WEEK

Sunday

1. Finish weeding brassica bed
2. Dig last strip on bed 7
3. Plant out flowers to edge beds
4. Finish caning asparagus
5. Put canes up for last rows of peas
6. Water

Monday

1. Water
2. String rows of peas
3. Sow more roots and salad crops

Tuesday

1. Plant aubergines in tunnel 1
2. Water

Wednesday

1. Put up fleece to protect peas from pigeons
2. Dig flower border
3. Plant chillies and peppers in tunnel 1
4. Water

Thursday

1. Plant out leeks
2. Water
3. Weed

Friday

1. Clear remains of broad beans from tunnel 2 and weed.
2. Water
3. Cut comfrey and fill bin

Saturday

1. Weed
2. Water
3. Sort out timber for brassica frame
4. Plant out second courgettes

CROPS PICKED THIS WEEK

1. Lettuce
2. Spring onions
3. Carrots
4. Potatoes
5. Beetroot
6. Spinach
7. Strawberries
8. French beans

June 28 2008

I have been informed today by the Potato Councils Blight Watch control that the weather in the last 4 days as been ideal for potato blight to take effect. Watch your potatoes and tomatoes carefully. You can spray for blight with Dithane 945 ever fortnight but this must be done before the potatoes are effected. If they become infected make sure the potatoes are well covered then cut the leaves down to ground level. This will stop the blight getting to the potatoes.

If you want to go on the Potato Councils blight alert log on to www.blightwatch.co.uk enrol and they will send you warnings automatically.

Doug Allen Cheetham & Crumpsall

Last weeks rain was a great big help to keep things growing, as the dry period was beginning to make plants wilt and slow down. The warm nights have kept things growing as we want them to and push with the ripening ready for picking.

It is now past the longest day and picking asparagus has ended for another year, it is time to let the ferns grow and strengthen the roots for next year. The peas in tunnel 2 have just about finished cropping they go over very quickly in the tunnel, but the other crops are doing well.

The tomatoes in tunnel 1 are growing fast and the first trusses are beginning to form , while the grapes in both tunnels are swelling steadily. The lettuce seeds sown 10 days ago are ready to transplant into module, so it must be time to sow some more, and more radish outside are the same. It is important to keep sowing salad crops a little and often to keep a supply of fresh lettuce and radish. Spring onions can be sown less frequently as they will stand for a week or two while they are used.

It is time to finish digging over the last of the empty ground ready for planting up, or, if there is nothing to go in, then to sow a green manure to keep the ground covered. I have still a bed of sweetcorn to plant out and to plant out some chard and spinach, as well as sowing a late crop of peas.

There are still root crops to sow for regular supplies which does not leave much time for weeding.

JOBS FOR THE WEEK

1. Plant sweetcorn
2. Plant chard
3. Plant spinach
4. Sow peas
5. Sow lettuce
6. Transplant seedlings

WORK DONE THIS WEEK

Sunday

1. dig more of bed 7
2. water
3. protect peas
4. string climbing beans
5. transplant seedlings into large pots

Monday

1. Sow peas
2. weed strawberries and garlic bed
3. Thin carrots
4. transplant three trays of seedlings into large pots

Tuesday

1. Water
2. Plant out sweetcorn
3. Plant out chard and spinach
4. Water
5. Weed

Wednesday

1. Weed french beans
2. Thin carrots
3. transplant lettuce seeds into modules
4. Water

Thursday

1. Water Tunnels

Friday

1. Finish thinning carrots
2. Repair side to carrot bed
3. Water
4. Plant out squash in sweetcorn bed

Saturday

1. Dig more of bed 7
2. Start weeding brassica bed
3. Weed root bed
4. mulch sweetcorn bed
5. put up canes to support asparagus ferns
6. Water

CROPS PICKED THIS WEEK

1. Last of the asparagus
2. Peas
3. Broad beans
4. Lettuce
5. Spring onions
6. Carrots

What a good weekend for getting work done, neither to hot to work nor wet or windy. The best bit is that everything is growing well and making up for lost time.

Every time I walk past the second early potatoes I have to stop and look at the plants - they have grown to a good size but the colour is so vibrant and the marking on the leaves is so pronounced that they shout at you look at me. All the crops planted in the last two weeks are now growing away after settling in for a few days.

The tomatoes planted in tunnel 1 have more than doubled in size and are looking good. Most of the seedlings are now in cold frames hardening off so the side border in tunnel 2 is ready for some of the onions to go in - I know it’s late, but they still produce a reasonable crop.

I must make the effort to clear the weedy areas on the plots this week and try to get the remaining areas dug over and ready to fill with the seedlings in the frames. The strawberries are filling up well and should soon be ready for picking, but the asparagus is now nearly finished and needs to be left to build up the roots for next year.

JOBS FOR THE WEEK

1. Clear weedy areas
2. Dig over rest of bed 8
3. Dig over remainder of bed 7
4. Plant out last of onions
5. Plant out celery
6. Plant out more lettuce

WORK DONE THIS WEEK

Sunday

1. Away

Monday

1. Water
2. Weed beds 8 and 7
3. Dig part of flower bed

Tuesday

1. Water
2. Dig bed 8
3. Plant out celery
4. Plant out onions
5. Weed by compost heaps

Wednesday

1. Plant onions in tunnel 2
2. Plant out rest of onions in bed 8
3. Plant out lettuce
4. Weed tunnel 2
5. Weed garlic
6. Mulch sweetcorn with leaf mould
7. Water tunnels

Thursday

1. Water
2. Start digging bed 7
3. Weed Brassica frame 1
4. Weed onions on bed 2
5. Plant savoy into 2 litre pots as I have no room for them in the frames.

Friday

1. Dig area round compost bins
2. Weed asparagus bed
3. Tidy round back of tunnel1 and cover with leaf mould
4. Weed garlic and strawberry beds
5. Water

Saturday

1. Continue digging bed 7
2. Weed climbing peas and beans
3. Mulch between pea and bean canes
4. Protect young peas from pigeons
5. Water

CROPS PICKED THIS WEEK

1. Asparagus
2. Peas
3. Broad beans
4. Spring onions
5. Lettuce
6. Carrots

What a good week it has been for us growers, everything is coming on in leaps and bounds and the seasons are catching up with the calender. I know it always does, but there are times when you begin to wonder. Two weeks ago I had very little in the plot, now I am starting to wonder where all these seedlings are going to go.

The plants that have been in the ground for some time are looking good, the potatoes are beginning to flower and are making lovely plants - lets hope we don’t have a damp and humid spell like last year which will spell blight!

The new strawberry plants have started forming fruits, while the old plants are now full of little berries. The early carrots are ready for a second weeding and a little thinning and the late carrots have all started showing. I will have to thin these and cover them with mesh this week.

The early crops in tunnel 2 are now producing, the peas and broad beans are starting to be picked, the carrots are looking nice but a little small- they can be left for a while. The beetroot is nearly ready for picking and the spring onions are bring picked. the French beans are starting to flower so they will have beans on in a couple of weeks.

The asparagus is cropping well, it will soon be mid-summer’s day and the season will be ended, must make the most of it. I have managed to fill up half of the second brassica frame and to plant out all my climbing beans. The three blocks of sweetcorn have established and are starting to grow.

The seed trays and modules are reducing in number as the seedlings are moved into pots, and the tunnel is being cleared ready for replanting. I have also sown the next set of lettuce to keep the supply coming all summer. The one thing that must not be forgotten at any time is to keep on top of the weeding, in this weather they soon look as if they will take over every time you turn your back to do another job.

JOBS FOR THE WEEK

1. Plant out next lot of brassicas
2. String climbing beans
3. Dig over more land ready for planting
4. Tidy grapes in tunnel 2
5. Thin and weed carrot, then cover
6. Cover new strawberries

WORK DONE THIS WEEK

Sunday

1. Water
2. Start stringing beans
3. Weed
4. Transplant seedlings into large pots

Monday

1. Water
2. Plant out last climbing beans
3. Finish planting out dwarf beans
4. Sow more spring onions, radish, spinach, turnip and swede
5. Transplant from modules into small pots

Tuesday

1. Water
2. Weed carrots
3. Weed bed alongside carrots
4. Trim grapes in tunnel 2

Wednesday

1. Water
2. Transplant from modules into small pots

Thursday

1. Plant out brassicas in second bed
2. Water
3. Cover carrots

Friday

1. Water
2. Net strawberries
3. Plant out brassica in first bed
4. Transplant from small pots into large ones

CROPS PICKED THIS WEEK

1. Asparagus
2. Peas
3. Spring onions
4. Lettuce
5. Beetroot
6. Broad beans