Water needed

There has been no rain at all for a few of weeks, and no real rain for much longer. It has also been breezy, so the ground is baked dry. We spent some boring time watering the plot. The leeks, celeriac, beetroot, squashes, courgettes and the recently moved strawberries all needed water. I watered the asparagus to help it for next year. The small heap of muck needs water to help it rot, so it got a lot. I also watered the dug-over ground that is ready for the winter onions. I want to plant the onion sets next week, but there is no prospect of rain, so I will need to water the empty onion bed again before I plant them. Garlic will follow soon after and once again its bed needs watering too.

The spring onions are finally going over, but the bulbs are still delicious. We pulled almost all that remain, with only half a dozen left in the ground. They have been a great success and firmly on next year's list although the planting methods will need a little change. The beetroot has also been a great success. We still have a lot of small plants in the ground. I hope some will mature with what is left of the season. There were ripe courgettes again today with more to come - another wonderful success. The squashes look to be nearly ready to pick and ripen on a window sill at home. I'm not sure that I will grow them again, they take a lot of space for not a lot of fruit, and it is not very interesting when it is ready.

I'm beginning to plan the plot for next year.