Brassicas

A quick trip to the plot on a cool, gray, cloudy day gave us some spinach. I sprayed some bindweed and nettles in the hedge with Glyphosate - it really is badly overrun. If there was a decent hedge it might help to keep the weeds down, whereas now I think the weeds are strangling what there is of the hedge.

Something that is doing very well are our brassicas. The cabbages that are covered are growing nicely. They don't seem to mind the cool, wet weather. The soil is well drained so I'm hoping their roots don't get waterlogged. At home, in a cold frame, we have our broccoli growing in pots. It looks strong so I hope it will make the transition to the plot safely. It will need a lot of protection if it is to make it to late next winter. It is a favourite caterpillars, slugs, and, in the winter, pigeons too. If we protect it until next February, we will be taking spears from it, at a time when not much else is available.

I checked the broad beans. The pods are swelling, but the beans are still too small. I do want to take them when they are small, soft and sweet, but they still need more time before the first will be ready. A few raspberries are reddening and a few blackcurrants are ripening as are a few gooseberries. The strawberries need more sun; there are lots of berries but they are not ripening and the whole area is wet and dank. i fear they may rot before they are ripe.

We gave up on the mange touts. We took off the covers and left the stumps in the open, tomorrow I expect there to be nothing remaining. There are a few flowers on the dwarf French beans and a couple of very small fruits on the courgettes. Leeks are recovering under their protective netting and onions look good.

We do need a good weeding session to see us through the summer. Usually when the weather warms up and the ground dries out the weeds slow down, but this year they keep growing strongly, but we don't have to water anything at he moment.