It was on the fourth of August that we set our onions onto wire frames to dry off on the plot. It seemed like a good idea at the time as the weather was still excellent, dry and plenty of sunshine. Since then things have gone somewhat downhill as we've had some rain in each of the last seven days and only 3 completely dry days for our onions to dry off outside.
In the plot greenhouse our Sioux tomato plants never recovered from their early July problems. They neither produced any new leaves or flowers and hence they were on Saturday consigned to the compost heap to make some space in the greenhouse for the onions.
Rightly or wrongly I've decided the problem was a result of conditions in the greenhouse exacerbated by the compost in the grow bags they were planted in. The plants have been chopped up and added to the compost heap.
The rest of the tomato plants in the plot greenhouse are all looking very sorry for themselves and have very few tomatoes on. The exception has been Sungold which has grown and cropped well but the crop is now coming to an end. I'm not intended to water the plants any more and so with the extra ventilation provided at ground level I'm hoping our onions will dry out satisfactorily in the plot greenhouse.
As more tomato plants are cleared the onions will be spread out a little bit more.
The wind has continued to blow most days this week and the cardoon that was badly blown about in the wind last weekend has now given up the battle to stay upright altogether and has decided the best option is to use the ground as support.
This is more material for the compost heap. Interestingly the flowers last in good condition for ages on the compost heap where the bees still love them.
Despite the wet damp conditions our ever bearing strawberry Flamenco gave us a treat of fresh strawberries for Saturday tea time.
Some strawberries had been nibbled by slugs and a couple had gone mouldy due to the damp conditions but the rest were delicious. A little reminder that summer isn't over yet.
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Crikey still getting strawberries that`s a bonus
ReplyDeleteCame as a bit of a surprise as these plants didn't do much during the "strawberry season".
DeleteDelicious strawberries. I didn't get on with everbearers, but you've made a good case for them. Cardoons are a lot like artichokes - do you happen to know if I should cut my artichokes down to the ground? Any advice gratefully received.
ReplyDeleteI'm planning a post on cardoons as ours are now in need of some renovation. Our cardoons get cut back to ground level or I leave a few new shoots which appear after all the old leaves are cut out or die back naturally.
DeleteStill not convinced about everbearers. They take up a lot of space for a late summer bowl of strawberries. They did task good though. Decisions!
Thanks for that Martyn, I'll cut the artichokes down once they've finished flowering I think. The couple I have at home are really getting in my way at the moment. I'll look forward to your post on cardoons.
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