Friday was another cool July day. The average temperature for the day was 13.6°C (56.5°F) the coolest of the month.
On the plot we decided it was time to try to sort out a bed for our winter brassicas which long ago outgrew their spot in the cold frame but now they can’t be held back any longer and a bed needed to be cleared.
Despite the dry conditions which seem to have slowed down the growth of our vegetables the weeds are unaffected. The fat hen in this bed has grown extremely well. Fortunately it pulled up easily out of the dry ground which was a bit of a surprise. The last thing I wanted to do was dig over the bed and bring any damp soil to the surface making the dry conditions even worse.
Growing along with the fat hen and thistles were some volunteer potatoes, presumably a main crop variety called Harmony, which grew in this bed last year. They hadn’t made what I would call decent sized plants but as I dug them out there were some small to medium sized potatoes on the plants. I didn’t see the point in wasting them and so they were brought home and tested for eating qualities. They tasted really nice certainly as good as if not better than the early potatoes we’ve been digging for a couple of weeks. They’re in the photo of Friday’s harvest and came to 1.3kg in weight.
I did manage to get the bed cleared of weeds.
I’m now hoping that the rain forecast for Sunday arrives and gives the bed a good watering which will make planting our winter brassicas so much easier.
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You clearly didn't get the monsoon that hit the south on Friday - no digging possible here that day (although I was personally very glad to get it).
ReplyDeleteFat hen is a real allotment weed, we should probably cultivate it instead of removing it as it's apparently edible.
No rain here so far, Sunday morning 09:30. Suppose to get some this afternoon and on Monday.
DeleteI think some of the plotters feed fan hen to their chickens. Never fancied eating it myself.
Yep, the rain is definitely here (North Wales) today. Sigh. The potatoes look fantastic. I've had some volunteers, but no-where near as big as that.
ReplyDeleteStill dry up north and waiting for the rain to arrive. Potato tubers seem to be fantastic at surviving in the ground over winter.
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