Everything seemed to be on the up. The weather had improved enormously from a few days ago and we set off in the afternoon to plant out some lupins in our revamped long, border bed. As it still hadn't rained we expected there would be plenty of watering to do to keep us busy.
Once we've emptied the car of all the necessary allotmenting tackle, the first thing we do is have a look around the plot to see how things are progressing. Only the first thing we noticed wasn't exactly progress it was more of a set back.
 |
| Main Crop Potato - "Cara" |
Many of our potatoes have been caught by a late frost. As you can see they haven't just been caught around the edges of the leaves they've been damaged severely. I expect them to recover from minor frost damage but I can't remember them being damaged so badly before.
Posts
That's the sad, frustrating part of gardening, isn't it? The ravages of weather, bugs and disease? I've watched my strawberries ripen and just before they were perfect, they were all gone over night. Something ate them. Sometimes I wonder if home vegetable gardening is worth the struggle, but the first pickings of the green beans are darn good.
ReplyDeleteI agree Jane the one thing you can be sure of is that things won't be straight forward. We were discussing with our greengrocer today the fact that we don't grow our own to save money. It's something you've got to enjoy doing and take the rough with the smooth.
DeleteSorry something enjoyed your strawberries before you did. Ours are still in flower so we've a bit of a wait until they will be ready.
Ouch, that was a nasty surprise. Which variety was it and did that bed have weed suppressant fabric too? (It looks like it does) Some varieties are hardier than others, Epicure having the reputation for shrugging off frost damage. Perhaps this is why it has become known as the Scottish or Ayrshire potato even though it's origins are from the South (Hampshire to be exact).
ReplyDeleteLots of different varieties got hit by the frost Mal. Some had weed control fabric and some didn't. It seemed to be more down to location rather then wcf or variety. Looking around the other allotments some have frosted potatoes and some don't.
DeleteOops, just spotted it was Cara!
ReplyDelete