The reprieve was short-lived. Just a week’s break from the tedium of watering. There has been no progress concerning our abysmal water supply. We spend at least four times as long standing watching the watering can fill as we do emptying it.
There’s lots of weeding to tackle, but this has to be neglected. If we stop watering now all the previous work will have been pointless.Â
It’s not the driest year that we have experienced – 2011 takes that accolade. July’s short spell of heavy rain means this July has ended up being the fourth wettest July since Martyn started recording weather fifteen years ago. The problem is that the rain that fell this July fell on parched ground and made little impact.
I’m sure that we had lots of watering to do in 2011, but at that time our water supply wasn’t as pathetic and therefore wouldn’t have taken as long. This year, afternoons on the allotment have been very boring. If the areas that needed weeding were near the taps, I could have done some weeding as I waited for the can to fill, but unfortunately, that isn’t the case.
The wind hasn’t helped, as that dries out the soil. We have gales forecast for this week, which is right on cue as the cardoons are flowering. Most years, winds topple the flower stems.
Now on to more positive topics.
Martyn lifted some of our potatoes. We weren’t expecting much of a harvest from them, but although the yield was poor, we at least harvested some potatoes. Many tubers were very small, but at least they are usable.
Some of the varieties were new to us and on trial, but the conditions this year haven’t subjected them to a fair trial. Potatoes never fare well when it is hot and dry, especially when we didn’t water them.
Other harvests have been more successful.Â
Mangetout have finished cropping, but have performed well.
Climbing French beans are also doing well.
Plums are producing a bumper crop that is so far relatively clear of pests.
Green courgettes are, as usual, producing a good harvest, but the yellow ones are slow to produce fruit
Martyn picked lots of cucumbers from the garden as well as cherry tomatoes.
As is only to be expected, courgettes are featuring on our menu
One meal was a vegetable bake. Courgette, onion, celery, garlic, red and green peppers and tomatoes were cooked in red wine and topped with slices of potato sprinkled with grated cheese. 
IÂ made a chicken and courgette curry that I forgot to photograph
I also used courgettes in a turkey casserole made in a slow cooker.
For our afternoon out last week, we paid a return visit to Hardwick Hall. The flower borders around the house looked lovely, considering the drought, Martyn spotted that they seemed to have an irrigation system set up.
On our previous visits, we had been intrigued by a border in another part of the grounds. On our first visit, we thought that it was going to be a vegetable border. On our second visit, we noticed that there seemed to be a mixture of flowers and vegetables.Â
We spoke to one of the gardeners, who told us that everything in the border, including the flowers, was edible.-
He went on to tell us that all the plants in this part of the garden had a purpose. There were herbs for cooking or medicinal purposes, and plants that could be used for perfumes and for making dyes, etc.
On previous visits, we hadn’t realised that the old hall was open to the public and, more importantly, that Ruby was allowed entry. This time we had a look around.
Below is an artist’s impression of what the hall would have looked like.
Bess of Hardwick built the hall after she fled from Chatsworth after the breakup of her fourth marriage.
Even before the old hall was completed, Bess began work on the new hall. This wasn’t a replacement as both halls were used to complement one another.
When Bess died, the old hall was partially dismantled and gradually became a ruin.
We also spent an afternoon at Nostell and managed a close-up view of the swan family resting in one of their favourite spots. The cygnets’ wings are now beginning to develop.
That’s all for this week, so as always, stay safe and stay well.
Again, I am linking to Harvest Monday on Dave’s Our Happy Acres blog.
Thank you for the photos of the gardens at Hardwick Hall. They probably appreciated the July rain too.
Hardwick is a lovely garden, Sue. We noticed underground water pipes there
I do like it when all the plants and flowers have a use in a garden, not just decorative.
I always think many fruit trees are just as attractive as onez that are purely ornamental, Debbir
I’m glad you at least got some potatoes for your efforts. They are a finicky crop here for me, and I haven’t grown them for a few years.
Potatoes are generally a mainstay here Dave, as long as blight doesn’t strike or underground pests leave them. At least the pests don’t enjoy this year’s conditions either