Wednesday 1st July

• Weather: Max: 21.4°C | Min: 14.0°C | Rain: 1%

A beautifully productive and peaceful start to July. The morning began with a walk with Ruby, taking our usual route across the Pasture and winding our way into Rothwell centre.

The afternoon was entirely dedicated to the home garden. With the midsummer heat building, maintenance is key; I managed to get the grass cut to keep things looking sharp, and gave our two new ornamental borders a thorough, deep soak. I then moved on to the home greenhouse, checking in on the tomatoes in the raised beds and watering them alongside the tubs of spring onions.

In the evening, we headed with Ruby down to the allotment plots. The low, warm evening light was absolutely perfect, so we took the opportunity to film a quick plot tour video to document our midsummer progress before the July rush truly takes over.

Thursday 2nd July

• Weather: Max: 19.5°C | Min: 12.9°C | Rain: 99%

An incredibly blustery day today. My home weather station recorded strong, relentless winds with gusts peaking at 25mph. The clouds did break slightly overnight, leaving behind a light shower that registered a brief 0.4mm of rainfall—hardly enough to make a dent in the soil moisture, but a welcome bit of humidity nonetheless.

Given the high winds, outdoor gardening was completely off the cards. Instead, we opted for a productive little field trip to the local garden centre to pick up a few essential supplies and browse the seasonal stock.

Later in the day, we headed over to Nostell Priory for some exercise. Because of the high winds, we decided to play it safe and stick firmly to the wide-open meadow trails rather than risking the woodland paths, where falling branches could pose a hazard.

Friday 3rd July

• Weather: Max: 23.0°C | Min: 10.7°C | Rain: 1%

The weather settled beautifully today. The gale-force winds finally eased, giving way to some warm, pleasant sunny spells and zero rainfall. It was the perfect window to catch up on some serious, satisfying plot work.

Plot Tasks & Progress:

• Brassicas: Sue planted out the fresh batch of brassica plugs that we recently purchased from Owl Lane. They are safely nestled into their new home, though we need to keep a sharp eye out for pests.

• Weeding: Finished thoroughly clearing out the persistent weed growth around the new strawberry plants across Plots 29 and 30.

• Pea Supports: The Early Onward peas over on Plot 42 were finally staked and supported using traditional pea sticks. The next challenge will be figuring out a reliable way to safeguard them from the local wood pigeons, who are already circling!

Friday’s Harvest Summary: Today turned out to be incredibly rewarding on the harvest front, bringing in a vibrant, crisp haul of fresh summer greens and roots:

• Plot 41: Harvested 3 excellent, ribbed Courgettes (Romanesco) and one substantial, tight head of Calabrese (Iron Man).

• Plot 29: Brought home 2 gorgeous heads of Cauliflower (Zaragoza and Snowball) alongside 2 crisp, firm cabbages (Cabbice and the pointed Caraflex).

• Plot 29/30: Dug another two roots of our first early Ulster Prince potatoes—the yield is looking great.

• Flowers: Picked a small, beautifully fragrant bunch of sweet peas to bring a bit of the allotment perfume back home