{"id":26840,"date":"2024-06-08T11:33:32","date_gmt":"2024-06-08T10:33:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ossettweather.com\/gardening2022\/?p=26840"},"modified":"2024-06-10T11:05:34","modified_gmt":"2024-06-10T10:05:34","slug":"jumpers-in-june","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ossettweather.com\/gardening2022\/susan\/jumpers-in-june\/","title":{"rendered":"Jumpers in June!"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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When we made the flippant comment, “That was probably our summer”,<\/em> after the one summery week in May, we were hoping that it wouldn’t turn out to be prophetic. According to weather ‘experts’ May was the hottest on record. Really? That certainly wasn’t our experience. Plants didn’t think much of the dull weather either. As for June, so far there hasn’t been much improvement. Any sunshine that we have had, has been negated by the cold winds.\u00a0 It’s not tee-shirt weather. We are still in jumpers and fleeces. Plants are growing slowly and being battered by the winds. The phrase ‘grass frost’ is making our ears prick up. So far that hasn’t affected us – whew!<\/p>

At least the roses seem to acknowledge the fact that it is summer.<\/p>

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At the allotment, we resowed the peas to replace those devastated by wood pigeons. These have been given temporary protection under netting.<\/p>

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I weeded the annual flower bed, which was tricky as weed seedlings and annual flower seedlings can look very similar. I sowed more seeds between the rows. In my mind’s eye, this will become a mass of colour buzzing with bees and other happy insects. Somehow I think reality will fall short.<\/p>

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I also planted out some dwarf French beans that had been sown in modules in our greenhouse at home. I just hope that they survive the cruel wind.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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We did quite a bit of weeding elsewhere, mainly in preparation for planting more brassicas.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

We are starting to benefit from a modest harvest. Mid week we picked lots of strawberries and also a small onion.<\/p>

A strawberry picking video is here.<\/a><\/p>

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The sweet peas sown in autumn have now taken off and the sweet Williams are producing lots of flowers.<\/p>

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At the weekend, I decided to lift all the garlic.<\/p>

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The crop is disappointing as all the bulbs are tiny although they have split into cloves so they are usable. We planted and grew them in the same way as last year when we had a good crop of large bulbs. Maybe, this year, there were too many planted too closely creating too much competition. I hadn’t intended to plant so many but the first lot didn’t appear to be growing so I planted more only for the first lot to begin to shoot.\"\"<\/p>

Along with the garlic, we came home with more strawberries and another onion.<\/p>

Ruby had a bad week. She had to endure a wash and blow dry followed by a visit from the groomer. She is now sporting a summer cut so all she needs is summer.<\/p>

\"\" She’s protecting our harvest after accompanying us on a tour of the plot.\u00a0<\/p>

Video here<\/a><\/p>

A new allotment officer, who seems very keen, has been appointed by the council. Many plot-holders have been sent warning letters requesting improvements be made to their plots, so I thought that I would check up on our allotment guidlelines, (a polite way of saying rules).<\/a>\u00a0One statement caught my attention ‘a plot holder’s responsibilities, includes maintaining and cultivating the allotment, and keeping it weed free throughout the year<\/em>‘. Is it possible to keep an allotment weed-free throughout the year? Does anyone manage this?<\/p>

Another statement made me smile ‘at the end of the tenancy, any added buildings must be removed, and the plot should be restored to its original condition’.\u00a0<\/em>Really? Check out the state of our plot when we took it on.<\/a><\/p>

Apparently, our allotment rent is increasing to just under \u00a3100 per plot which seems a lot for a patch of land that you have to increase the fertility of and improve at your own expense. The council provides a couple of padlocks though!\u00a0 It seems allotments are being priced out of the reach of many. I wonder whether allotment rent is subsidising other council projects. How does our rent compare with yours?<\/p>

Onto other things. I can report that all four cygnets are doing well. They are growing quickly and are beginning to develop swan-like necks<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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On the far side of the lake, a juvenile cormorant was drying out its wings. Maybe it had been fishing.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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It wasn’t the only one as a heron sitting on an island of lily pads managed to catch a large fish.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Meanwhile, a coot was sitting quietly on its nest. I’m afraid that it isn’t a brilliant photo as the camera was determined to focus on tree branches.<\/p>

\"\"Video of birdlife here<\/a><\/p>

That’s all for this week so until next time stay safe and well.<\/p>

This week I am joining Harvest Monday on Dave’s Our Happy Acres<\/a> blog.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When we made the flippant comment, “That was probably our summer”, after the one summery week in May, we were hoping that it wouldn’t turn out to be prophetic. According to weather ‘experts’ May was the hottest on record. Really? That certainly wasn’t our experience. Plants didn’t think much of the dull weather either. As 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