{"id":37489,"date":"2025-08-17T10:10:51","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T09:10:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ossettweather.com\/gardening2022\/?p=37489"},"modified":"2025-08-18T10:36:49","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T09:36:49","slug":"the-heat-is-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ossettweather.com\/gardening2022\/susan\/the-heat-is-on\/","title":{"rendered":"The aftermath"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The drought continues with no rain forecast in the near future. The improvement to our water supply seems to have been only temporary, as the pressure has reverted to being low. Maybe not quite as bad as before, but still not as it should be. This means watering is back to being our main occupation; however, we are starting to wonder whether all the effort has been worth it. After last week’s gales, we had a couple of hot afternoons. Some plants seem to have given up. Leaves on some squash and climbing beans are battered and shrivelled.<\/p>

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The allotment should look lush and verdant at this time of year, but instead, beds are being cleared early and more bare earth is on show.\u00a0<\/p>

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We can’t take advantage of the early clearance to make a start on our preparations for next season, as the ground resembles either dust or concrete.<\/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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Martyn lifted a row of potatoes, and considering the conditions that they had endured, we were relatively pleased with the yield. The young tender growth was severely cut back twice, courtesy of late frosts. They received no water from the watering can and very little from the sky during their entire growing period. The temperatures have also been higher than potatoes like.<\/p>

The variety was Kingsman, which is new to us, so we are left wondering what the yield would be like in a better year. Hopefully, we will find out.<\/p>

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Video of lifting Kingsman potatoes<\/a><\/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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I lifted the second lot of onions and the shallots.<\/p>

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I thought the first onions that I lifted were small; however, these were even smaller.<\/p>

They were planted later than the first lot and grown from seed, but they had been watered regularly.<\/p>

\"\"The shallots were also grown from seed and were given the same treatment. Unlike the onions, they have grown to the size that I expect.<\/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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In my last post, I wrote that one of our beds of sweetcorn had been flattened by storm Floris. Amazingly, it has almost righted itself, but will it produce a harvest?<\/p>

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Video here<\/a><\/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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Also in my last post, I reported that one of our plum trees had been devastated. Martyn, set to with a chainsaw to try and salvage something of the tree.<\/p>

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An enormous limb had been ripped from the tree. At this point, it is too early to tell whether what remains of the tree will survive.<\/p>

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Around watering duties, we managed to fit in some weeding. Weeds seem to manage to grow in the most inhospitable ground, with fat hen being the most prolific. Apparently, it is edible, but I can’t say that I fancy trying it<\/p>

There’s a video here<\/a><\/p>

.Of course, we have to set aside time for harvesting\"\"12 August – Purple sprouting broccoli, greengages, tomatoes, plums, apples and courgettes.<\/span><\/p>

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15 August -Tomatoes, blackberries, plums, peas, calabrese, courgettes and climbimg French beans.<\/figcaption><\/figure>

We usually have a good harvest of peas, but this year’s hot and dry conditions haven’t suited them.<\/p>

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16 August – Cauliflowers, plums and a few raspberries<\/figcaption><\/figure>

This week’s haul of plums was retrieved from the storm-damaged tree when Martyn removed the broken section.<\/p>

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17 August – Potatoes, cabbage. cauliflower, carrots, courgettes and apples.<\/figcaption><\/figure>

We also picked a couple more punnets of plums, which were given to a plot neighbour. One advantage of the dry conditions is that so far the carrots haven’t suffered from slug damage.<\/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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\u00a0<\/p>

We make regular pickings of tomatoes from the garden and garden greenhouse, which I often forget to mention, and we are still picking lots of apples from the tree in our garden.<\/p>

Details of our harvests are posted here<\/a><\/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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Some of our cabbage and some purple sprouting broccoli were used along with one of our onions and garlic in a version of Ethiopian cabbage.<\/a><\/p>

\"\"More cauliflower and onion were used in a turkey bake. The bake also included sliced mushrooms, which, along with the cauliflower, onion and turkey, were cooked in the oven with a curry-flavoured white sauce and topped with grated cheese.<\/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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When we visited Nostell last week, a family of Canada geese was preening together. Two well-grown goslings accompanied mum and dad. We have noticed the pair of adults a few times. It seemed unusual as I expect to see Canada geese in a flock rather than just a pair. This pair must be rather antisocial<\/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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That’s all for this week, so as always, stay safe and stay well.<\/p>

Again, I am joining Dave for Harvest Monday<\/a> on his Our Happy Acres 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":"

The drought continues with no rain forecast in the near future. The improvement to our water supply seems to have been only temporary, as the pressure has reverted to being low. Maybe not quite as bad as before, but still not as it should be. This means watering is back to being our main occupation; 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