Attack of the ginger cat!

Hallo again, I have been down at the allotment quite a bit, keeping up with watering mostly... with summer getting into full swing - it has been very busy.

So what's been happening?

Broad beans have finished up - took a last few been from them, and have now chopped them all back to the roots. The roots are left in as they will rot and release the nitrogen they fixed from the air. The top of the plants were covered in black fly, and these have headed for the compost bin....but not before I decided on some eco-recycling!!

The black fly are a big pest on the smaller plants, like my peas and french beans, and I spotted some ladybird larvae on the broad beans. I had a look over the plants I had pulled up, and harvested about 12 ladybird larvae, some quite big, these have now been distributed across the plot to help in keeping down the black fly. I'll try and get some photos of the ladybird larvae.

Well it is worth a try to see what happens, as up to now my best defence against black fly have been spraying with a strong jet of water, spraying with a soap solution and rubbing them off with my fingers!! None of these is a perfect solution to the problem. If the black fly go unchecked, the plant has all the life sucked out of them.

The bed which was cleared has been semi-weeded, and now hosts a couple of courgettes and a couple of tomato plants! All donated by a neighbour, the tomato plants look a bit weak and spindly, but are still better then the ones I'm growing from seed, and already have a couple of small fruits on them. The courgettes are already flowering, and again these are further forward than the 3 plants I've added to the plot! So is good to let people know that you have a plot, as donations are readily accepted!

Elsewhere, the raspberries have a few ripe fruits, now as these are very delicate, I've been eating these one by one!!! Next year the plants will be more established, and I'll get more fruit hopefully. The blackcurrants are looking big and juicy - but the ones I've sampled taste quite earthy, not at all like ribena! The wild brambles (aka blackberries), are spreading everywhere
and to be honest are a bit of nuisance, as they are covered in thorns it is hard to hand weed around them...I may reconsider having them, unless I can work out how to tame them somehow!

Strawberries are almost finished, a few small fruit still coming...these have been in my eyes a big success, and look forward to more next year.

The onions are all sitting with brown skins now, so can be plucked and taken home as needed, I'll fill up the bed with something else now - and the same goes for the rest of the broad bean bed...


The potatoes plants are looking healthy, and some plants are starting to flower, which I am led to believe is the time to dig up "earlies" / salad potatoes, I'm been advised to check out if their ready by digging up one plant.

The bed with the carrots, beetroot and parsnips is a bit of a pick n mix affair...I think a lot of the compost came from my back garden, and must have been filled with various seeds from the bird feeder and rotting tomatoes!! The reason I'm saying this as of the plants I can identify I've definitely got a few tomato plants and sunflowers!!


Sweetcorn are doing well, with the plants probably over 30 cm tall now!

I've been down to the plot regular, to keep the fish fed, the water is still not crystal clear, but my neighbours advise that it will still take time!

I'm not the only one keeping an eye on the fish!!

This ginger tom cat is a regular visitor to all the plots, and has a grand time keeping the mice and bird numbers down. He is a really nice cat, and will race up to see you, and roll on his back to get a tickle...but I've now seen his keen interest in my fish, which included trying to get his paws in (and the fish out!). The mesh has proved it's worth! I still have four fish, who are now settled in and more comfortable... so when I feed them, they are very active, and are not so skittish when I walk by ( or the cat tries to paw them! ).

I had let a lot of weeds get established so this morning I got the hoe out and got rid of some, but plenty more to go!

More soon! Phew that was quite a long post!! I'll try and get some more photos taken, as they help to put things into context!