Why is it when you take a well-earned week away, all the wrong things flourish at the allotment??? Yes, I’m talking about the weeds, some of which shot up to waist high while I looked the other way, but it’s not just them. It has evidently been a very dry week, so not an ideal time to be away from the plants. My daughter’s raised bed suffered terribly with all the lettuces dying which caused great upset, yet somehow the courgette plant managed to suck up enough water to produce a huge marrow! It’s a hard lesson for a 6 year old to learn that you win some and you lose some but I think I managed to spin it into an opportunity to replant (now I just have to work out what can be planted in August!)

However, lettuces aside it really could have been worse. Our beans are flourishing! There are 4 or 5 different varieties of runner and dwarf on the allotment. Admittedly they have become a bit muddled but luckily are quite distinctive. When harvesting I found myself shying away from the runner beans just because they look like they are going to be dull and stringy. However, the Blackpod Runners were delicious and the most tender of all the beans so I’ll definitely pick more next time. Of the dwarf beans the Mr. Brook’s Blue Bean, although rather messy – it is tall for a dwarf and rather rambling, was also yummy.

Our sweetcorn (both traditional and Inca Rainbow) seem to be flourishing as do the Jerusalem artichokes. I was surprised to pick the first of our raspberries, which I’m sure are an autumn variety so I didn’t expect any for some time. I’ll have to do some research as I know very little about growing them but either way, they were delicious!

And to my amazement, I’ve also been able to pick the first of our ripe tomatoes – normally my Achilles heel! More details to come next week.

More about Lucy...
Lucy is part of the fantastic Heritage Seed Library team, working hard to grow and preserve seed varieties that are no longer available so that our members can enjoy growing them at home. Raising two young children, Lucy is keen to grow an array of fruit and vegetables to become more sustainable and to encourage her children to get involved in growing.

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