I had a look around about gooseberry and it does not seem to be the season to pick them, even though they seemed to be ‘blushing’ as some red appeared on the fruits. Maybe it’s an illness I wonder?

Anyway, one website suggested to pick 10% of the fruits in May to encourage the rest to grow bigger, which I have done. These can be cooked.

Picking season for the rest is July, so two months to go: I will have to use all my resources to keep the pigeons away from the bush: last year they stripped it bare in no time! For now I have put two layers of netting, but they are not very effettive as the pigeons land on the bush and pick the fruits out of it. I will try my new humming line next time I go.

… sowing and weeding, overall a pretty productive evening tonight.

Having cleared the broadbean and onion beds, I filled in some empty space with the leftover onions: hopefully it’s not too late for them to grow. As one of those bonuses that nature often bestows on the amazed newby gardener, I got 8 unexpected garlic plants from seed, which I also planted.

Here goes the story: having left some garlic go to seed last year I had picked the seedheads and left them in the greenhouse, not for one second seriously contemplating a future for them, just out of habit. While watering some seedtrays last winter, I accidentally knocked the said seedheads, which fell in a tray. I was in a hurry so I just left them there… and there they were, appeared one day among the aubergine seedlings!

Dealt with the solanaceae, and realised that – although they have indeed suffered – there were more survivors than expected.

Still to do:

• planting potatoes and other seasonal,
• pick the remaining leeks from the winter, as they are going to seed, and
• urgently – pick the gooseberries before they end up exterminated by the pigeons, which are starting to break the soft branches to reach down on the fruits.

— Post From My iPhone

I spent most of the afternoon strimming with my shears: it seems incredible how lush the greeneries become all of a sudden, and for all of summer it’s firefighting to keep weeds at bay!

Gave a thorough watering, then ran out of energies, so I have a long list of things left to do, with the following most urgent:

• plant potatoes and onions (leftovers)
• sow carrots and other seasonal
• transplant last of aubergine, tomato and chillies

And next week should get some pallets to make decent compost heap and complete my wildlife station.

I have been away: what will I find when I finally manage to get back to the plot?

Weather in my town has been forcasted as sunny and sunny and sunny… Transplanted seedlings might not be too happy with that.

— Post From My iPhone

Crop updates

The big news is that I was happily weeding when I could not believe my eyes: asparagus were out (pretty sure there was nothing there on Sunday!) and already some 10 cm tall.

Also, the cima di rapa I sowed on Sunday was out with tiny cotyledons – it still amazes me how any big plant can grow out of such tiny seedlings. Hope the nematodes work quickly to save them from slugs, as I am looking forward to my orecchiette in 40 days (that was the growing time advertised on the packet, they are the express cime, as opposed to the 60 days ones).

I sowed salsify (sooo curious as I had never heard of such plant) and sweetcorn.

Chillies, tomatoes and aubergines are definitely out and strawberries are flowering.

Started the thing that worried me the most: transplanting the celery seedlings. If it goes wrong I will be so disappointed as I am putting a lot of expectations in this veg! But cannot wait: I am pressed to acclimatize them outside before I am not around for some days and they would not survive in the greenhouse (temperature now rising to around 50 C).

A succesful transplant has been performed with mangetouts: came out in less than one week so that was quick, and transplanting from loo rolls was definitely easy and no disturbance to the roots.

Parsley is thriving and so is the self-seeded spinach beet, which reminds me that Sarah my colleague has planted the raspberries in her pots with some success, as they have put out shoots straight away. This is the season…