Garden Update July 2015 - Garden starting to supply lots of food this year, looks like a year of a bumper crop

Things seem to be growing well this year, most things that is.......

The panache fig with its stripy fruit, is still only about a foot tall, but now has 2 fruit on it....I will now pot it up again to make it grow some more, it is only in a 5 liter pot as I didn't want to jump up too much in size from its 3 inch pot that it had when delivered as a rooted cutting.

I have been pulling weeds out, scything some of them like the grass to get mulch, I am using the mulch like in the Ruth Stout method of gardening to cover the floor s much as possible to hold back the weeds, it is working.....sort of....I don't have enough mulch, places with a deep mulch layer are working fine for weed control.  I will plant something in some areas to grow some mulch I think as straw seems unavailable here.....(even though I have seen 3 giant trailers drive past today.....I cant find how to get some! )

Fruit on the trees is good, but small amount of fruit from some of the early flowering trees compared to other years due to frosts just at the right ( or wrong! ) time.

Peaches are good, Cherry plums are good, Apples on 2 trees are good, Sour cherries and sweet cherries were very large crop as well.

Normal plums from 2 trees have low numbers and one tree has about 3 plums , usually it has a couple of hundred kilo at least

The Dryan tree, ( Cornelian cherry, Cornus Mas / Dogwood ) has loads of fruit just starting to ripen, this was the first tree to flower in the snow, ice and frost and it is still fine.

The rhubarb plants planted early spring last year are massive now, we ate it for weeks and it never looked any smaller!

Potatoes, all growing fine some are ready now....just, no sign of Colorado beetles this year but I did spray early on with neem oil.

I got this lot yesterday from one plant, I think it is Swift, a first early

.

The tomatoes, growing well, we have had one or two off the plants every day till now, but yesterday they started to speed up production, this was yesterdays haul....and back again ripe more again today!

Raspberries, the long cane Aldi ones I bought, died....I have had them before and they have been fine, this year every one died, so wont bother again, most of the other raspberry canes are growing fine, and last years are massive clumps of canes full of fruit.

Soft fruit harvest from new plants this year, some black currents, gooseberries, red currents, raspberries, strawberries have almost finished but we are getting a few a day as well

Time for Raspberries and yogurt

Last year the squash seemed to like it here, as did cucumbers so we have planted 50 or more mixed plants....Frankie the dog mixed them up.....by throwing them everywhere out of the trays, We have no idea what is what apart from a few I planted before his fun......

These are quite big, I think ( presume ) Atlantic giant pumpkin, being this big after only 2 weeks old fruit

I also have 10 Waltham and 10 wrinkled butternut squash, 10 courgette/marrow plants and 10 Marketmore cucumbers growing out from in between the sweetcorn plants, squash nowhere near ripe yet, but getting bigger

The Sweetcorn, looks much better this year, 4 types planted.....( never a good idea! ) and all between 5 foot and 8 foot tall, Bloody Butcher, Blue Hopie and a couple of standard ones from seeds I bought here one had golden in the name....but that is all I could translate!


Carrots....again a complete failure....not one!...I am planning on making a raised carrot growing bed for them next year.

Onions and shallots, onions are still growing, shallots I harvested some yesterday as the tops had died down and still lots more growing

Marrows, or big courgettes....

Marrow, chopped up to be roast like a squash 

Rose bushes and lilies are also growing well

Hazel nuts are nearly ready as well

 So much better this year than last year as the weeds are starting to get under control.....a bit!

Frankie.....The rescued dog with terrible neck injury....now happy, healthy and looking like a dog.....

Banana Shallot flowers in a vase I found 12 inch deep in the garden

Some sort of insect.....eating or laying eggs...not sure, in the underneath insect....

Ladybird with no spots...????