WEEK 1 WEEK 2 WEEK 3 WEEK 4 WEEK 5 WEEK 6 WEEK 7 WEEK 8 WEEK 9 WEEK 10 WEEK 11 WEEK 12 WEEK 13 WEEK 14 WEEK 15 WEEK 16 WEEK 17
Welcome back to our weekly follow us! If you missed the last seventeen weeks, the links to them are above - and as usual - the key is at the bottom: scroll down now!
Weather conditions this week have continued to be dry and settled, but temperatures have been erratic. These were well above the seasonal average for early August on the first and last day of the week, but well below the average for the remainder!
The daytime temperature on the last day of July was 290C, and 250C on the 7th August - both well above the historical average of 23oC. However, temperatures for the rest of the week were significantly cooler at 17-190C. Night-time temperatures were slightly more consistent at 10-160C, close to the historical average of 14oC on most nights. It is notable that the minimum temperature was above single digits, as the minimum temperature has fallen below this threshold in all previous weeks. No rainfall occurred and winds have been gentle.
Pea ‘Half pint’ (syn. ‘Tom-Thumb’) sown in Planter 1 has grown well since being thinned last week, and mostly filled the spaces left by the seedlings which were removed. The colour of the plants is excellent and display varying degrees of white and grey speckling. The leafs are free of scorch which is always a danger with tender thin leaves exposed to full sun and high temperatures (the maximum temperature recorded last week was close to 300)! A number of buds have partly opened with the white tips of a number of flowers visible, though most remain closed. Tendrils are beginning to hook onto the elasticated cords running diagonally across the container.
The quartet of herbs in Planter 2 are enjoying mixed fortunes, but all but Basil ‘British’ continued to grow well. Dill ‘Dukat’ has continued to be harvested whilst its foliage is in the best condition, has greatest pungency and maximum flavour. However, unsurprisingly, the plants have begun to flower, and while this will reduce the amount of foliage produced from herein, the blossoms themselves are edible. These are a necessary addition to home-made pickled cucumber, although we are a couple of weeks away from cucumbers being available in the required numbers! For the time being, we will simply allow them to develop. Coriander ‘Confetti’ is growing well with dense fine ‘fern like’ foliage, which is recognisable as a coriander only by its aroma as the leaf looks nothing like that of coriander bought in supermarkets! Its flavour is softer with hints of parsley, coriander and a citrus edge which may appeal to those with an aversion to the herb. Parsley ‘Aphrodite’ is being harvested, albeit sparingly as it is still not full size. Despite this, its flavour is still moderately strong and the stalks benefit from being soft and edible. Basil ‘British’ remains the weakest of the four herbs. New and old growth is chlorotic, and the leaves are small and have not fully unfurled - reducing the area of leaf exposed to sunlight. While the variety does appear to present some resistance to downy mildew which has been held at bay, the plants have to be deemed a failure (and we won’t be trying them again). Our view is that basil should be grown under cover, in which case we’d advocate either Basil ‘Lemon’ or Basil ‘Thai’ as far better than Basil ‘Genoa’ (or ‘pesto’ basil). In future, the fourth slot in a quadrant of summer herbs will be given over to either ‘French’ tarragon (if root trainers are available) or Savoury ‘Summer’ - which is hugely undervalued!
Hearting Lettuce ‘Little Gem’ and ‘Amaze’ in Planter 3 have finally started to make meaningful progress towards “hearting up”. The condition of the plants remains excellent with no yellowing of the outer leaves or pest damage. Plants are slightly more spreading in their habit than that of previous crops but are likely to have reached their maximum extent. The plants should have been due for harvesting this week, but they remain two weeks late as a ‘best guess’.
The Chard ‘Bright Lights’ in Planter 3 has suffered a very severe (unintended) ‘hair cut’. Having coaxed the plants to continue to harvest beyond their original 4 week term the plants have been picked clean of all leaf in the mistaken expectation they would be removed this week (poor communication!) While this is unfortunate, it does provide additional space for the Hearting lettuce ‘Amaze’ to grow. The plants have not been removed, as this would cause unnecessary disturbance to the ‘Amaze’, and they may well regrow to produce baby leaf. In the meantime, they look very sorry for themselves but do provide a reminder that the way crops are picks is a major determinant on the quality and quantity of produce – as well as for how long harvesting can continue.
All three kales in Planter 4 germinated within 3-4 days, evidence if ever it was needed of the effects of warm soil temperature on germination and the benefit of watering seed drills generously after sowing (and repeating this for a couple of days). Germination rates have varied between the three varieties with Kale ‘Emerald Ice’, and Kale ‘Midnight Sun’ proving to be slightly temperamental with germination rates of 59% and 67% respectively. Nero di Toscana (Cavolo Nero) has proved more reliable with a germination rate of 93%. All seedlings have good colour, stems with good girth, and no evidence of ‘damping off’ to which kales can be susceptible (damping off is a soil borne fungal disease that causes seedlings to rot at the base of the stem at and / or below the soil surface). Seedlings of the three varieties are distinct in colour with Kale ‘Emerald Ice’ light green, Kale ‘Midnight Sun’ dark green and Nero di Toscana (Cavolo Nero) a reddy green.