16th July 2017 - Cabbage and Leeches

Hi everyone, sorry I haven't blogged for a while - there is no particular reason other than life getting in the way!  In the last couple of weeks I haven't actually had that much to do on the plot, I have been keeping on top of the little bit of weeding I have to do and I've been deadheading the flowers but it's that time of year when everything is growing happily and other than harvesting a few things I don't really need to get too involved! 

Having said that I did want to do a summer prune on my cherry tree to help shape it into the fan on the fence and I wanted to re-pot my peach tree so I have done both of those jobs this weekend.  I also had a few bits still in the polytunnel that needed sorting out so I planted out the gypsophila.  Gypsophila is one of my favourite flowers, I know it's often used as a filler in flower arrangements but when you let the flowers bloom they are really delicate and pretty so I'm really pleased to have some growing (and I grew them from seed so I'm even happier with that!)  I also had some very sad looking lettuce in a tub that I planted into the bed in the polytunnel.  I don't know how they'll do but the won't be any less happy than they were in their tub.

I was delighted to find the lily flowering in the pond, it's a bright white flower with a really yellow centre.  As you can see from the picture the duck weed had gone wild and I also noticed that one of the oxygenators had gone mad as well so I decided to pull it all out.  In doing so I also pulled out the water forget-me-not and split it into 3 plants because it had got really unruly.  I've given one plant to my neighbour, put one back in the pond and I'll take the 3rd to school for their new pond.  I had to get right down to the bottom of the pond, and into the silt to pull some of the plants up.  When I'd done I noticed that I had some small leech like creatures attached to my hand!  I pulled the first one off and it bunched itself up; as I pulled it off it pinched.  The second one had obviously been on for a bit longer and when I pulled it off there was a small cut (like a paper cut) on my finger.  The weird thing is that it didn't bleed when I pulled them off but they were definitely biting me.  I am doing a bit of research because I really don't want to have them attaching themselves to me again :-(

I had to create a squirrel proof cage over my strawberries after they chewed through the normal netting.  I worked really hard to get the cage over the strawberries, I snipped the chicken wire to fasten the pieces together and then I used my pegs to fasten it to the ground.  Once I'd done I realised that I can't get in to the flipping thing myself now lol.  I'm going to use the wood from my old fruit cage to create a frame and then I'll be able to lift it off easily.  Until then the slugs are having a field day with the few strawberries that the squirrels have left!

I harvested one of the savoy cabbage from the polytunnel.  It was my intention to use it tomorrow to make the bombay veg that I have with my beef keema and it wasn't until I was halfway home that I remembered I'm away all week.  I brought it home and Mr L said he probably wouldn't use it so I took it to my friend who will use it.  She has 2 kids who I'm certain will love me forever for bringing them a HUGE cabbage to eat every day this week!!! hahahahaha

The cabbages have done really well and I'm really happy with them.  The outside leaves have had a tiny bit of snail damage but despite not netting the polytunnel against cabbage whites at all I have had no caterpillar damage on them at all (unlike my cauliflower, which are netted against the butterflies) - how does that work?!

Finally for today, I have been busy harvesting my sweetpeas for a few weeks now, each week I get more and more.  I watched Gardeners World this week and Monty said you should remove all of the flowers once every 10 days or so to increase your yield.  I've been doing it every 7 days and get a good bunch.  This week I took them to my mum because I didn't see the point in bringing them home when nobody in the house would appreciate them if I wasn't here.  They smelt amazing and I really hope she enjoys them.

I will try to get back into the habit of writing every week so until next time...

Happy Gardening!