Cabbages and Community

Indeed Margaret. I was saying similar to my next door plot neighbour today. Growing is our hobby and our pleasure. Anything we get out of it at the end is a bonus.

Nature is wonderful. 😂

We also have Fallow & Sitka deer, badgers, foxes, squirrels, rats, mice, pigeons etc but we are still daft enough to think we might get to eat some of what we grow. 😂

Keeping Hydrated in the Heat Tips On How to Water Your Plants

Another week of no rain and high temperatures looms again, so I’m re-sharing my article on how to keep your plants watered.

bournetogarden.substack.com/p/keeping-hy...

🌱 #Gardening #UKGardening #Watering #Drought

Squirrels got mine last year. I’d only been warned about the badgers.

Fort Sweetcorn

I’ve just heard that despite protection, badgers have dug under the defences & decimated a bed of sweetcorn on a plot further down the site. Hopefully my precautions will be sufficient to allow US to eat our corn this year. Picture from last month.

Bean bed

This was my broad bean (this end, long since harvested & mulched) french bean, pea & mange tout bed. Now the nets are off you can judge the success of these crops for yourselves. Started to clear it ready to mulch & repurpose.

Allotment

Got back to the plot at 4pm & had to take a pic. My plot is 70% in shade. It’s still warm @ 29C but with a light breeze this is now perfect. By 5pm it will be in full shade 😁
Every other plot is still in full sun & there is now a stream of tenants arriving to water.

National Allotments Week | The National Allotment Society

It’s #NationalAllotmentWeek !
thenas.org.uk/national-all...

Barney

😂

Barney & bone

After planting the apricot tree Barney & I headed to the vets to restock with his food & treats. He loves going there as the ladies on reception know him & have always got treats handy.
It will be 30C shortly. Time to hide away with a big fan.

In due course 🤞

New root growth

Apricot Tree

I posted that I planned to plant the apricot tree I potted up a few weeks ago. I also mentioned it was looking healthy. Not surprising when you see the new root development.
It is now in its new home with plenty of fresh compost. I plan to turf the area round it after mulching over winter.

Salad bed

It’s hot, but I took the cage off my ‘salad crop’ & cleared the bed. The little gem lettuces & radishes bolted when the rain came some weeks back. Despite watering the endive, mixed leaves & spring onions were weak & straggly & had to come out early. As I’ve said before, nature is a fickle mistress.

And that yours fully matures. 🤞

Yep. Did a couple of hrs to 11am this morning then back down the plot this evening when it was blissfully comfortable.

😂 As I posted earlier, if I attempt to grow cacti, aloe vera & palm trees on my allotment next year we might get some rain,

As did I. 😂

Well done. This is my first attempt with melons. My surviving plant is in one of my tunnels. I’m not holding my breath.

We could do with a few buckets full 😉

We just got 12 unforecast drops in Essex too.

Tomatoes

Dropped the apricot tree off at the plot this evening ready to plant out tomorrow. It’s looking really healthy. Pics to follow.
While I was there I picked these beauties. 2 x Roma and 2 x Moneymaker. Lots more to come. 😁

Hope yours give a much better crop than mine.

I could tell by the poor foliage growth that this bed was going to be poor. C’est la vie.

Sheffield campaigners launch bid to buy Moscar Moor for community Moscar Moor is not for sale, but the group hopes to secure it under new Community Right to Buy law.

Sheffield campaigners launch bid to buy Moscar Moor for the community

Local Labour councillor Minesh Parekh said: “I look forward to people making use of the upcoming 'Community Right to Buy' legislation to bring mismanaged land into community hands”

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Sometimes you just have to take a stand. It makes extra work for you guys. Good luck.
As the horticultural society manage the sites here we have a 3 part process: A quiet word from the site rep with the offending tenant. If no positive response a formal written warning. Then eviction by the Chair.

I got more from the first row & still have the third to lift. Then it will be on to my back up bed in the hope of a better result.

My first house was on the north downs, bought at the tender age of 22. Those were the days! I still remember turning into my road during a snow storm and burying the bonnet of the car in a snow drift. ⛄️ I stayed there for several days.

Spend a night in a tennis umpire’s chair armed with a search light and a shot gun? 😂

The nasturtiums I planted with them only got about 14” up the canes. That was about 6” higher than the ‘climbing’ veg crops.
I must admit that it’s a comfort to know it’s not just happening to my plants. Aloe Vera & a few cacti might be appropriate crops for 2026. That should make it rain! 😂