The summer solstice has been and gone...

I remember when summer used to mean warm muggy evenings when one could sit in the garden with friends; a time when the sun shone and all was good with the world. Not this year! The lack of sunshine is having a real effect on the crops, especially runner beans. They do not seem to be moving much, and they do look pale poor things. Still, we should be in for a late crop this year. Funny enough i planted a row of The Stenner about two weeks later than the culinary beans and they seem to be doing much better as a result. Well as the title says the summer solstice has been and gone, from now on the nights slowly but surely start to draw in, the light levels dwindle and, most importantly, the onions begin to bulb up!
The onions i purchased from David Metcalfe are doing splendidly in the polyhouse (will post some photos this week on my days off) as are Peter Glazebrooks in the 20ltr pots. Cucumbers are not doing well at all this year due to the cold nights earlier on and i have had alot of people coming to me and telling me theyve lost their cucumbers.
This pastweek i've been emptying my greenhouse here at home, kitting it all out with new staging, painting this white (for light benefits) and sterilising everything with good old Jeyes. All this preparation is ready for next yers batch of leeks and onions- thought i'd start preparations early to avoid having to do everything at the last minute.
I have built a very useful screen for my celery bed for the odd day when the sun does decide to shine. As and when required, the netting can be rolled up or down to provide useful shade on the celery plants. If they get to hot and start to flag, this is when calcium uptake is hindered and heart rot becomes more likely. Needless to say, i am watering weekly with calcium nitrate also to prevent this disease which otherwise would render an otherwise good celery plant unshowworthy. In fact, last year a very good friend of mine decided to enter two heads of celery in his collection that he had earlier told me had heart rot. They looked fine when we were staing bt when we came back after the judging had taken place there was a brown puddle under each celery where the moisture from the rot had oozed out. Nice!
The shallots have been lifted his week and are in our old fashioned entry where they are out of direct sunlight and where a nice bit of air can circulate round them so they dry steadily at an even temperature. Some people i know dry them in their greenhouse, and i used to be among them, but i found that they dried too quickly and temperatures fluctuated in the greenhouse and this produced wrinkled, mis coloured bulbs. The shallot bed will now be weeded and sterilised ready for next years crop.
The brassicas in the new brassica cage are doing well, especially the Brigadier cabbage. I planted them 3ft apart and already they have filled this space and they are showing very little evidence of a solid heart yet. Autoro cabbgae is a good strong red cabbage well suited to the show bench aswell as the kitchen and these are doing really good too. A second sowing of kohl rabi has gone in this week ready for the late august early september shows as have two lots of french beans.
Ther first two trusses of toms have set and i have strated feeding with sheep manure, comfrey and soot.
The broad beans i sowed for shrewsbury show are doing nicley and are nearly at the top of their 5ft canes and are full of flower. There is very little to do with them other than remove any sideshoots that should appear and keep them tied in regularly.
All the xanths have been secured to two breaks and all tied in. Judging by the plants themselves we should be in for some good blooms again his year. Unfortunately, the slugs have taken a liking to several of the plants and they have reduced a 4-4 1/2 ft xanth plant to little more than a 9" stump!
Oh well, the forcast is better for this week, which is lucky as i'm judging our allotment competition this week. So, as promised i should get some decent sunshine to go out and take some photos of how everythings progressing so you can all look and laugh...