Tuesday 20th August 2024 - Rising Early, Rampaging Over the Plot and Lack of Sloes

I don’t know why, when we get up earlier and go to bed later in the summer months, to me the days feel shorter.  Maybe it’s because the garden takes up more time but whatever it is, I often find, come the end of the day, there are things I’ve not had time to do.  Of course, they get done in the end but being one for lists, I like to be able to cross off, all my ‘to dos’ each day.  This desire to complete everything possibly stems from my job which had strict deadlines.  I should add, I no longer feel pressured to complete everything, as I did at work.

We are reaping the benefit of summer vegetables.  Peter’s plot is not a large area but he fills it with a variety of vegetables which we benefit from, particularly at this time of year. A first this year, he is growing squash and celeriac.  Both of these vegetable store well and if successful, they will be left and eaten in the colder months.  We knew squash plants take up a lot of room and they certainly do, rampaging over the plot and the inside of the old polytunnel, even venturing up the fence.  At the moment there is only one squash growing and Peter is wondering if he should shock the plant into producing more by cutting it back.  A severe cut back certainly worked with the cucumber plants in the greenhouse.  With tiny cucumbers on the vine and none of them growing, I hacked some of the stems off and within days growth started and we have now had four good sized cucumbers to eat.

In my last blog, I briefly touched on the wildflowers which are setting seed – a sign of the impending autumn.  We have also noted there is a lack of sloes in the hedgerows.  Last year we were recommended to make sloe rum but with a shortage of sloes; this isn’t going to be happening this year.  The blackberries are not good either, those we have seen are small and not particularly plump.  As we have blackberry vodka from last year, we don’t need many, just enough for the freezer, to include in blackberry and apple pies.  I’m assuming the sloes didn’t set because we had such a wet spring and there weren’t many insects about.  As for the blackberries, the ground was damp when they were forming, so we expected to see bumper crops of juicy berries.  Maybe the recent dry weather has prevented them from developing fully.  We will continue our search for some suitable to freeze – apple pie is just not the same without blackberries!

Today’s photo is of another umbellifer, growing on the cliff tops, which has set seed.