We nearly got through July without a spot of rain, parts of the country seemed to have been flooded by truck loads of rain (if indeed you can measure rain water by the size of a truck).  For us, we got a small bit which meant when I got to the plot this morning there was nothing much to show for the rain over night, digging a bit confirmed this by everything being dry.  The ‘end of the world heat wave’ might be over, temperatures are a lot lower and it is certainly windy.  It is forecast more wind and rain tomorrow.

I’m quite glad the temperatures are down a bit as it has allowed me to sow some last lot of beetroot and do another row of turnips.   During the week I have been forking over the old potato and onion bed, spent all that time picking stones out as I see them which means I have built up quite a pile of stones on the side as I throw them over.   I mixed in a bag of mushroom compost and put down some ant powder.  Racked it all over and gave it all a water before sowing seeds.

Items this week in quick list format:

• sowed half a row of multi-coloured beetroot  (eat our first lot of white beetroot, a strange look but a familiar taste)
• picked beetroot, french and broad beans
• broad beans are mostly finished, I cut some down that were clearly finished
• hoed and watered
• sowed a row of turnips
• sowed more rocket and salad leaves – too hot maybe for the last sowing, nothing came up.  This time I’ve tried to shade it a bit by adding the green netting.
• picking tomatoes each day for lunch
• sweet peppers, indoors, all plants apart from one have small peppers
• tidied the strawberries, a couple of runners I had planted in last week have taken and so I have removed the runner bits.   I want to get two more and then I an remove all runners and they can concentrate on themselves for a bit
• inspected kale plants, squashed any egg looking things and gave each a shake to highlight any caterpillars.  Something is still eating them.