Late evening kale

Maybe I have left it a bit late to plant the kale plants out from their pots in the garden to under netting at the allotment; I noticed caterpillars on the leaves nibbling away.  I spent the last days picking the small caterpillars off each day until this evening Tom and me took them up to be planted out.

It was noticeable on the plot that it still has not rained and it has been extremely hot, everything was in great need of some water.  Before that we harvested anything that was ready.   The raspberries and strawberries have both finished, some of the strawberries have runners which I will push into the ground to get rooted at some point soon.

Items picked:

  • lots of broadbeans
  • loads of french beans
  • beetroot
  • a couple of carrots
  • turnips
  • potatoes

Potatoes have not done well, all very scabby and small.  A mix of lots of ants(?) and maybe not planted deep enough, left in the ground too long?    Runnerbeans struggling still with blackfly even after regular spraying with soapy water.

It had all taken a while and was starting to get dark, but we still had the kale plants to sort out.  Tom started watering while I transplanted the kale from their pots into the ground, mulched with mushroom compost and started work on the netting.  It was all a bit of rush and not the best job, but we got it done.  Maybe in the coming weeks we will build something a bit better.  I had one more check for any bugs or caterpillars – time will tell if I have got away with it and the plants will overcome anything remaining.

We had a massive further watering session (it was so dry that Tom’s previous watering had started to dry up).  With a load of watering cans and the light fading fast, we took it in turns to fill them up and run back to empty them onto the plot.

I’m surprised we got so much done in so little time.

In need to be planted out

 

Netting hastily put up – will come back and tidy up

 

Potatoes mostly all dug up, onions looking ready to be pulled

 

 

 

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