Saturday, 23 February 2019

Erratic weather at the end of Summer

Posts for this infrequent gardening blog have followed an unintentional pattern of one per season since they started last autumn. Fortunately, it doesn't reflect the level of gardening activity, but may reflect the kind of erratic weather we get nowadays: a strong, wet southerly expected tomorrow after our long, too dry spell.  But, in the last weekend of summer, I can report a fairly flourishing garden, thanks to the perservering efforts of a few of our members.

Today, I tidied up some of the pathways and around the apple tree. Also managed to harvest/salvage some cherry tomatoes - enough for a salad; and scores of large but unripe, windfallen apples from our apple tree in the garden (more down the back by the railway line). The apples, along with a few sticks of rhubarb, will go into a crumble to share at a community do I'm heading to tonight.

Butternuts (or some other pumpkin type thing) are ripening. The tomatoes and butternut/pumpkin plants could do with some disentangling and the tomatoes restaked - to allow better ripening and access to the tomatoes.  Some of the potatoes in other beds could be ready for harvesting soon as well.

Jobs to be down:
- disentangling tomatoes and butternuts
- staking the tomatoes
- harvesting tomatoes as they ripen (anyone can help themselves)
- general weeding and tidying up some bed
- more old carpet to be laid on some pathways (Martin)