Saturday 3 October 2009

August

Early August, and back from 3 weeks' holiday; we hear that it rained for almost the entire time. The garden certainly looked very lush, although the French beans had succumbed to blackfly, the courgettes weren't doing much at all, and the lettuces I planted had completely disappeared to the snails and slugs. The brassicas were all looking lacy, but not stripped to the ribs as I had feared.

The unfriendly neighbour built not so much a fence as a compound, while we were away - 'for privacy', he said. Not a problem - he's to our north.

The grapevine had grown enormously, I had no idea it would get this big! Only supported by a few bamboo canes, it had collapsed onto the lawn so I propped it up as best I could. Over winter, I'll be building proper supports for it, and learning how to prune it so that it will be better-behaved, and maybe more productive, next year. It did produce bunches of tiny grapes but they were lost in amongst all those leaves.






The 'Pastiche' sunflowers, going strong; try staring into this one, it makes a strange optical effect.


The sad state of the French beans:




Success with the Goldfield beans! Lying on a black beret - big and also tasty. I'll grow these again next year. Anno Giallo also did reasonably well, and Cherokee Trail of Tears. The Purple Teepee, Modus, and Minidor were all stunted and unsuccessful - I don't think I added enough matter to the soil, and the blackfly also affected them badly.

3 comments:

  1. It's all looking good, you must be pleased at how well you've done this year!
    I grew 'Pastiche' sunflowers, and will again next year as one of no less than five different varieties!
    I've given you a linked mention in my today's post, which is all about not being a seedoholic! Flighty xx

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  2. Hehe, Seedoholics Unite! :) Yes, I'm pleased, though the beans were disappointing for the most part and the courgettes and tomatoes were a washout. Ah well, lessons learned. Happy to be learning as I go along!
    I do like the pastiche sunflowers, I'll certainly grow them again next year. They're great for the beans to climb up!
    It's going to be sad when I get my first frost and many of those things still blooming will start to die back - I'm hoping a few will continue all the same. Going to bring in my ivy-leaved geraniums this week, I think.

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  3. As well as not being seedoholics I think that all gardeners are eternal optimists!
    You'll never stop learning that's for sure.
    All my courgette seedlings were eaten by slugs and I dug up the blackfly infested broad beans.
    Sadly it's that time of year when gardens and lotties start to look rather forlorn.
    Flighty xx

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