Even if this summer has been wonderful weatherwise, I'm very late in my gardening. I haven't planted all plant intended to polytunnel or greenhouse, and just yesterday got last gourgettes/zucchinis planted in to the vegplot. My mother will bring me some tomato plants, and I'll give her four potatoes (planted on milk cartons), Violet Queen. I have no space left for them.
Veg plot is hiding under jungle of weeds. I think I have some peas and magne touts, but can't find them yet. Broad beans are doing well, a year ago I tried to precultivate them, and it didn't turn out well. They were leggy and got attacked by blackflies, they suffered much more than the ones I sowed right to the veg plot. So it's direct sow for now on.
In veg plot there is of course potatoes, two varieties (Violet Queen and something I can't remember, but it is not Annabelle, it didn't like my soil at all last summer), brassicas (mostly cabbages, some kale and few others). I sowed swedes, but I think they're gone, as well as chard directly sown to soil. Beets I planted as small plants are doing fine. Cucumbers, on the other hand, are dying. I have no idea why. If cabbages and pumpkins are doing fine, so why not cucumbers (pickling ones)? I have some sweet corn (leftovers from raised bed) and sunflowers. They(sf) too don't want to grow, and I have no idea why. One fennel plant. It suprised me by staying alive!
On friday we had our annual Midsummer party at communal beach. I was hoping we wouldn't organize it, but no such luck. I have been working there about 17 times in last 20 years, and full decade in a row now! I haven't spent Midsummer with my kids at all, ever. I have been pouring coffee, cashing people, picking litter, taking care of roulette for children etc. This year we had few new volunteers, but not enough for me to stay away.
Then we celebrated the second birthday of my nephew and since that I have been stacking firewood for the winter. Loading a wheelbarrow to the brim, pushing that wheelbarrow up hill to wood shed and unloading it, and then stacking. All that while horseflies and mosquitos are trying to eat me.
Oh yeah, I sew pants to my sister one evening, she needed something else than jeans or leggins to wear while they were spending time by the lake (sister's bf's relatives has a hut there). I had some pale blue fabrick with pink flowers (thick cotton jersey (?) you could sew a hoodie) and matching pink ribbing. I had to find a pattern, copy pattern pieces to parchment paper, cut the pieces and sew... Haha. All in less than an hour. I just love me when I have those wonderful ideas. But, pants fitted her perfectly and protected her from mosquitos.
And I have one piece of fabric less to store here.
Since all that, I have been weeding veg plot. It's miserable. It is curious that some potatoes are doing fine while others are dying or just sprouted! Some spuds suffering have ant nest right in their roots, but others don't. I have no idea why some are doing fine and some not - it would be logical if most plants would be suffering? I weeded broad beans and beets, I have two more rows of potatoes to weed and then I have to tackle pea rows. There's so much thistle I'd like to cry, but most times I just make not so pretty faces when they prick me.
D cut all lupins from our yard, only one wheenbarrow, full. Most lupins I can see are in someone else's grounds, and I can't kill them without permission. Our neighbour will like me to tackle them too, I'm not sure if I want to. But needs must.
In the autunm I need to build at least one more raised bed, because I need one for brassicas, too. Now I have one for corn (doing fine), one for beans (doing more than fine) one for garlic (seeing scapes already) and one for carrots (and parsnips, I'm testing if my family wants to eat them), and two for strawberries. I could do with one shallow and narrow (like I have for strawberries) for pickling cucumbers, that's the last solution I can come up. If they don't grow in box, I don't have a clue what to do to get them growing.
And because strawberries are doing it so nicely in their boxes, I might need to build another just for strawberries... They are already forming runners, I have to remember make sure I'll get them at some point.
How lucky I have seemingly endless supply of used wood.
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