The Allotment in July

Our work on the allotment this month has been mainly weeding (as ever), watering and picking as much produce as we possibly can!

The tomatoes in the greenhouse have finally started to ripen. We had a bit a shock a couple of weeks ago as when we walked in to see one of the tomatoes collapsed on the floor. We thought it had snapped but thankfully it had just fallen over. A quick hunt for a suitable cane and a good water and it was back to normal.

The leeks have been moved from these boxes and are now in the ground. I'm quite impressed at how they started off looking like stray bits of grass and now they are proper vegetables.

We have found with the purple sprouting broccoli that you need to be quick to pick it before it starts flowering. Any extra winged creatures are evicted once cut!

The first of the onions have been picked and are now drying out in the greenhouse. When we first saw the greenhouse last November there was a wooden drying rack in it but it has disappeared by the time we moved onto the plot in March. We've currently using an upturned plastic bottle box we found in the shed.

Throughout the month we have picked lots of soft fruit. The raspberries have ripened in small quantities that means we have been able to pick just enough to scoff at a time.

It's been different with the currants though. 6lbs of blackcurrants have been turned into jelly and over 5lbs of redcurrants. There is still about the same amount of redcurrants left on the bush but I've run out of jars! I think we are going to try to make redcurrant cordial with the rest of them. At the moment we are drinking rhubarb and star anise cordial.

It's not just about the stuff we can eat at the moment. The sweetpeas have exploded into colour and are happily climbing up the frame that was found at the back of the greenhouse. Every time we go we pick some more to take home to add fragrance to the house. I hope such a bounty continues into August.