Vegmonkey and the Mrs.

We have been so busy. No excuses for the lack of updates. I suppose being busy is an excuse though… We don’t really go in for posting recipes or pictures of our dinner either so there’s not really been a huge amount to write about. Ironically, as there is so much going on in the garden, there really is very little to do. I know people shout about getting your Brassicas ready for next year but i really do see it as a lot of effort considering the effort i put in earlier in the year. I just want to enjoy it.

The other reason we’ve been so quiet is that Vegmonkey Towers is officially up for sale. It took a lot to do it as we are very happy here but we need a little more space inside and a little more outside so are moving somewhere else within Cheltenham, where we will get a little more for our money. The upshot of this is all the positive comments we’ve had about the garden. We’ve had so many viewings, I can imagine being part of the RHS open garden scheme must be a little something like this…or maybe I am over flattering us a little…

So, the garden. The sweetcorn did ok. The Savoy cabbage did ok until i removed the Enviromesh cover. The peas did well. The Rhubarb did very well and the Japanese onions did very well.

The biggest successes are the things that are still growing. The carrots and parsnips have done amazingly and I am pulling endless long roots from the soil (even though I know I shouldn’t really be touching the parsnips yet). The tomatoes are also doing really well although my experiment sort of hasn’t worked as I think I may have labelled them wrong. Two of the plants that are meant to be the same, look completely different. Oh well.

At the allotment, we have had what can only be called a ‘glut.’ “What of?” I hear you ask? Well, everything! The runner and French beans have produced about 5 carriers bags full and are still producing, long after the supports have been snapped by the wind. The sweetcorn produced a massive box of earwig filled sweet cobs. Probably 30 or so in total. I was very happy to see most of the cobs had perfectly formed. On the potato front, we’ve cleared two beds and had near to 30kg. The other two beds are still in the ground and are probably being slowly eaten by bugs ‘n’ stuff. I’d guess there is another 30-40kg in there but how much is edible is anyone’s guess.

The courgettes have gone nuts. Will I ever learn? The onions number enough to keep us going for until well into next year – they are all strung up in the shed and we keep checking them for rot. Not sure how we will move them though? We’ve also got a butternut squash plant or two spitting out frequent little fruits which will continue for a while yet I think.

The worst thing about the allotment is the weeds. It has driven us to despair and made us not even want to be there – which completely isn’t the point of having an allotment. We want to grow, but we can’t as the weeds grow so quick, they throw their seeds everywhere and the problem multiplies. This is exacerbated by neighbouring plots being so covered in weeds that anything we are likely to do would result in, well, let’s just say it wouldn’t work! We’ll see how we get on with it next year. I think landscape fabric may beckon!?