Popped up to the allotment last night for a bit of harvesting – got another big plastic bag full of Mizuna, Rocket, Orach, Kale and Spinach and a box of sweet peas, runner beans and courgettes – I’m really liking the short stubby courgettes that seem to be coming from one of my plants – I think I’ll try to keep some seeds from that one. I’m pretty sure I will come back to some huge courgettes after my 2 week holiday.

Must ask the nieghbour to water my plot whilst I am away.

20 runner beans
10 courgettes
4 big telegraph peas
Bucket of cherries
Carrier bag of Mizuna, Rocket, Orach, Perpetual Spinach

I am loving the visits to the allotment even more now – instead of just watering and weeding – we are now going home with the rewards.

Bought back home the following yesterday…
1 Courgette.
3 runner beans.
Bunch of Kale.
2 Pots of cherries.
1 Bag of Mizuna

soon we will also be picking the Rocket/Orach/Perpetual Spinach and many many more beans of a all types.

Started harvesting a few things this week. We had 2 large courgettes from our plot …

…and the Mizuna is ready to pick – they have suddenly turned into large bushy clumps of tasty leaves.
The runner beans are growing in size and should hopefully be ready to start picking over the weekend.

Below are the cabbages and sprouts – doing OK I think – at least with the netting they have not been destroyed by caterpillars.

I also have some Kale here – that I started picking the leaves of last weekend – they went down well the other night with some sausages.

The other salad leaves (Orach, Perpetual Spinach and Rocket) are getting going and may need thinning out soon too.

Also – my girlfriend planted some edamame beans and these do not seem to be getting very big yet – not sure about how they should be growing though – maybe they will shoot up later in the summer.

My bright purple Orach has reared its head about 2 weeks after planting.
They are looking very healthy and bright – but I think I may need to get some more netting to protect them from the local pests. I have built a few more frames to staple the netting to but need to get hold of some more netting.
I’ll take some pictures next time I get to go up to the allotment.

8th July – Picked a small bunch of the Orach leaves for a salad yesterday – along with the Rocket, Perpetual Spinach and Rocket – it made a great salad mix – went well with some some of my dressing and a sprinkle of roasted Pumpkin seeds and Parmesan cheese.

Here is how the Orach is currently looking – and I have just read that it will produce leaves until the first frosts and that it will grow to about 1m tall and can self seed if the seeds are left to dry out.

Ordered a few more packs of seeds – thanks to VegetableSeeds.net.

Am looking forward to getting these planted – I always get a feeling at this time of year – that I am falling behind and that I should really already have lots of seedlings transplanted into the ground.
I have few things in – and a few things doing quite well on my windowsills at home – but I can’t help thinking that the little vegetable plants have little chance against the mighty weeds that seem to grow so fast it’s almost possible to watch them as it happens.

My surrounding allotmenteers all seem to have beds brimming with greenery – mine is mostly soil still – although the populated fruit cage has made a bit of a difference.