Well the greenhouse is pretty poor - I've barely had time to visit it to water and so it's had to fend for itself ... the strawberries were amazing - the few that I ate during fleeting visits anyway and the marigolds are rather lovely, but my aubergine is pathetic and I don't think my peppers are going to come to much.



My tomatoes are rather disappointing. Now that my OH is back from his 3 week holiday, I might have a bit more time to visit. Remember that naughty kitten mixing up all my labels ... this is supposed to be a Gardeners Delight haha ... but is obviously a Tigerella.



One greenhouse success is my mint - it's now in flower - isn't it pretty ! Typical tho .. just as the peas are ready, the mint finishes !! Sigh.



Let's not even discuss my weeds !! Where do they come from ??

Here is my pride and joy ... if only I knew what it was haha. I think it may be a Sweet Dumpling' or a 'small sugar' ... it does have a label ... if only I'd looked at it.



My Vivaldi potatoes have died down, so I've started to dig them up - fancy, in the right season haha. We've had some tonight in Jamie's 30 minute curry - along with the last of last years Winter Festival, this years garlic and some freshly podded peas. Yum !!



My beetroot germination as been very patchy, not sure why. I will try to sow some more during my next visit. My yellow ones are still very small - I think these ones were Choggia (the stripy ones) ... really must start checking labels LOL. They are sat on a bag of peas that I harvested. Still lots on the plants. The flippin' pigeons have been landing on the netting over the top of the peas and nibbling them !! Nothing is safe ... grrr



Baby carrots are progressing well ... it's really not as big as it looks in the photo. Wonder if I'll get carrot fly again this year. I've not got any fleece covering them, as that's prevented precious water reaching them in previous seasons. Guess I'll just take my chances. Maybe eating them young is the plan ...



We've had quite a lot of sunshine, so I'm not altogether surprised that my courgettes are so small ... I really really really must manure this autumn, the ground is exhausted (bit like me)



Well the spinach has well and truely gone to seed ... it's rather pretty, but I didn't actually get a crop off it .



The dry weather has also seen the florence fennel go to flower before the bulb's have formed. It has the most amazing aniseed smell and beautiful soft fern fronds ... I might cut some for the house





hey hey ! Khol Rabi :)
Doing pretty well ... they've got a pityful net over the top of them, honestly it's minute - even Nick next door laughed when he saw it - but so far so good. Wonder what you do with Kohl Rabi ... it's a wonderful colour.



Peas ! Hurrah. Bag full picked. More to come :)



It hasn't photographed very well, but my vertical squash arrangement is working very well ... well so far anyway



Baby squash - the tromboney one ... forgot its name LOL. Something about Marina di choglia ??? hahah ... MUST start to look at my labels.



My sweetcorn is still very small, but it has all developed tassels ... it could probably do with some more water.



This is what happens when you don't net !!!! grrrrr. My beautiful cauliflowers - had 5 varieties **sob**



Any ideas anyone ? this appeared in just a few days ... it's growing really vigorously ... so it's bound to be a weed or a tree. It's certainly not something I've planted. I'm curious to see what it develops into - occasionally I get the odd thing from one of the neighbouring lotties - black kale etc ... or a helpful squirrel will bury the odd acorn.



The pond was less than half full this afternoon. It had got so low that I took the decision to top it up with the hosepipe. My reasoning was better some water than no water. Hope all the wildlife is OK - my poor waterlilly had finally flowered and now it's under 1.5' of water. I'll find out next time I go up whether I have a leak, or whether it really is just evaporation. Jenny emailed to say she has newts !! I'm so jealous. Mind, you can't have newts and frogs - just one or the other. One eats the other, I can't remember which - maybe the newts are the meanies ? But still - newts !! so exciting. Will pop in to see them next time we are both up there - will try and get a photo. Just lots of baby frogs in my pond.



Another casualty of my absence - the fantastic raspberries have all but finished. This small tub is what I managed to salvage. I'm going to see if there is enough for jam. So cross - they looked amazing a couple of weeks ago, just didn't have time to stop and harvest :(



I don't think my blueberries are going to do very well this year - they haven't had enough water :)



Herbs are always beautiful in flower



This is in my wildflower garden, in front of the pond - no idea what it's called, but it's very pretty.



A cornflower has arrived in the wildgarden - it is stunningly pretty



Argh ... I've got teasels popping up everywhere !!



As usual, poppies are also appearing all over the plot - I have deep red and Nick next door has purple. They are very pretty



I've got nasturtiums - yeay !!



If you are from Sheffield, don't forget to read the post I put on this morning - next one down.

Hello, not much to report - too busy to do more than water the lottie at the moment - during my fleeting visits I've noticed that the strawberries have been and gone (doh), raspberries are about to fall off the bushes (double doh), courgettes have arrived, baby squash is grapefruit size, beetroots have swelled, carrots are growing strongly, peas are more than ready for picking and Javelin potatoes are ready for lifting ! Got lots going on at home, but will hopefully fit in a proper visit and blog update soon.

This is just a quick call out to all Sheffield Allotment holders.

Pat has emailed to advise that at the last Allotment Advisory (council meeting) the members were informed that there will be a consultation with tenants about rent rises 2013 - 2016 (remember that email doubling rents that some of us objected to a few months ago - relevant post here)

This consultation will probably be end of September / October. It is expected that a number of meetings will be held where various proposals will be presented and ideas and options discussed. There should also be the opportunity for submitting ideas / views by letter and email.

This will be discussed at the next meeting of the Allotment Federation - Monday 18th July, at Rivelin Valley Allotments (meet Rivelin Valley Cafe at 7.00 pm). All welcome to attend.