Flaming June

It seems we're having a spot of good weather at the moment.

By "good" I mean sunny with no rain. Which means that the plot has to get watered at least every couple of days. The rain barrel is dry so it's time to run the hosepipe. Fortunately our plot is right next to the water point so it's not too much of an issue. The only real sticking point are the plants in the greenhouses. These are in small trays to hold the water. But as the temperatures in there are regularly topping 40C then this water can get used up pretty fast. A few times I've walked in to find the plants wilting in the heat.

The greenhouses are getting full and although we've moved a lot of stuff out into beds, there is so much growth that at times it feels like a jungle.

But watering is a serious issue.

Now for the most part, each plant pot has it's own tray, but there is an issue which I didn't really foresee with the Sweet Million Tomatoes. They now reside in large pots... to which I have no equally sized trays. So either I need to keep them topped up with water or I need to find an alternative solution. I need to put my thinking cap on.

Edit: Inspiration granted!

So I cut open the old compost bags that I squirrelled away and duly sawed up an Estate Agent's sign post to make a raised area and laid the compost cover over it. Now I can fill it up with water. I can keep about 3 pots in these, so I'll have to juggle things carefully.

Meanwhile there is lush green growth in all beds... even the ones we didn't plant. Yes it seem that a few rogue courgettes (or squashes, not sure what exactly), potatoes and even tomatoes have managed to germinate. Whether they thrive is another matter.

The apple tree has had it's June Drop as well. So now we have a pretty reasonable set of apples which are starting to swell and ripen.

But it seems that there are a few areas which aren't so happy. For example the potatoes in the shopping baskets.

As you can see they have quite a few yellowing leaves and they just don't seem to be doing so well. So I decided to empty one of them out and see what's what below the soil. Well for starters there are some small spuds. About a decent portion for myself and The Wife for dinner tonight.

But the biggest takeaway from this discovery is that the soil is extremely dry. Whilst I have been watering them, it seems that the water, for the most part, has been heading for the sides of the baskets and then running away. Not much of the water is actually penetrating the main portion of the soil. So instead of pulling the other two, I decided to give them a long slow watering and see how things progress for next week. If they don't recover then it's not too much of an issue. I still have plenty of other potatoes in bags (and buckets and in the ground) which are showing very healthy green leaves and flowers.

Out at the front we get a lot of people stopping by and commenting on the petunias. They are certainly putting on a dazzling display.

Not bad for a few Estate Agent's signs and a couple of gravel boards.