I was away for about a week and things in the polytunnel got surprising when I came back. The tomato plants had completely gotten out of hand, so much so that it was difficult to walk past them. So my first task was to cut out a lot of stems. Apparently I was supposed to be cutting back the leaves below the first flowers all along (says internet tomato experts). It's also important to know what kind of tomato variety you have before you start cutting back i.e. is it determinate or indeterminate. I think my toms are indeterminate, which means they will keep growing up while flowering, whereas the determinate varieties will stop growing before they produce flowers. Below is a before and after picture.
While I was away the beans seem to have petered out and almost all of them got eaten by slugs. I've not had very good luck with the beans, and I think it might have to do with where I placed them- right next to an apple tree and on the north side of the polytunnel, and I worry they didn't get enough light to thrive before the got attacked. The peas are also looking pretty sad after their equine mishap, although they are still faithfully producing pea pods. I've already managed to collect and dry out some of the peas and store them for next year's crop. Meanwhile the sweet pea have been very prolific. They smell amazing, and once picked and popped in a vase inside, they make a room smell flowery for days!
The blackcurrant bush is laden with fruit this year. They are very sour but with lots of sugar in a pie, they are really amazing and full of flavour. As I know I won't be able to may of them I've picked about 2-3 kilos of them and put them in the freezer. The best way to freeze them is but them in a shallow dish in the freezer til they are frozen, then transfer them into a freezer bag.
When I came back home, to my surprise this fully grown courgette had appeared. The courgettes and cucumbers are growing really well now that the have established themselves in the polytunnel, and most of the plants have started flowering. There seems to be a lot more male flowers around compared to female but hopefully I will still get a nice crop out of them.
And to end my blog here are some pictures of some of the bee-friendly flowers that are growing in my garden.
Hannah x
Hey
ReplyDeleteWhy did you end your blog here? It was very nice to read. I wonder what you are doing now. Did you grow anything in the years since? Did you manage to get the saved seeds to germinate?