July 2018 has been hot – no rain to speak of and temperatures in high 20s and early 30s every single day.  Scorching.  Blazing hot.  Wow.

We’ve had some good evenings at the allotment – just spot checking on the watering in these very hot dry days.  One evening I saw a young male fox, who was sauntering through the allotment plot just below ours.

Development continues apace. The bramble and prickly pile is slowly shrinking (we’re removing a bag or so each time we visit).

Green zucchini – planted end of first week of July 2018.

The collective trolley was fixed by the ever-intrepid Mr G (who was half-jokingly invited to be on the allotment committee!) 

The peppers and tomatoes are setting fruit and getting along nicely. As we emptied out bags of soil (used to plant the dianthus and herbs) I cut the bags open and laid them out, black plastic outward, on the pepper & tomato patch.  That should help keep the weeds down, keep the soil warm, and retain moisture.  Here’s hoping for good crops!

We planted a handsome zucchini (green fruiting) into a large pot full of fresh soil and lots of manure.  It’s dug into a deep hole in the slanting bed that leads up to the top terrace level.

This single green zucchini bought at a garden centre is already miles ahead of the two yellow fruiting zucchini planted in the second bed, keeping company with the bean patch.  They were also bought from a garden centre and are not doing terrifically well.

The beans, though a slow start compared to the bean crops on other allotment plots, are also growing well and reaching for the skies.

And the herb bed seems to be doing just fine.  I found some coriander and dill seed and will try to plant some into that bed and see what happens!  I want to use up all the seeds I can find in the flat.  They can grow or die, and either way will enrich the ground one way or another.  If they don’t germinate and grow then they’re destined to be tasty worm-food.