Currant News

 

Busy weeding, being sick and a week away, I see I haven't posted for weeks.  Yesterday's harvest will have to suffice.

Berry Berry

Be they red, blue, black or green the berries are most welcome at this time of year.

Black?  The blackcurrants seem to be enjoying a bumper year.  What surprised me was that the fruit appeared from tip to toe of each branch.  Here is a picture taken at ground level:

The reason for my surprise was that I have always understood that you want to encourage new growth from ground level with blackcurrants and prune accordingly.  The newer plant (set out in November 2018) didn't yield half as much as the older plants like this one, which also had larger berries.  Have I misunderstood the advice I wonder?

Ready Set... Go Go Go

Edinburgh has had a terribly dry, dull, cold April and early May this year but things seem to progressing even before the promised rain of this weekend.  My early early row of potatoes has started emerging (and are being dutifully mounded). I've never been keen on watering spuds but I made an exception for the really early ones and they seem to have responded.

The Potato Patch

As you can see there are a lot more yet to emerge. Even the weeds have been discouraged by the conditions!

The soft fruit area is getting a move on too and soon I will have to sling a net over the newly painted wooden frame

Soft Fruit Cage

The redcurrants are shaping up nicely....

,,,and so are the gooseberries:

Three rows of raspberries seem to have sprung to life.

Raspberries

Not forgetting the strawberries

Strawberry Patch

Next door to the soft fruit the alliums are leaning to the light source from the south. The latest planting of sets is to the left and that's two rows of elephant garlic on the right with ordinary garlic between it and four rows of onion sets in varying degrees of development as some were presprouted at home and others set out directly.

Alliums

Squeezed in at the end I've recently planted out the first leeks (Jolant). Not sure where I will put the next lot (Musselburgh) when they are ready.

Leek planting and Rhubarb

Maybe I have been over generous in the space allocated to carrots. All the more because they have to be netted. I really am trying to make a success of carrots this year, being one of the crops that we eat most of all the year round, and yet they did miserably last year. (The tunnel to the left is sown but the hooped tunnel is going to house our main crop - and, hopefully keep out the root fly.

Carrot Nets

These peas and broad been are squatting between the weed suppressant fabric for the brassicas and the WSF for the cucurbits. The runner beans and French beans have been allocated another similar sized area on the other side of the brassicas which is currently still covered with WSF - which won't be removed until the last moment before planting out.

Broad Beans and Peas

It's the bit with the bricks in the foreground here:

Room for Brassicas and Beans

With these preparations and the sowing and growing in the greenhouse at home, and the promise of rain this weekend,  it really is all about to go in a clatter!



Go Go Go

Fruit Bonanaza

 After two weeks of neglect we were really pleased to arrive back to a fruit bonanza.  The strawberries had started cropping before we set off on holiday so I was expecting the harvest to be over by the time we got back. In fact they held on and it was one of the raspberries that was threatening to turn. 

First picking

 Of course in my anxiety I have managed to leave my camera behind on each visit to the plot recently! 

Second picking

And we've had a third picking.  Yet to tackle the thorny gooseberries. 

So now it's redcurrant jelly, Strawberry and raspberry jam time