Oh What a Tangled Web

The dry spell of weather has been ideal perfect for drying off the onions and garlic I harvested a couple of weeks ago - that and the new greenhouse facility.

Onions I now have confidence that I have mastered a rudimentary system for stringing, but garlic is another matter.  It should be a simple three strand plait, but somehow it invariably turns into  a  tangled web.  The difficult bit is locking in the bulbs where they should stay. No sooner have you finished than they flop all over the place. It doesn't help that the instructive video I watched on U Tube declared that it was a simple task, nay even a peasant's task.  It was notable that the commentator was not actually carrying out the task in question.

Here's my take on it:

Not so bad... until you hang them up:

On to the onions:

 All strung up:

It will be another year before I get another shot at it.

Peas Please Me...and Beans Too

Sometimes a crop is more welcome because you didn't expect them to come to much.  This year's peas is a case in point

The runner beans are great too, but the quantity a bit overwhelming!

Elephantitis?

Last week I was posting about elephant garlic.  Today I spotted this exotic visitor in our garden:

A bit of internet searching and it is identified as an Elphant Hawk Moth Caterpillar.   Pretty exotic, And the moths themselves are fairly dramatic.  I'll have to keep an eyeout for them.

Also on the large size now is the Runner Bean stand.  Cropping is two weeks in and some of them are whoppers.

Not large yet, but getting that way, the cucurbits. The yellow courgettes have been the star so far, but there are Butternut Squashes, Kabocha, and Sharks Fin Melon on the way.

And just for the record here's the leek patch. One of the areas without weed supressant fabric I'm rather pleased with the results of my hand weeding last weekend.  In the foreground are potatoes, and beyond the leeks are drying bean Canadian Wonder, alongside the leeks a row of peas which will be ready to pick this weekend. The fruit cage behind is just about ready to have the nets off as soon as the last raspberries have been picked.  It's been a great sof fruit year!