It has got a bit of height with teasel, thistle, wild carrot and yarrow all standing out.
Tracking through the season, dandelions looked like they had taken over and then buttercups as you can see here:
But both flowers receded in turn. Here is the same end on view now.
For comparison here is the wildflower meadow last year. There were more poppies and corncockles than this year and lots of wild radish.
And going back another year this is how it all started:
As it is now the end of August it is time to start clearing the meadow "progressively", that is bit by bit. The grass and other plants have become a matted thatch so I remove them to a sacrificial pile at the end. There is ample opportunity for wildlife to move on as progress is slow - I use a pair of hand shears!
Here is a gallery of some of the current occupants:
Hope you enjoyed a mosey around the wildflower meadow!
It is a sure sign of summer progressing when your fennel is ready for harvest. After a summer where my focus has been elsewhere I realise it is time to do my "warts and all" tour of the plot.
The parsnips are progressing steadily regardless of the stop start weather. Alongside I have some second sowing of autumn crops where the elephant garlic was.
The fruit cage is looking very green where the gooseberries and redcurrants are, A really good redcurrant crop but only a few gooseberries. I might have been a bit vigorous with my winter pruning? The blackberries and autumn raspberries behind are yet to come. The two summer varieties are finished
Spring planted Onion from sets are flopping over of their own accord. The early leeks behind show no such tendancy.
For the first time I have tried to grow onions from seed too. They are behind the celery and celeriac in this bed. (It is also the first time I have tried to grow celery)
Moving along to the brassica patch there are three distinct phases as indicated by the height of the plants. The early cabbages and cauliflower are all gone but the Brussels remain tall and now suitably distanced.
Further along the beans are hitting their peak. Both Runners.
and Dwarf French
The winter squashes are the sea of green next door to the beans - although there are some flowers. Fruits? So far three marrow sized courgettes.
The foreground bare patch here is where the peas were and are now sown with winter leaves (Land Cress , Claytonia and Lamb's Lettuce.
Bringing up the rear I have hedged my bets trying to establish an asparagus bed but growing strawberries in between - at least until the asparagus gets going. It was grown from seed. (The rhubarb blueberries and globe artichoke just get on with their business year after year.)
The final area is not very pretty, It is the potato patch with nearly all of the tops cut off. It looked like this in the middle of June.
I am determined to make my own seed growing medium and potting compost after my recent bad experience with commercial peat free products.
The coir comes in a dry brick which is easy to rehydrate.
The kitchen compost just needs to be sieved.
Then it is a simple mixing job. After searching the internet I went for 2 scoops compost, 2 parts coir and 1 part perlite.
Now I am ready for my end of season sowings. At least I am confident that there are only healthy ingredients in my mix. I feel sure that I won't be buying any proprietary mix next year, which is admittedly a leap of faith at this early stage.
Much as I hate reporting failures, I feel obliged to record the abysmal failure of my tomatoes and cucumbers this year. Yellow, at best, to purple leaves, lack of growth, prone to attack by pests or simply rotting: it has been an abject failure. I tried several new tomato varieties, but also my failsafe Sungold, so I know it is not my growing methods. The culprit has to be the peat free compost. New Horizon Vegetable Compost by the normally reliable Westland. I had noted that New Horizon "All Plant Compost" claims to have "No Green Waste" but on closer examination the Vegetable Compost misses this phrase out from the blurb. It does claim to be suitable for growing tomatoes. Both products have a real stink about them even before you break open the bag, reminiscent of pig slurry. I now have a dilemma: Do I try to isolate and dispose of these products or let the contaminants dissipate/dilute on the allotment, once in contact with real soil? It may be only by association but I went down with food poisoning for two weeks after working with this material intensively. In the small print they do advise you to wear gloves when handling - advice I now take very seriously!
