The weather this year has been a fantastic for growing crops, providing you have been able to provide water. Unfortunately I have not been able to do this on the allotment with terrible results. My raised beds are on sandy soil and are very well drained so they are susceptible to being fairly dry at the best of times. In this drought they are parched.
July is usually a wonderful month, and a very busy one if all the produce is to be harvested. Fruit like raspberries should come thick and fast and will have to be picked on a daily basis. We had a great crop of strawberries but these are now finished and the redcurrants were stolen by pigeons, along with half the gooseberries. Soon we will be picking vegetables like french beans and courgettes and cucumbers, which are all individual enough plants to be watered occasionally, and so are doing well.. If the veg is not picked they will produce seed and give up the will to live, even in a normal year, let alone in the current drought, so failure to spend time picking is a double whammy, you lose the present and future produce. It is important to engage a friend to cover for you if you go on holiday, otherwise you face the disappointment of more than just weeds on your return. What better than to spend the early evening gathering in the crops and then preparing them for the freshest and tastiest dinner you can imagine.(see Basil and Doyle in the recipe section) No time for planting now, although salad crops will still be a worthwhile digression to maintain the supply through to the first frosts. In case June plantings have not been made, I have included June's table below.
Gooseberries
Gooseberries
This is the time for picking: peas, broad beans, strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, blackberries, and digging those succulent early potatoes. Oh my aching back! Kate said she had never realised that strawberries could have so much flavour and Kay was typically on the mark when she said that there is a depth of flavour which is absent from those bought from the shops. This is true of all the allotment fare. The legumes are great steamed for a few minutes, if they actually reach the pan. People say they don’t like Broad Beans, but that’s because they have had commercial ones that were allowed to grow too large. Pick them small, twice or thrice the size of a pea, and they melt in the mouth. A great delicacy.
Lettuce
Salad Crops
I am still picking and planting radishes, spring onions and lettuces. This year I’ve had trouble with spring onions germinating and I forgot to sow a succession of radishes, a big mistake since in the dry weather they went to seed quickly and did not have enough moisture in them to taste good.. The lettuces are growing beautifully. A typical salad includes a variety of leaves, including endive, nasturtium, wild rocket and nasturtium flowers give a splash of colour.
Strawberries
Strawberries
I am removing strawberry "runners". As a result of the dry weather slugs are not really a problem this year. Normally I check carefully under the plants for slugs if any have been attacked and lose very few. As soon as I see damage I search for the culprit until it is found and destroyed. Of course I clear the adjoining area when the fruit began to ripen.. Also, the little white slugs normally need to be extracted from between the lettuce leaves. They don’t have big appetites, but they do render the leaves unusable unless you like them ‘holier than thou’. As with the strawberries, the bigger ones tend to locate themselves at soil level under the plant. This vigilance may be necessary if the weather takes a turn for the worse.
Shallots
Shallots
My shallots are pretty much ready, in fact we have used some whose roots became detached when I attempted to clear the soil away from the bulbs. (This needs to be done when the soil is dry, after a few days of hot weather). They are so tasty when roasted. Many sauces use them, like the classic Beurre Blanc which goes so well with fish and they are essential for the lip smacking Coq au Vin. They also taste great when pickled, if you have enough to spare. I cheat, and reuse the liquid from the malt vinegar based commercial ones. I keep promising myself that I must develop my own version.
Concurbits with Corn
Concurbits
The courgettes and the cucumbers will be ready soon, and I have sown my squash seeds from the Big Dig. Courgettes always grow too big when you’re not looking so the only way to outsmart them is to pick them rather too small. They certainly are big on flavour, enhancing a salad if chopped in raw and making a great pasta meal with home made pesto sauce. I’ll ask Basil and Doyle to give us the recipe next month when there’s always a glut. I pick the cucumbers small too. I’ll give the courgettes and cucumbers an occasional feed with diluted nettle juice, together with the corn and french beans. Nettle Juice is made by letting nettles grow where they are doing no harm, pulling them out when large enough and covering with water in a bucket. Two weeks later after a few stirs now and again it is very beneficial unless applied neat, in which case it is lethal.
Carrots
Carrots
The carrots are late this year, because my first sowing came through but vanished overnight. A second sowing will hopefully be ready later in the month, although even this was sparse in germinating. I’ll feel around the tops to estimate the size and pull when they are reasonable. It doesn't matter if some are small at this stage for there are plenty and they need to be thinned out a bit.
Leeks
Leeks
I’m always late with leeks. I start them off in pots although as they are leeks they would probably go better in a bucket. I transplant them into the space freed up by the digging of the early potatoes. So I’ll be transplanting them this month if they grow big enough. I find this is not too much of a disadvantage because vegetables are seasonal, and I tend to eat the leeks when most other vegetables are finished. My later transplanting means they don’t grow too large, I prefer them to be smaller as I think they are tastier. When I transplant the leeks I dib 6” (15cm) deep holes 8” (20cm) apart using a piece of tree branch I keep for the purpose. Before dropping the plants into the hole I use my thumb nail to trim the roots to 2-3” (5-8cm) and, if the longest leaf is very long I trim this back to the length of the next longest. Finally I carefully fill the hole with water, and as with all transplants, keep filling until the water does not clear quickly. One time I thought I’d give them a boost by using nettle juice, and this was before I realised that it needs to be greatly diluted. Nettle juice absolutely stinks. The following day the newly transplanted leek bed looked like World War III. Soil all over the place, with bits of leek plants sticking out here and there: leaves, roots and even bits I didn’t recognise. I stood there aghast
Fennel
Fennel
This lovely looking plant is my first success in this department for years. I am looking forward to eating them as they taste so good.
Fennel
Fennel
Even so the amount of plants compared to the sowing is quite small, which, with my sparse sowing approach perhaps explains my lack of success over the last couple of years.
Damage to Corn
Damage to Corn
Allotments, by definition are left to the wildlife for extended periods during which they often run amok for no apparent reason. Its one thing to lose crops like gooseberries and peas to pigeons. And birds have eaten every last red currant which I was very much looking forward to. But this damage is a bit disheartening as it is not for food.
More Damage
More Damage
Destruction on the plot is an occupational hazard. Last year this hole was dug for no apparent reason and my recently transplanted Oregano plant, raised from seed over the last two years was “ untimely ripped” from the soil, again with no particular purpose but, presumably “play”.
The weather this year has been a fantastic for growing crops, providing you have been able to provide water. Unfortunately I have not been able to do this on the allotment with terrible results. My raised beds are on sandy soil and are very well drained so they are susceptible to being fairly dry at the best of times. In this drought they are parched.
Fennel 
Summary of Planting in June