A lovely weekend on the allotment, a bit windy at times but sunny and dry. It has been a couple of days since my last post regarding bean seed fly maggots eating the beans, the weather has warmed up again and it appears some of the Greek Gigantes beans are doing ok….
The same can’t be said for the Borlotto beans, I have a grand total of 1 seedling from 18 seeds. Sad times.
More beans have been sown in pots at home which seems the best option at the moment. Another problem going on at the plot is asparagus beetle. At least they’re having fun….
I will keep an eye out for the eggs/larvae and remove. The adults of this particular species are brightly coloured and fairly easy to spot, but they can fly which makes removal tricky. My asparagus plants are alive but looking a little sad, I do have spare plants should I lose any. I don’t really like to use the word ‘pest’ to describe the beasties I don’t want on the allotment, as annoying as they are they’re a sign of a healthy ecosystem and important food source for other beneficial visitors. I’m still sulking about the beans being eaten though.
On to some positives. It won’t be long before I’m harvesting the first potatoes of the year, second earlies Charlotte are getting ready to flower. Main crop Carolus is a new variety for me, they appear to be growing well.
I picked a big juicy strawberry from the new snack bed, warm from the sun. Heavenly. I won’t get much more from these young plants, they’re sending runners out which I’m encouraging to root in the gaps. Plenty to look forward to next summer. Yum!
The garlic looks good again this year although I won’t know for sure until I lift the plants towards the end of the month. Rust is starting to take hold which is normal around now.
I removed the scapes (curly flower buds) which I swear sprout overnight! They can be used in cooking and make a lovely garlicky dressing.
The fruit bushes are literally dripping with fruit (not ripe yet), hopefully I’ll get a look in before the birds do.
Carrot and parsnip seedlings are coming through with the help of tunnel cloches.
Another positive on the allotment is this little beauty flowering away, dahlia Totally Tangerine. It’s one of the new dahlias I planted out last week.
What ‘pests’ / positives are you seeing on your allotment at the moment?
Allotment Haven 
It’s an up and down life on the allotment for sure! Love the strawberry and the dahlia – SO beautiful.
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Certainly is Anne, never a dull moment ha ha! I really love the colour of this dahlia.
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We don’t grow asparagus so at least that’s one less pest for us to worry about. Our big failure this year is parsnip germination.
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That’s a shame Sue, I do love a homegrown parsnip with Christmas dinner. Mine are only just peeking through but I did sow them later than usual this year.
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Oh my goodness! There is nothing better than a fresh strawberry that’s still warm from the sun.
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It was so good! I grabbed another yesterday too.
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I resowed a few more climbing beans and so far three are visible. I’ll be looking at my first early potatoes Foremast soon rather than the Charlottes.
It looks like a failure this year will be sweetcorn as so far I’ve none showing from two lots sown. xx
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Ah that’s a shame about the sweetcorn, they can be tricky to germinate. I sowed mine later than I usually do, luckily mine all came up. Fingers crossed your beans continue to pop up. xx
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