Spud City

I dug up all the potatoes yesterday since it was a nice sunny day and they'd have to dry before bagging.


The haul of desirees. Half for me, half for AN.


Slug damge? I caught three slugs in the act of chomping on my potatoes. Potato was their last meal.


More slug damage? I put these with the "damaged - use now" collection. I made cheesy mash with my half of the dodgy tatties and froze it.


The mystery spuds. They have thin skins so I think they are not a maincrop variety. I am feeding the running club on Tuesday so they will get baked potatoes. It's a charity meal - £5 per head for three courses, all proceeds going to Oxfam and the Gurkha Welfare Trust. It's all to do with my other incarnation as an ultrarunner. Sponsor us - it's a good cause. I'm making a pasta salad starter, baked potato with chili for main and a choice of cheesecake or (and?) apple crumble and custard for pud. All home made, as much home grown as possible.


This was the maincrop potato bed. I'll split it into two and it can have spring cabbage and overwintering onions next.


One of the struggling aubergine plants. It just hasn't been warm enough I think.


The most prolific plants on the plot have been the sacrificial nasturtiums. Not a blackfly in sight on these!


One or two of the cabbages are unhappy. I pulled this one up to look for clubroot and/or cabbage root fly.


No maggots, but not much root either. Maybe I just planted too densely.

And the rest...

While in the mood for preserving, picked, blanched and froze the courgettes that were ready.

Delivered some potatoes and onions to AN and escorted her lad to see his cucumbers. They're brill! He's pleased that "the book says" you get a maximum of 10 per plant and he counted 12. So we ate two... It's nice to have cukes that actually taste of something.

Bought a half-decent saw and cut up the branches in the woodpile. Felt a bit sorry for the frog I made homeless, but there are plenty of damp, shady places in my garden. Besides, we have loads of snails so the frog has been doing a poor job.

I bought a shredder to chop up the smaller branches - a Bosch AXT Rapid 180 - with the idea of making material I could use on top of weed-suppressant membrane to make paths in the allotment. Claims to be able to shred branches up to 3.3cm diameter. What a load of sh1te! After unblocking it (i.e. take it apart with a screwdriver) about eight times I gave up and put it back in its box before I was too tempted to kick it around the garden. It's going back to the shop and they know it's coming.