91Èȱ¬

Grow your own enthusiast Richard Crawford, shares the growing pains and pleasures of his summer down on the plot at Hawthorn Allotments in Inverness.Ìý

So much for summer! Just when I thought it was safe to play outside, the temperature dropped and the rain came. It is a good job I put cloches on my courgettes - they seem to be doing ok, all things considered.

At least I got some work done at the allotments. I have earthed up my potatoes and have given them a spray with Bordeaux mixture to ward off blight. I am not sure why I put the effort in with the spraying as I am pretty sure these conditions are not what blight likes, but belt and braces are better than nothing, and I believe the weather is going to warm up again so perhaps I am not so mad as I think. I did have a little chuckle to myself when the rain came as I gave the spuds a good watering the day before – yes, it is my fault the rain came!Ìý

Despite the damp, I am keeping on top of the weeds in the anticipation that these conditions will encourage more of them to germinate; ItÌýis a never ending task. I am also managing to get my compost bin emptied to start a fresh batch since my second one is now full to the brim. The addition of comfrey and huge amounts of rhubarb leaves should make good compost. But never mind the leaves, the rhubarb stalks are now maturing nicely in my wine bucket, and it looks like I will be keeping that production line going since the rhubarb has gone nuts; I am struggling to keep on top of it!Ìý

Finally! The celeriac is now in the ground – much later than I wanted but what can you do? I hope that I will do better with them this year as I have not had good results in the last two years. I can’t wait to get my teeth into it as I do believe home grown is far tastier than the shop bought celeriac – the flavours are so much stronger, and grating it into a salad makes the taste buds dance.

Following my visit to Poyntzfield Herb Nursery, I am now trying to plan an area to grow medicinal herbs; I have had my eyes opened with regard to what can be grown, and am looking forward to getting into what these plants have to offer. After all, it is where most of our modern medicines come from, it is just a shame that we are losing the skills to do it for ourselves… It is almost tempting to pull up the turnips and swedes so that I can get cracking – almost!Ìý

Keeping on top of the tomato plants is now a key task. Nipping out the side shoots is key to preventing your plants from getting bushy unless, of course, you are growing bush tomatoes! If you are not on top of this, removing the shoots when they get too big can cause stress in the plants and make the leaves curl. Each time I nip the shoots out, I am reminded of the sweet taste that tomatoes bring. Now that the flowers have set and there are signs of the fruit, I will be feeding them every second time I water the plants.