Borage And Bees

These are some photos from the allotment this afternoon. I was suprised that despite all the rain the plot was not as boggy as it used to be. The combination of plants, and dug over soil has improved the drainage. The vegetable plants are growing beautifully and the weeds are slowing up in their attempt to grow in my beds. I grew some Borage in pots and planted them with Cat between the Pea's and French Beans. The Bee's, wasps, and hoverflys were buzzing around the Borages blue flowers today.Bee's and Borage..

The flowers hang down so the Bees had to fly up then cling on upside down. Their is masses of Borage now. I need to buy an icecube tray to freeze some of the flowers in ice cubes to flavour squash drinks. I do not know what else to do with my mass of Borage plants, although I read you can eat the coarse leaves as a salad leaf, it was slightly cucumber-ish in flavour.
The poor French Beans are dwarfed by the Borage. I cut an alley between two rows of Borage to let the light in for the French Beans. I have more FB germinating now from a later planting.

This is the Pea/French Bean/Borage/Spinach bed. The Peas are to the right, the French Beans are in the middle and at the far left of the Borage. The flower buds are a spectacual mass of pendulous pink buds. The Blue flowers look like Tomato plant flowers except for the colouring.
I spent two and a half hours weeding and turning the soil around the plants to aid drainage. The rain had caused it to harden and cap off. Turning it with a fork causes the water to drain to the plant roots and not sit on the surface.
I picked two and a half pounds of Courgettes today. I need some recipie ideas of what to do with them..

The blue flower illuminated by the light of the cloudy day. It did not rain today.The pollinators have been busy at the allotment. Flowers are in bloom all around the site.

My Runner Bean plants have baby runners on now from recently pollinated scarlet flowers. The French Beans are starting to flower with delicate white flowers in the middle of the bee central Borage.

A Strawberry plant flower on the edge of the Courgette and Gem Squash bed.These plants need a permenant home in the Autumn.I want a large Strawberry bed, as picking them and eating them has been one of the highlights of the allotment
Growing plants that need pollination to grow the fruit/veg makes you more aware of the bee's, wasps, hoverflys and flys. All those insects I saw today that fly from plant to plant cross pollinating.The Barratt road allotments are a rich place for all the flying insects that seek nectar from flowers.

Tomato Race And Vegetable Musings

The first photo is of my Tomato Ailsa Craig, It is in a race with the Tomato Money Maker in the garden trying to grow the first red Tomato of 2008.
I think Chilli plants and Tomato plants are my weakness, I will look for new varieties for next year.I am already planning the 2009 harvest crops..

From the allotment today the first two Onions (Red Baron, and Stuttgart),some Strawberrys, Rhubarb, and ten Courgettes. The biggest one on the left filled the seed tray. I guess all the rain has helped keep the plants well watered.The experimental Courgettes with no pop bottles or black covering have not done as well.The baby courgettes showed signs of gnawing! Teeth marks had stripped two of the courgettes. Do Mice like Courgettes?

The colourful Runner Bean Polestar is flowering on the two most advanced plants. The other fourteen are in various stages of growth. I weeded the Runner Bean bed and did some repairs on the A frame which had been damaged by the wind and rain. It was so peaceful up there. Only the birds singing and the wind blowing.

The first Borage flower. These plants have grown huge and were shadowing the Peas and the four Dwarf Bean plants. They have masses of flower buds, and one plant had pink flowers. I wander what I can do with this glut of flowers? They are doing a good job of weed supression under their thick, coarse textured leaves. I grew them to help pollinate the Peas and French Beans. They have grown much better than the other two!

The Cabbages are forming hearts now in the centre of the plant.The Garlics leaves are turning yellow and brown. The Carrots are growing beautifully, as are the Onions that are nearly fully grown. A line of Parsnips, and two lines of Mustard Greens have germinated in the rainy weather. No sign yet of my Perpeptual Spinach.
My Gem Squash have two baby Gems growing on them, and the Leeks are still small. The weeds were not as rampant as before. I will try to get up on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
I need to find my notebook ready to plan next years Vegetable beds. The Shed base is marked out but needs leveling before I can get some stone slabs down. Once they are down I will buy a six foot by four foot shed.The Plot will almost be complete then, and I will have somewhere to store my tools, hose, and watering can. I want a sloped roof so I can put water butts beneath to catch the ample amount of rain.
I have two nearly full compost bins which need more time to break down.The resulting compost will go back into the raised beds, to add organic matter, and goodness to the soil.
Its amazing the transformation of the allotment from wilderness to productive allotment with raised beds, marked out paths, frames, and compost bins. I read a bit, looked at other peoples experiences growing vegetables and soft fruit, and have experimented.I will use this year as my starting point of knowledge. I had none previously to look back at.
I hope its interesting swinging the blog posts between the Garden and all its flowers, and the Allotment with all the food crops growing.