Tales from the plot July 2023

July is the time when we start to see the fruits of our labours; the first raspberries, first of the runner beans and my favourite the first new potatoes – boiled with fresh mint and with a knob of butter, just fantastic! There’s nothing like harvesting your homegrown produce and enjoying it that same day, I do understand that today’s lifestyle for the majority of the population means this pleasure is rarely experienced, however I promise you that there is quite a difference. 
Hopefully the sun is now shining, this doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty to be done as the weeds continue to grow so regular hoeing is still essential. July is normally quite dry so watering shallow rooted plants is also still necessary plus it’s the time to start thinking of winter produce. So many people have an allotment and tend it really well but come the end of October there is not a lot left to harvest and July is the time to plant winter crops that will see you into the next year. I remember last year my runner bean crop failed and I re-planted seeds in July. This was very successful and I picked runner beans right until the beginning of November when it got too cold for them to survive, the beans that were left over were allowed to dry and kept for seed for this year. Now is also a good time to plant carrots with the hope of dodging the dreadful carrot fly, it’s the time if you wish to have new potatoes for Christmas to get them planted. By the end of this month peas and broad beans are normally finished so there’s normally a little ground free to plant half a dozen seed potatoes, my experience with this is that the crop is not as successful as a spring planting, however what I did get were still lovely and the minimum amount of effort involved to have fresh new potatoes on Christmas Day is worth the effort. 
Everyone is welcome to view the allotments if you have any interest in what goes on, a great time to do this will be on The Syston Allotments 2023 Open Day – this will take place on Saturday 12th August 10.00am till 3.00pm. All are welcome to pop along, have a cuppa and there’s usually cake, tombola, produce sale and a chance to have a chat to plot holders old and new.
We all look forward to seeing you there, 
regards to all Richard Thorpe 
15b Syston allotments