July sky

 July was wetter than average, we had one thunder storm that dropped 38mm in less than an hour. However June was a dry month and the heavy showers in July only wet the top couple of centimetres of the soil.

This July was one of our warmest with similar average temperatures to last July.
Sunshine figures for this July were about average. 

July garden.

Veg, patch July 26th.

From front to back, Tibet potatoes in flower, leeks, turnips and Rhubarb.


Borage, Runner beans, with the leek flowers growing through them and the sweetcorn can just be seen at the back left.

 

Leek flowers supported by and supporting runner beans.

Giant garlic drying in the sun.

View across the veg. patch. The bees are loving the Marjoram in the foreground.

 Courgettes are doing what courgettes do... being prolific.

The sweetcorn is at varying stages, some are still small...

 
...and some have their tassels.

The rabbits are still at large, but  rapid growth is keeping up with their appetites at the moment. Turkeys are another matter. They have been ignoring fences and gates, turning their backs on all the garden they are given to free range in, and raiding the veg. patch.

 This morning I found my recently sown carrot bed turned into a giant dust bath, the last straw! They will have their wings clipped tonight and we will see if they have more respect for the veg. patch fence!

E.T.A. Clipping the wing feathers doesn't hurt them (it is like cutting nails), but will reduce their flying prowess. 

Summer fruits.

 Breakfast, (Apricots, peach, raspberries, alpine strawberries).

Gooseberries, to me, are Irish grapes, prolific and delicious.

The first Apricot tree (fruits in this photo) came in in early July, with the second tree overlapping slightly. They are both supposed to be Moorepark but one was distinctly earlier with larger fruit and surprisingly, the smaller fruit was the best.

July 6th

Apricots, these were picked at the same time as those in the picture above, these ones we shared with the birds, or that the birds shared with us by leaving us half!

Kiwi flower. There were plenty of flowers on the Kiwi this year but not as much fruit has set as I would have expected. I will plant another male kiwi this winter and see if that improves the pollination.

Kiwis do go from flower to fruit very quickly. These are well grown even though they will not be ready until December.

 Tayberries for Jam.

 Alfie eating plums in the orchard today.

 
Plums,  I think every fruit  is my favourite when I pick it!


Plums.

Peaches and Apricots.

The raspberries have been excellent this year. Most of the soft fruit does not make it into a bowl or basket.

 I love fruit, I love the taste, the smell and the sight of it. As pretty to me as a bouquet or a beautiful view...

 And...  it is fuel for garden maintenance - me and my little helpers!

July polytunnel

Apricots have been very good this year, This photo is on July 8th when the first apricots are just starting to ripen but there are still quite a few on the tree now.

 Alfie eating an apricot in the big tunnel. The raspberry canes, which surround the tyre sandpit, cropped very well this year and are just about finished now.

 Alfie and Tivon digging in the big tunnel. I have given up hope that the carrots planted alongside the tomatoes have any chance of surviving boys digging. Good news though, only one tomatoe plant has been irretrievably lost to boys play!

The big tunnel, grapes, tomatoes, a bare patch where Alfie digs, lots of self-seeded nasturtiums and.....


Not a pet rabbit, a pest rabbit!

Nectarines in the big tunnel. I think I have not thinned them enough.

Potatoe onions drying in the big tunnel.

Alfie shovelling sand into the tyres in the small tunnel.

Figs in the small tunnel. It has been a good year for figs, and Alfie asking for "just one more fig" gives me a chance to do "just one more job", several times over.

The little chicks are getting bigger. They are currently living in the small tunnel, eating fallen peaches and pests, having dust baths and generally eating or flattening everything!

Honeybees on Nepeta, Callistemon, Alliums and Marjoram.

Honeybees are on Nepeta / catmint.

Nepeta.


Alliums.

These are ornamental alliums...

 ...but the leek flowers are busy too, July 22nd.

Callistemon / bottle brush. The wasps like the bottle brushes too but there are not so many wasps about this year.

The Marjoram is a hive of activity.

  Borage

 Clover and blackberries have an excellent flow this year.
In the garden the bees are still on the Rosebay willowherb, Echium and poppies.

Butter

Ambers butter, just after turning it onto the board before it is worked.

A recent article in the Home Education Network newsletter referred to how many questions young children ask during home-based conversations. (Young children, according to the study, average 26 questions every hour!) As I was contemplating this, Tivon, who was eating a sandwich and is no longer SO young, asked "Why is Amber's butter so yellow?". I answer, because of the fresh grass in summer. This is followed by Tivon asking, why is shop butter not so yellow? and several more questions.... I don't always have the answer.

A bed (bath) of thyme.

 We used this bath to mix our clay when filling the workshop walls in with wattle and daub.

It has been empty for almost a year and I finally decided where to put it. It is a large volume to fill and I was looking for a very free draining medium to plant thyme into. 

So after filling the bottom with stone and broken pots I put in a thick layer of birch sticks which were cut down 2 or 3 years ago and topped this with a mix of soil, compost and grit.

I had raised thyme plants from cuttings and divisions, after planting they had to be covered with netting to keep the hens from scratching them up.


... after a few weeks I removed the net. Alfie finds this bed / bath perfect for driving his tractor through!

Honey harvest.

 This yielded several pots of honey, a few good pieces of comb honey and a tiny amount of wax. I didn't take any honey last year, (the bees first year here), instead I allowed the colonies to build up (without sugar feeding), all 4 colonies building all their own combs and getting through winter, the bees having started from small numbers last May and June. 

 This year has been very good weather for the bees so far. I have had a few swarms which I have hived to make new colonies and so far I have harvested a little honey from 2 of the parent colonies, the bees will overwinter on their own honey and we will harvest any excess in the late spring. 

Honeybees on Leek, Echium and Rosebay willowherb.

Leek in flower in the veg. patch.

 Echium "blue bedder", honeybees have been collecting pollen..

 

Rosebay Willow herb, Epilobium angustifolium











Honey bees are also on the Borage (Borago officinalis) and poppies in the garden.