Lupin

This is one of the lupins I grew from seed - it won't flower until next year but it seems to have established well.

Strawberries protected some more

I bought some more ground pegs (what I referred to in an earlier post as 'skewer things') and used them to further secure the edges of the netting over the strawbs.

First Pentlands harvested

Today I noticed one of the Pentland plants was going yellow, so I dug up the spuds. I expected to find more than I did, but at least all the spuds look edible.

Anti-fox measures strengthened

As can be seen from earlier posts, the netting above my strawberries was supported on soft drink bottles. This allowed the netting to sag, which is how the foxes are able to depress the netting and attack the fruit. I have now used horizontal canes to support the upper edge of the netting along the perimeter. The lower edges of the netting are secured by skewer things which are pressed into the soil, but I don't really have enough so I've used old tiles to hold down the netting in places. Might go to the garden centre tomorrow to get more skewers.

Foxes turn their attention to strawbs!

Yesterday morning I noticed that the netting over the strawberry patch had been disturbed and that some strawberries had been eaten. I assumed somehow birds had got under the netting, so I secured it again. Later in the evening I spotted a youg fox trying to get into the netting. I chased it off and tried securing the netting again. However this morning it was clear that during the night a fox had stood on the netting to depress it so they could reach the fruit. Although they couldn't eat it through the netting, the fruit is of course damaged. I have tried securing the edges of the netting with bricks but I doubt that will hold if a fox tries to climb on the netting again. Not sure how to prevent future raids. Some sort of rigid cage structure would be the best solution but then it would involve taking the whole thing off every time I want to pick some strawbs.

Late planting of Pentlands

Last Friday I planted some of the remaining Pentland seed potatoes in a bag. The potatoes are looking shrivelled and it's probably too late for them to produce a crop now, but I thought rather than throw them away I'll give it a try.


Strawberry runners now hopefully taking root.

First Charlottes harvested

Today I harvested the potatoes from the first Charlotte bag. The flowers on the plants in this bag had shrivelled and the foliage was starting to look a bit yellow. There were a satisfying number of spuds in the bag - around 1.5 kg. Haven't eaten any yet.

More Primrose seeds planted

On last Friday's Gardener's World there was an item about planting Primrose seeds. Apparently if sown while green, the seeds will germinate in a few weeks and the new plants will flower next spring. If left to turn black, the seeds will become dormant and when sown will wait until next year to germinate. Also they did cover the sown green seeds with gravel, so I covered the seeds I planted on 26 May with a thin layer of compost (although the seeds have now gone brown so maybe it's too late for them to germinate this year). The earlier sowing was of seeds from a plant with blue/yellow flowers, today's planting was from Primroses with red/yellow flowers.

Updates

All the plants in the first Charlotte bag to be planted (on the right) are now flowering.

Can't really see it in the above picture but one of the Pentalnds is now flowering (curiously, not one of the first to be planted).

Border

Runners

I have been watering the runners on the strawbs to encourage them to root.

Charlottes flowering

The Charlottes in the first bag are now flowering - I think I should harvest them in about 1 - 2 weeks.