Where are all the wasps, hornets, and even flies this year? It’s a question that I have heard lots of people ask, and whilst it’s good not to be pestered by these insects you can’t help thinking that it’s to the detriment of the natural balance, as they all have a role to play, whether it’s as pollinators, predators or as a food source for other creatures. So it was a treat to get up close and personal with the hornet shown above while I was picking apples in the orchard this afternoon. Don’t worry, it’s one of our natives rather than the much feared Asian type. I have never been bothered by them or wasps, indeed you may remember that I have had nests in the greenhouse in previous summers, and we coexisted very well. The fear of them is quite irrational, at worst (unless you are unfortunate enough to have an allergy to their stings) they can be a nuisance, they are rarely aggressive without provocation. A far more fearsome insect, in my opinion, is the beastly horsefly, and there weren’t even many of those this year. I only suffered 2 or 3 bites, which is most unusual.
A much larger pest is currently giving me cause for concern. A badger (at least one) is making night-time raids into the garden. I keep blocking points of entry that it makes in the perimeter fence, but such is the power of the creature that it bulldozes its way through the obstructions that I put in its path, including concrete blocks, which it tosses to one side before forcing its way through my inadequate repairs to the wire mesh fence. Very early yesterday morning I went to cut lettuces to take to the farmers market, and as I approached I could see tell-tale footprints all along the nylon ‘enviromesh’ netting that I cover the crop with to prevent damage from pigeons and rodents. The netting is pretty heavy duty, so I was surprised to see that the badger had scrapped and bitten at it to the point where it had made some holes in it directly above one of the lettuces which it had taken the middle out of. I can only assume that it was after the moisture in the plant, so dry has it been recently. There are plenty of sources of water elsewhere on the estate for it to access, so it must be pure bloody mindedness on its part to target my veg plot. Also, it’s pooing everywhere! Spiteful.
Wasn’t it hot today? I wasn’t quite expecting that, particularly after a couple of chilly autumnal feeling mornings and a fairly gloomy day yesterday. The long dry August looks set to extend through at least the first week of September, with no rain in the Met Office forecast if the thunderstorms miss us tomorrow – they usually do. So I have had to irrigate a lot recently to extend the bean harvest, and to give the sweetcorn and winter squash some much needed moisture. Whilst the weather is summery some of the plants are showing signs of slowing down in response to the reducing daylight hours. Courgettes are running out of steam, and the tomato plants have got that end of season look about them. The sweet peppers have produced well, but I am resting them for a week in the hope of more fruit in future weeks.
There should be enough red oakleaf lettuce to go round this week (if Mr Brock leaves it alone), but there will then be a break of a week or two before the next batch is ready. I reckon that the sweetcorn will be ready to pick in 7-10 days, and Romanesco cauliflowers should form their heads later in the month. Despite the dry month there appears to be a good number of winter squash forming on the vines. There will be bunched rainbow carrots as well as regular ones without tops, beetroot, sweet potatoes, ‘Cabbice’ cabbages (sweet and crisp), ‘Acoustic’ waxy potatoes for boiling and ‘Gatsby’, which is better for all round use. Runner and purple French beans are still available. There is a choice of flat and curly leaved parsley bunches. The price of lemons has shot up, so the selling price to you has increased, though I have kept it to a minimum.
‘Italian Giant’ flat leaf parsley
Parsley ‘Green Perle’
So I’ve had a couple of afternoons picking apples in the past few days and will gather more tomorrow. I am hoping to have enough to take to be pressed this week so that I can offer you new season juice very soon – how exciting. The apple crop is much better than last year, but it’s not quite as good as I was hoping for. Let’s hope that the fruit yields lots of juice.
We had a family trip to the Fry Art Gallery in Saffron Walden last Monday afternoon. It’s always a delight to visit, and a bonus to see many scenes familiar to me depicted in the artwork, on account of so many of the featured artists coming from my boyhood village of Great Bardfield. There is currently an exhibition of work by Charles Mahoney who had strong links to the ‘Bardfield set’, and some of the items that I was most captivated by were the letters exchanged between the artists, many of which were decorated with amusing illustrations. We met an elderly lady who founded the gallery with her husband 40 years ago, and who showed great interest in my connections to the village and of the work of my grandfather Fred, and is keen to see some of the photographs and correspondence related to his straw work. Maybe an exhibition will follow?
Right that’s me done. Bask in the late summer sunshine and absorb as much vitamin D as you are able to before the onset of the dark days. Have a good week.
Phil