Yes, brace yourselves, after a couple of weeks of relatively benign conditions heatwave number 4 of the summer is bearing down on us. Even before it properly arrives (it’s actually plenty hot enough today thank you) everywhere is looking parched again and my crops are gagging for water. As a consequence some things just aren’t going to ‘do’, whilst others, such as cucumbers and tomatoes are going to come to a grinding premature end. Having said that the tomatoes still have some weeks left in them, and they were early to ripen this year, so perhaps their productive season is finite?

Whatever my woes and the state of my growing space, it’s going to be hot – up and around 30° from tomorrow and for the rest of the week. So early starts, plenty of hydration, and long afternoon naps are in order. If you have a dog that needs exercising early morning or evening walks are in the best interests of your pooch….and probably you too.

At least the farmers have had a good run at finishing off the grain harvest and getting the straw under cover before the weather breaks. The wheat at Moyns Park is being combined as I write this.

Monday morning dawned and I went out to let the hens out as usual, and during the procedure I glanced up into the pigeon’s nest to check on the squabs, only to see an empty space where they had been sitting. They were there only 9 or 10 hours previously when I closed up the two coops where the ducks and hens sleep, and they did not look anything like ready to fledge, so I assumed the worst, that they had been predated. That evening I was up the garden when I noticed some flapping in the big sycamore tree that towers over the chicken run, affording it some shade from the worst of the midday sun – not that the girls stay in the run in the daytime, they free range wherever they like, scrapping at the soil for treats or making dust baths in the most inappropriate places. Anyway, upon looking up in the tree I spied an adult pigeon and a youngster up on a bough close to it. There then came some flapping from in the hedge below, and sure enough there was the other fledgling floundering around close to ground level, with another adult observing from a telephone wire above the hedge. The second bird was clearly not as strong or well developed as the one in the tree, and after some research we discovered that this was not unusual and that it could possibly live for a week or more on the ground, supported by its parents, until it was ready to fly. This morning I think that I saw both again, one in the tree and one on the ground, with adults close by, so it looks as though the pigeon family has successfully reared its two chicks. Now where’s my air rifle? Joke.

I am resting the chard this week after several weeks of cutting it hard, it just needs a while to recover. There are plenty of summer squash – courgettes, patty pan, marrow, and spaghetti squash are all producing well, but I am going to give them a good watering tomorrow to keep them viable. It has been a while since I posted how to cook spaghetti squash, so for those of you that don’t know how to and are missing out, here it is.

How to cook Spaghetti Squash

Here’s the best way to cook spaghetti squash! Cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, rub a little olive oil and salt on the inside, and roast in the oven cut side down. No fuss, no mush, just tender and delicious spaghetti squash! Recipe as written yields 2 baked squash halves (1 squash total); you can easily bake 4 halves (2 squash) at a time on a large baking sheet.

Method

1. To prepare the spaghetti squash, preheat the oven to 200º degrees C and line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper for easy cleaning.
2. Use a very sharp knife to cut off the top and bottom ends of the spaghetti squash. Stand the squash upright on a stable surface and carefully slice through it from top to bottom to divide it in half.
3. Use a large spoon to scoop out the seeds and discard them. Drizzle the insides of each squash half with 1 teaspoon olive oil and rub it all over the inside, adding more oil if necessary. Sprinkle salt and pepper lightly over the interiors of the squash, then place them cut side down on the prepared baking sheet.
4. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the cut sides are turning golden and the interiors are easily pierced with a fork. Small squash will be done sooner than large squash, naturally!
5. Once the squash is done baking, rake the interiors with a fork to make the insides spaghetti-like. Typically serve with a pasta sauce.

I obviously copied the recipe from the internet, so you will have to have a play, particularly with the timing, and let me know how you got on.

Tomatoes are still producing plenty of ripe fruit, but cucumbers are now in decline and are in the ‘limited’ category. The red torpedo onions, the brown ones, and garlic are all Moyns Park grown, as are the lettuce, parsley and padron peppers. There is green curly kale and cavolo nero, celery, carrots, beetroot, and Accord potatoes this week. I will be picking some early cooking apples as well as Discovery eating apples. Avocados have shot up in price this week for some reason, but I have kept the increase to you to a minimum (fool that I am).

Did you see the beautiful full moon last night? We went into the stubble field to watch it rise and tried to take some photos with our phone cameras, but the results were rubbish. I have brought my proper camera home from work today so I will try again this evening. It won’t matter that it’s a day beyond full. Also it’s the peak of the Perseid Meteor shower on Tuesday and Wednesday, but the brightness of the moon is likely to spoil it somewhat. I will still go out and slump in a garden chair for a while in the hope of seeing some good ‘shooters’.

Right I’m off back to Moyns Park to water the greenhouse. Stay cool kids.

Phil