Sweetcorn not quite ready

I absolutely love sweet corn so can’t wait to harvest them.  I was a bit too eager the other day and picked a cob to have a look.  They re not quite there yet, the cob needs to be a lot fatter and a darker yellow.

Here’s when you know it’s ready…

Corn is ready to be picked as soon as the ears have completely filled out. This goes for sweet corn and roasting ears.You can tell when this happens by feeling the end of an ear. If it’s rounded or blunt rather than pointed, the ears are ready. The silks also dry up when the ears are almost ready to be picked.

If you don’t trust your judgment, you can pull back a bit of the husk and check to see if the ear looks well filled and the kernels are creamy yellow or white. Many gardening guides tell you to pierce a kernel with your thumb nail to test for ripeness. If the liquid inside is watery, that ear isn’t quite ready. If the liquid is white or “milky,” you’re in business  (http://www.garden.org/foodguide/browse/veggie/corn_harvesting/794)

Photo Update

What a bounty!!!

Is this the start of carrot fly? Carrot fly is a small black-bodied fly whose larvae feed on the roots of carrots and related plants, such as parsnip, parsley, celery and celeriac.

Leeks and Corn

Leeks

Courgette in front
Runner beans middle and Sweetcorn at the back

Purple sprouting brocoli just showing

I’ve decided to grow some sugar snaps again but at home, the one’s in the plot failed. Hopefully these will do better

Sunflowers

Potatoes ready

I’ve had my first batch of potatoes!! I actually giggled when I dug them up. The potatoes are Charlottes – a good salad potato – and they were delicious. I planted them in April and have waited approx. 100 -110 days until they are ready. You know when potatoes are ready for digging as there leaves turn brown/ yellow (see photos below)

My sugar snaps are not doing too well though, apart from one plant they have turned yellow all up the root and haven’t grown much at all, even though some have peas on them. I think this must be a root rot, probably from too much rain or poor draining soil.

Potatoes (Charlotte) – Brown/ Yellow leaves mean they are ready

Freshly dug potatoes

Ready to eat – delicious

 

Sugar snaps are starting to appear

 

What a difference a year makes…

July 2013 – My allotment when I first got it.

Almost a year on and it looks like a completely different plot. A lot of hard work and graft but great fun.

Photo Update

Beautiful Borage (Starflower, Bee bread)
Borage is an old herb, known at least since Roman times. It is said that borage gladdens the heart.
Borage is very useful in the garden. It attracts bees, which increases pollination of nearby plants. Borage may also enhance the growth of tomatoes (by confusing and repelling tomato hornworm); brassicas (by repelling and confusing cabbage worms); and strawberries may do better when grown near borage.

Beetroot popping through.

Carrots getting bigger

My Garlic is ready to come out. Once the tops of your garlic plants start to die back, you know it’s time to harvest.

Runner Beans – I’ve protected my beans from slugs by making cloches out of cut up pop bottles

Sugar Snap Peas – I adore sugar snap peas, I hope I get a good crop from these

Sweet Corn – Corn is a self-pollinating plant. Male pollen particles are produced on tassels at the top of the plant, while the female silks emerge at one or two leaf junctures roughly midway up the stalk. Because wind is the primary agent of pollination, corn should be planted in blocks of three to four rows each to ensure thorough pollination.