At the weekend our croft was better than abroad! There was some muttering along the lines of “too hot.” I know better than to utter these words and the tomatoes and squashes certainly loved it! On Saturday I was in Sligachan and saw part of the Glamaig Hill Race. This looked absolutely terrifying. Glamaig looks like a big, steep pyramid covered in scree and it was definitely too hot for running up a giant hill.
The sun wasn’t enough to save the first batch of broccoli which I have pronounced inedible. It’s just too slugged. There may be some broccoli later on and I have some cabbage which looks alright at the moment. A few years ago I was complaining that the vole population was out of control, this year I haven’t seen a single vole. The upside of a large vole population is that they eat slugs. The downside of a large vole population is that they eat brassicas, beetroot and French beans. On balance slugs eating all the broccoli is probably preferable to voles eating a lot of several crops! I keep hoping for the perfect year for vegetable growing but so far it hasn’t happened.
This week’s vegetable customers will have… tomatoes! The cherry tomatoes are ripening nicely now. I have some bigger red tomatoes as well, these take a lot longer to ripen but the plants have set some big bunches of nice fruits. The apple tree in the greenhouse is really laden with fruit so I think apples may make an appearance in the weekly veg bags this year. The apple tree in the greenhouse is a Braeburn – not an unusual variety but it has grown well. I bought it as a tiny, unimpressive twig from Jans, it’s now quite a big, productive tree.
This week’s Croft Shares will have:
Small – potatoes, onions, tomatoes, courgettes and French beans.
Medium – potatoes, onions, tomatoes, courgettes, French beans, Spring onions and sugar snaps.
Large – potatoes, onions, tomatoes, courgettes, French beans, Spring onions, sugar snaps, blackcurrants, kale and herbs.
If I get any decent broccoli I’ll distribute it as it becomes available.