Down on the Allotment

Matron grows vegetables and fruit in a Hampshire garden. I've been growing veggies since I was knee high to a grasshopper. Some traditional varieties and old favourites as well as new ideas. I share my garden with my allotment assistant Daisy the Labrador. On Twitter as @MatronsVeggies

Friday, August 29, 2014

My Favourite Place

 I made my annual pilgrimage to my favourite place this week.  There is something very special about walking through the Fruit Field at RHS Wisley. Hundreds of apple varieties to see.
 Varieties you have heard of, and many more that are unknown. Truly a feast for the eyes.
 Doesn't this make your mouth water?  Plenty of windfalls to .....er... examine!  Really interesting to compare different tastes of different varieties.
 Then on to the model vegetable garden. Despite using a pheromone trap to lure leek moths, even the Royal Horticultural Society can't avoid leek moth damage. This is a worrying development, I love growing leeks, they are a Winter staple. My crop have been badly damaged. Other than completely netting the whole crop there seems to be no cure for this problem.
 and reassuring to see that they have slugs too!  If the best gardeners struggle with this problem then I don't feel so bad about mine now.
 Their hundred weight pumpkins are looking good, grown on wooden pallets.
 I came back with an idea I have been mulling over for a while.  Several places in the vegetable garden there were rows of flowers for pollinating insects. A row of Lavender  to encourage the bees to pollinate the squash and pumpkins.
A row of borage flowers to bring the bees on to the strawberries and the rest of the veggie patch.  I might just give this a go!

6 Comments:

At 11:48 AM, Blogger Wild Mood Swings said...

MY pumpkin is wee compared to those monsters

 
At 1:47 PM, Blogger Mark Willis said...

I wonder if the RHS is doing research on how to cope with pests? I suppose they must be... (I wish they would hurry up and develop a remedy to the eternal slug problem!)

 
At 12:39 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

The pumpkin are enormus!!! Great crop! I love the apples, they look so delicious.

 
At 7:46 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

wonderful place!

 
At 4:55 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Have you been to Brogdale? They have the National collection of soft fruit (including apples & much more)

 
At 10:30 PM, Blogger Matron said...

Anonymous - yes I love Brogdale! wrote a blog on it a few years back, you can search this blog on the bar above top left. I seem to remember scrumping quinces!

 

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