Second Sowings

 You may find that runner beans find it very hard to set pods in this dry weather.   You may find that giving the flowers a shower with the hose on a daily basis may help.   They also love to have moist roots, you really cannot over water runner beans, so after a good water make sure the roots have a good mulch.  They are also greedy feeders so keep up the feeding as well.

 I am growing Physalis this year.   I picked up one plant earlier this year at a local fete,  I then remembered that these really do need a pollination partner to set fruit.   I remember having problems with my Mexican tomatillo plants a couple of years back.  They do much better if they have another plant or several plants with which to cross pollinate.

 I have made some second sowings of some of my veggies.  Already my Romanesco Courgettes and my Delistar Cucumbers are doing really well and cropping every day, but I know they will start to get tired in a couple of weeks and there will be plenty more heat and day length to come in September and October.  I've also made a quick second sowing of some dwarf French beans.  They will come up quickly in this weather.

It is hot, hard work in this heatwave, so my lovely garden assistant Daisy is supervising from a comfy spot! Thanks Daisy!

Cabbage White Pests

 Every day I go out and find yet another load of Cabbage White Butterfly eggs.  When these broccoli plants are still in their pots, It is fairly easy to go round every leaf on every plant and just squish the eggs between finger and thumb, being careful not to damage the leaves.  This is time consuming, but they are growing well and I seem to be keeping on top of it.

 I caught this one having a quick lay on my Purple Sprouting Broccoli seedling!

 It was too slow!   One down.... a couple of million to go!

 Elsewhere on the plot I have a glut of Romanesco Courgettes.. I am finding novel ways of using them with everything I cook.  Yesterday it was on a vegetarian pizza!

How could I ignore the pleading eyes of my garden assistant?

Matron Does Twitter!

Matron has woken up and smelled the 21st Century!!  You can now follow my Twitter adventures @MatronsVeggies https://twitter.com/MatronsVeggies