The Compost Bin: July

Hello and welcome to The Compost Bin. I'm Compostwoman and I live with my family in rural Herefordshire. We have nearly four acres of garden and woodland, all managed organically and to Permaculture principles, which we share with Chickens, Cats and assorted wildlife. We also grow a lot of our own food, run courses in all sorts of things and make a lot of compost!

I am a Master Composter and have spent more than a decade as a volunteer Community Compost adviser with Garden Organic and my local Council.
I'm a self employed Environmental Educator so I run workshops and events where I talk about compost, veg growing, chicken keeping, cooking, preserving and sustainable living. I also run crafts workshops and Forest School/outdoor play sessions in our wood.

We try to live a more self sufficient lifestyle here, as best we can, while still having a comfortable life and lots of fun.

To learn more about us click on the About Compostwoman tab and remember to click on the photos to make them full size!

Showing posts with label July. Show all posts

Wednesday, 4 July 2012

July?

Hmm. July. Isn't it supposed to be sunny?

Today , as I write this, it is not raining. Dull, yes. Overcast, yes. But not actually raining.

It did, of course , rain all day yesterday and all night - to add to the already sodden ground overburden of water.

I have been out inspecting the veg plot and an not terribly happy with what I can see.

The outside courgettes have gone - smashed into oblivion by the sheer volume of water descending from the skies in recent weeks. I am going to plant a couple of seeds and see if we get an "Indian summer" autumn - we might get a late harvest from them if so. I do have 2 courgette plants inside the polytunnel so we do have some courgettes to eat, but not the huge quantity we normally rely on.

Beans are still alive but a long way behind where they should be at this time of year - we are normally picking the first ones by now.

Pumpkins are ...ok. ish.

Potatoes - well I keep expecting to see blight, due to the humid air - so far we have escaped! But the potatoes are still too small to eat and the yield is poor. The only ones we have been eating are those I planted inside the polytunnel!

Peas. Well. Enough said I think. - have lost 4 separate sowings so far and these are all that struggled through the poor weather. Will try one more sowing