In Scotland this year, the weather has been abysmal. There is an unbelievable difference between Scotland and England and while the north shivered in cold, wet temperatures, the south has been unbearably hot and dry. I was in despair knowing southern gardening friends had very productive, blooming gardens whilst further north, it’s been blooming cold and wet so the growth has been slow. Even in the greenhouse, the lack of warmth and sunlight did not encourage my produce family to show willing to do anything but sulk.
It is with great joy when the first cucumber appeared. I chose two cucumbers this year, a short ‘Passandra’ and a round lemon-flavoured ‘Crystal’. I have had several
Passandra fruits but Crystal is still just in flower. Thankfully the tomatoes are now beginning to pale so it may not be too long until they start to colour. Cucamelons are tiny but at least I can see them now. I tried Kiwano for the first time this year and there is only now, signs of flowering.
The slugs, snails and birds have spotted the strawberries and peas before I have and like most of the other produce, they just disappear in the night, either that or I find teeth and beak marks on them. Sadly in addition to the bigger predators, some strawberries have succumbed to rot and from one healthy cluster of fruits, there can be one strawberry turning brown. It shows no sign of external damage and remains a perfect strawberry but for the fact it is brown and obvious that rot has set in.
I had a few excess Purple Podded 
Pea shoots and stuck them unceremoniously in a small pot of compost, so it’s surprising that having been discarded in such a manner, they are now producing purple pods. I have no idea what has happened to the ones planted up in containers. Most of my seedlings had disappeared within a couple of days of planting.
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