Life on The Weald - August 2025

Life on The Weald

and a few distractions - August 2025

Tuesday 1 August

The heatwave continues and the first day of August registered as the hottest day of the year, with the temperature in Hove reaching 27C.

Fortunately our area is not affected by a temporary hosepipe ban as we are less dependent upon river and reservoir levels than some nearby areas. In the evening, Sylvi gave the plot a thorough watering and picked yet more blackcurrants and blackberries and I planted out some perpetual spinach and Boltardy  beeetroot seedlings - not the best time in this hot weather but they had reached the right size for planting out, so there was little alternative.

1 August - black currants

Monday 4  August

We removed the fleece tunnel from the Brussels sprouts which had outgrown it and put up some stakes with netting to protect from birds.

Tuesday 5 August 

With the hot weather and lack of rain, the water level in the pond was very low so I topped it up from the water butts on the plot (these had been filled from mains water several weeks earlier so, by now, should be chlorine free). I weeded the Brussels sprouts that I had netted the day before, lifted some beetroot and picked some courgettes, French beans and sweetcorn.  In the greenhouse the chillies were looking good and beginning to ripen.

5 August - Aji red

5 August - courgettes, beans and sweetcorn

Wednesday 6 August

I visited the plot but it was sweltering - far too hot to work, so I left and sat out in the sunshine at a beach cafe with old friends from Greenwich.

6 August - crotchety old pensioners from Greenwich

Thursday 7 August

By contrast, Thursday was cloudy and overcast.  Sylvi picked loads of blackberries and sorted out some worm compost to add to raised beds.  I filled the water butts that I had emptied to fill the pond.  We did a bit of strimming to tidy up the place and collected a couple of bags of woodchip that had been delivered to the site.  There were still some Charlotte early potatoes in the ground so I lifted a few to see if they were OK.  I feared that they might have been eaten by slugs or wireworms but fortunately they were mostly fine.  A few had begun to be damaged by slugs, so I will have to lift the remainder soon.

7 August - Charlotte potatoes

At home I was still picking handfuls of Sungold tomatoes every day.

7 August Sungold and Ruby Falls tomatoes

There was also Rhubarb Gin to be strained

7 August - Rhubarb Gin to be strained

 

After straining, the rhubarb which had been soaking in Gin for a few weeks, was still good for cooking with....

7 August - rhubarb after straining

...but the gin was ready to be bottled.

7 August - lovely pink rhubarb gin ready for bottling

Friday 8 August

The chillies, grown from my son Damien's seeds, would soon be ready for harvesting 

8 August - Aji Red

8 August - Aji Red ripening

8 August - Santa Fe

8 August - Aji Limon

There were also tromboncino, and courgettes to be picked

8 August - tromboncino

8 August - tromboncino and courgettes

One of the tromboncino didn't seem to know that it was supposed to grow downwards!

8 August - a turn up for the books!

Sunday 10 August

We weeded the large cages where brassicas were growing and Sylvi cut back more brambles.  The tree that we had planted for granddaughter Letty still looked stunted and rather pathetic, but this year was laden with fruit.

10 August - Letty's apple tree

Similarly, our plum trees (unknown variety but best for cooking rather than eating) were overloaded with fruit - and most of it pest-free.

10 August - plums

At home, I managed to find time to bottle the Rhubarb Gin.

10 August - Rhubarb Gin

Tuesday 12 August

In the garden the Basket of Fire chillies were beginning to ripen - they start off green or purple then turn red.

12 August - Basket of Fire

And our true Quince tree, Serbian Gold,  was laden with fruit. It was a two year old bare root specimen which we had planted 3 years previously and this was the first year that it has produced fruit.

12 August - Quince Serbian Gold

The beefsteak tomatoes were looking good...

12 August - Tomatoes beefsteak

...and the Physalis (Cape Gooseberry) was in flower

12 August - Cape Gooseberry

When the heat had died down in the early evening I visited the plot, only to be followed everywhere by our friendly fox!  I suspect that someone on the site is feeding it.

12 August - our resident fox

12 August - our resident fox

Thursday 15 August

We were picking tomatoes and courgettes almost every day and this evening I marinated some of the cherry tomatoes with olive oil and lemon juice and fresh herbs and then stuffed courgettes and roasted them with Halloumi cheese.

15 August - Tomatoes in marinade

15 August - Courgettes prepared for stuffing

15 August - roast stuffed corgettes with Halloumi

Sunday 17 August

The Aji Red chillies were beginning to ripen.

Monday 18 August

I weeded around the purple sprouting broccoli and placed slug collars around them to help prevent snail attack, from which they were suffering.  I removed any snails I couold find and then sprayed the plants with a garlic spray (as I'm told this will deter slugs and snails).  I also spread some coffee grounds around each plant, as a further snail deterrent.

18 August - purple sprouting broccoli

Tuesday 19 August 

I spent most of my time on the plot strimming as the grass was growing very fast. I harvested a few large cucumbers.

19 August - cucumbers

Wednesday 20 August

Everything was very dry so I spent some time watering with the hose.  I also put a mulch of  wood chip and coffee grounds around the currants.  The yellow courgette plants were continuing to produce new fruits/

 20 August - courgettes

Thursday 21 August

My 81st birthday so I took a day off from doing anything energetic!

Friday 22 August

Over the past  two days. the courgettes had grown and there were more cucumbers to harvest/

22 August - Courgettes and cucumbers

Sunday 24 August

A bright sunny days and the quinces were looking healthy in the sunshine.

24 August - the Quince tree

 

So I sat in the garden admiring the quince tree and the dahlias and then picked a couple of beefsteak tomatoes.

24 August - a dahlia

24 August - beefsteak tomatoes

Friday 29 August

One of the beefsteak tomatoes was doing funny things, in that one half ripened and the other hadn't!  I picked it, nevertheless, and hoped that it might ripen indoors.

29 August - a half-ripe tomato!

On the plot, I harvested some of the rainbow beetroots.

29 August - Rainbow beets

Saturday 30 August

We decided to make a Thai coconut curry with the tromboncino that we had picked.

30 August - tromboncino

30 August - Thai style coconut curry

We had also picked a lot of chard, so we substituted this for spinach to make our version of potato and spinach curry (saag aloo)

30 August - saag aloo

Sunday 31 August

Paul was staying with us for the weekend and together with Luke he picked about 

13kg of plums - we didn't even think to weigh the apples, of which there were plenty

31 August - Apples

31 August - Plums

It had been a very fruitful summer.

John Austin

Hove, August 2025

 Life on The Weald - July 2025

Dahlia - Red Labrynth

Tuesday 1 July

This was the first year that I had grown dahlias and I was very pleased with the first one to flower - Red Labrynth.

Tuesday was the hottest day of the year, so far, with a temperature in Hove of 27C, far too hot to do anything on the plot during the day, but we went up in the evening and Sylvi picked blackcurrants and did some very necessary watering.  All of the fruit seems to be doing well this year.

I planted out some Boltardy beet and a few perpetual spinach plants grown from seed at home.

That evening, the Met Office confirmed that June in the UK had been the hottest on record.  

Wednesday 3 July

Sylvi picked even more blackcurrants - about 1.3kg - whilst I planted out some silver beet and rhubarb chard and directly sowed some Teepee purple French dwarf beans.

3 July - Blackcurrants

The garlic had dried sufficiently for it to be put into storage in the shed.

3 July - garlic ready to store

Thursday/ Friday 4/5 July

We spent some time at home making blackcurrant jelly.

3 July - preparing the blackcurrants

After boiling the currants we left them to strain overnight to extract the juice and made the jelly the following day.

5 July - the first jar of Blackcurrant jelly 2025

After days of sweltering heat on there was a sudden change in the weather on Friday with grey skies and a strong, cold wind.

Saturday 6 July

I took the opportunity of watering the plants in the greenhouse.  We appear to have 3 aubergines growing.

6 July - aubergine

I think I mixed up some of the labelling when re-potting the chili peppers and am not sure which are Aji Limon  and which are Aji Red.  We will have to wait and see! (Aji is the Peruvian word for chilli, but common in other parts of South America. My eldest son had sent me his surplus seeds earlier in the year.

6 July - Aji

6 July - Aji

I also lifted a few Charlotte potatoes.

6 July - Charlotte potatoes

The red sedum (stonecrop) by the pond was thriving.

6 July - red stonecrop (sedum)

I was also able to pick my first fruit from the Acocha (Cyclanthera) plant.  Other names include climbing cucumber, Bolivian cucumber and slipper gourd.  As the fruits are the same colour as the leaves, they are difficult to spot and this one had been left too long to be eaten raw as it was a bit stringy.  Perhaps, at this stage, they are better stuffed or chopped and used in a stirfry.  When they are as advanced as this, the seeds have ripened and need to be removed.

6 July - fruit of the Acocha

6 July - Acocha seeds

Sunday 6 - Friday 11 July

Abandoning the allotment for a week, we took off in the campervan to the Isle of Wight for a few days.

7 July - leaving Portsmouth

We had chosen the hottest, dryest week of the year and I was a little worried how the plants on the plot might fare.  One of the highlights of our visit was a trip to the Garlic Farm.  I was impressed to discover that my elephant garlic  was of a similar size to theirs.

It may look like the Caribbean but this was our ferry at Fishbourne, waiting to take us home.

11 July - the ferry home

Saturday 12 July

The plot was very dry and many of the plants wilting in the heat.  A rogue, self seeded squash had appeared.  The problem with such arrivals is you never know what varieties have produced it and sometimes the result can be toxic.  The only way to find out is wait until it ripens and do a tongue test i.e. see if it tastes bitter, and if it does, put it in the compost.

12 July - a self-seeded squash

Thankfully, the peppers in the greenhouse had survived...

12 July - an Aji chilli

... the foliage on the potatoes had all died down, but the potatoes were fine and I lifted a few Charlotte.

12 July - Charlotte potatoes

The courgettes had put on a growth spurt whulst we were away!

12 July - a courgette

Sunday 13 July

At home, the tomatoes were beginning to ripen and we picked a few Sungold

13 July - Sungold tomatoes

Monday 14 July

Monday saw the return of our visiting fox.  It comes during the late afternoon and is clearly looking for food.  In view of the hot weather, we put out some water for it (we think it's her) but don't feed her.  We suspect that other plotholders may have been feeding her and she comes expecting to be fed.  She certainly has no fear of humans.

14 July - our resident fox

I did some much needed watering and Sylvi carried on picking yet more blackcurrants.

Tuesday 15 July

I planted out some boltardy and rainbow beetroot seedlings.

15 July - planting out beetroot

We picked out first Patty pan squash of the season....

15 July - Patty pan squash

...and some of the yellow courgettes were ready for harvesting.

15 July - Courgettes

Wednesday 16 July

The temperature was still above the seasonal norm and the ground was very dry so I gave the plot a good watering with the hosepipe - luckily our area is not subject to a ban as it relies more on the aquifer rather than rivers and reservoirs.  I also planted out some chard and rainbow beet seedlings.

Friday 18 July

I potted on the orange balm that I had grown from seed.  This was a new variety for me.  We are very familiar with Lemon balm which is prolific on the plot and spreads very quickly, but I had not come across Orange balm  before spottting a packet of seeds at a garden centre earlier this year.  In the evening I visited the plot to hand water the newly planted beetroot and chard - but soon afterwards that night we experienced very heavy rain.

Saturday 19/ Sunday 20 July

There were thunderstorms and heavy rain on Saturday and the rain continued well into Sunday.  In the greenhouse, the aubergines were beginning to swell and outside, the Crimson crush tomatoes were beginning to ripen and it seems I was mistaken about early signs of what I thought to be blight.

20 July - Aubergine

20 July - Crimson crush tomatoes

Monday 21 July

There was a heavy shower in the morning brightening up later in the day, cooler than the past weeks but the temperature rising to 19C.  I spent some time weeding around the borlotti beans and picked rather a lot of rhubarb.

Tuesday 22 July

It was time to do something with all the rhubarb that I had picked.  I soaked some in gin with the addition of a little sugar to start the process of making rhubarb gin  and with some of the remaining fruit made a rhubarb yoghourt cake.

22 July - rhubarb cake reday for the oven

22 July - rhubarb cake ready for eating!

I added star anise to each of the jars containing the rhubarb.  Alternatively, I could have added ginger or vanilla but decided to try anise this time.

22 July - rhubarb in alcohol

Wednesday 23 July

There was still plenty of rhubarb so I decided to make some rhubarb and ginger jam

Thursday 24 July

 In the morning we visited the Community Food Project in the morning. 

The Weald Community Food Project

Sylvi is one of the volunteer foragers who collects from local supermarkets on a Wednesday evening.  I took some kitchen waste to add to the wormeries but it was far too hot to do any work so we picked a couple of courgettes and came home.

24 July - courgettes

Friday 25 July

It was another day when it was too hot to do much work - I tried a little weeding but soon gave up in the heat. I did pull up a few "weeds" that my neighbour told me was "wild tree spinach".

25 July - wild tree spinach

I tied the cucumbers and tromboncinos to the frames that they are supposed to attach themselves to, picked a few achocha and then came home.

25 July - Achocha

Saturday 26/ Sunday 27 July

On Saturday, there was intermittet rain, which was cooling and I did some more hand weeding. On Sunday I continued with the weeding but it soon became too hot and I gave up again!

Monday 28/ Tuesday 29 July 

Monday was another very hot day, with the thermometer in the mid twenties, but on Tuesday the temperature dropped by 7 degrees C and there were showers.  At home the gin was beginning to take on some colour from the rhubarb.  On the plot the swetcorn was doing well (and no sign of squirrel damage yet 🤞) and in the greenhouse, the aubergine was ripening nicely.

29 July - a hint of pink in the rhubarb gin

29 July - Sweetcorn

29July - Aubergine

Wednesday 30/ Thursday 31 July

I had a meeting on-site with our carpenter and the contractors who will be fitting cladding to the allotment building.  The work has been delayed as there was more rot tothe timber frame on the eastern side of the building than we had anticipated and we may have to close the allotment shop for August.

30 July - the allotment building

30 July - the allotment building

The rest of the time was spent getting our campervan serviced and getting ready for another set of visitors at home (and another allotment weekend lost!)

John Austin

Hove, July 2025