Weekly news

The plum season is nearly done, just a few more Marjories, Damsons and Laxton Cropper to pick, but there is still plenty to do. Next harvesting jobs are potatoes, apples and sweetcorn.

The lack of rain on our little patch has been maddening when we have got drenched at markets not very far away. We finally gave up hoping for rain at the end of last week and got the irrigation reel back in action.

Markets This Week

on Friday - Malmesbury and Rodborough

on Saturday - Reading, Droitwich, Charlbury, Stroud, Headington, Woodstock and Kings Heath

on Sunday - Summertown and Caversham and Maidenhead

These juicy specimens have been devouring some of our sprout plants (probably means those ones are particularly tasty). We won't be using any pesticides because some useful little wasps are dealing with them. The female wasps inject their eggs into the caterpillars. The developing larvae then feed inside the caterpillar. When the caterpillar dies a packet of yellow pupae containing developing baby wasps is left behind. Biological control, maybe not so kind!