Twin Leeks

Weather: Cloudy but mild. No rain! We have had heavy rainfall everyday this week interspersed with the odd bit of sunshine. The hosepipe ban that spanned parts of the country has been called off and many parts of the UK are now experiencing bad flooding

Jobs completed:

Planted out the purple sprouting broccoli. We walked on the soil to firm the bed down first then planted each seedling deep in the soil adding a handful of lime and water. This helps prevent clubroot. We then put some bamboo canes around the bed at about waist height and netted the broccoli to prevent the birds getting to them

Watered the greenhouse tomatoes, cucumbers and basil

Plot Time: 16.30 to 18.00

Weather: Warm but overcast in the morning. Getting hotter and sunnier throughout the day 

Jobs completed:

Tied back the campion in the front flower bed

Pulled out the purple sprouting broccoli and composted the remains. Started to prepare the bed for the next crop

Watered the greenhouse. We still have some squash and more courgettes to go out and once the broccoli and cabbage beds are cleared we can put in the leeks we have started off in the greenhouse. We need to put these out to make more space for the growing tomatoes and cucumbers

Plot Time: 16.00 - 19.00

Weather: Sunny and hot all day

Jobs completed:

Repotted purple sprouting broccoli seedlings

Repotted sweetcorn seedlings

Sowed a row of fennel directly into the ground

Sowed a row of lettuce directly

Watered the greenhouse seedlings and all of the newly planted salad and flower seedlings

Started to weed the raspberry bed. The couch grass has started to creep in again as have dandelions and cleavers.

Weather: Cloudy with sunny spells.

Today we have spent some time on our own allotment.

Jobs completed:

Sowed lambs lettuce into plugs

Sowed purple sprouting broccoli into plugs

Repotted basil into larger pots - Crimson, Minette and Thai

Repotted tree spinach to take to the show tomorrow as we have had a few enquiries about it and we thought it would be nice to give some plugs away

The sage we had dug out for the show but wasn’t needed we returned it to the herb bed today. We also replanted some comfrey that was surplus

Watered greenhouse

Cut purple sprouting broccoli. I fear we might just be getting towards the end of it now

Planted some nasturtium and cosmos seedlings in to the wildflower hill

Topped up comfrey juice with more leaves and water - we keep this in a barrel behind our tool lock up

Potted on some White Lisbon spring onions into deeper pots

Split celery seedlings into smaller clumps and potted on

Planted out rocket seedlings

Plot Time: 13:30 pm - 14:30pm

Weather: Cloudy with the odd shower of rain. We have had a lot of rain this week, some days torrential. Everything looks better for it.

Jobs Completed:

Watered greenhouse

Checked on progress around the plot. The wildflower hill is now covered in seedlings and everything in the greenhouse is prospering. We still have purple sprouting broccoli to take and the asparagus is starting to sprout more shoots after the rain.

At home we have been continuing to build our insect hotel today.

It is made from a pine frame and pine ‘shelves’ within which are a selection of cut logs, bamboo and twigs. The wood and twigs have both come from trees in our back garden. We will be panelling the back and attaching a mesh screen to the front with staples. We are still yet undecided as to whether to attach a ‘roof’ to it.

Weather: Cold, overcast with rain. Bright spells in late afternoon.

Jobs Completed:

Transplanted some evening primrose and campion and foxgloves on to the wild flower hill that have self seeded around the plot.

Bagged up bramble, nettle and other pernicious weeds to go to the tip.

Weeded round the fruit trees, raspberries, strawberry and garlic bed.

Transplanted a raspberry cane that had come up on the other side of the path back into the raspberry bed.

Edged the vegetable beds with the half moon.

Began creating a frame to support and cage the broadbeans when they are planted.

Planted some tomato seeds - Minibel. They are dwarf cherries that should provide plot snacks in the summer.

Transplanted the mint cuttings into pots and put them in the cold frame.

Cut up compost with machete (our preferred agitant!) and added more green manure and dead rapberry cane.

Cut some purple sprouting broccoli for dinner.

Fed strawberries and spring cabbage with seaweed fertiliser.

Planted more snowdrops in front flowerbed.

Campion

Raspberry Canes Sprouting