Well hello. Lots to catch up on. Last weekend we spent a lot of time on the plot which was great and had a visit from K's mum and dad. And this weekend from The Neighbour and Oscar Dog - see next blog.
There is now so much to do. We cast our minds back to a few months back, when it was just digging and grumbling - and to this time last year, when we didn't have much going on other than the potatoes and the raspberries - and it seems like a different patch of earth. Our activities today and last weekend are pretty similar, so think of this as the Plot Omnibus. We took the digital camera with us today so as to present you with a montage of the plot - you can view these in a Special Picture Panorama Spectacular in the blog after this.
Generally, we are very pleased with our progress. There are the highs and the lows - but by and large things do seem to be growing. This is now the list of plants/crops planted by us in the plot, in no particular order. First early potatoes, maincrop potatoes, peas, nasturtiums, kale, purple sprouting broccoli, winter cabbage, broccoli, French beans, butternut squash, courgette, corn (3 sorts), raspberries, strawberries (2 sorts), blueberries, poached egg plant, runner beans, sweet peas, carrots (2 sorts), onions (2 sorts), garlic (2 sorts), radish, rocket, french marigolds, pumpkin.
Lessons to be learnt - plant more maincrop and less first early potatoes; plant less broccoli; clear bank over winter; do salad crops at home; more support for peas; re-think beds; decking in front of shed.
We love the peas which are podding, the brassica seedlings in the Pagoda which are fab and the numerous leeklings. Not to mention the flowery potatoes. And last but absolutely not least - the jewel-like strawberries which have been coming over the last 2 weeks. They are bright red and perfect, sweet and juicy. Ants do not seem to like them. Maintenance involves a lot of weeding - some in the beds and some trying to thwart Mother Nature sidling in from the bank. And our first courgette flower has appeared. Blueberries are forming and also the first red raspberry has been spotted. We are particularly pleased with the courgettes which have suddenly shot off, beans and corn - I secretly think that the Magic Compost Vegetable Juice stuff has kickstarted them. They now look happy, strong and thriving.
We think the garlic will go over soon - it is going yellow and most of the elephant garlic flowers have been removed to get even more humungous bulbs. And we anxiously speculate about when to dig up the first of the potatoes as a sample. We decide to do it next weekend. We plant some more corn seedlings in the Pagoda and redo the mousetraps. Unfortunately we had a sad task - a robin had got caught in one. We know this is collateral damage in the great scheme of things but it saddens us nonetheless.
Other work included mowing the lawn (which is looking fabulous) and N making more improvements to the decking in front of the shed. We have erected a temporary barrier for the comfrey as it is getting a bit too enthusiastic. Too late we realise that we should have stopped it from flowering, so that the plant gets stronger. But then the bees would not have come and we couldn't have that.
Second sowings of peas, carrots and radish all showing.
Mouse count = 6
Rabbit = 0
Slugs = probably several thousand
Weather note: generally fine, not too hot, bit cloudy
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