Lots of work on the plot this weekend which was beautiful - hot and sunny with a slight breeze. We divided our forces so that N was engaged in erecting (ahem) the new Greenhouse which is great, and I did a lot of stuff on the plot. There are photos but frankly one is a little cream crackered so forgive me this time for not adding them.
Aside from the usual strimming and weeding (we do seem to get a lot especially around the borders which is a real pain) the following activities took place.
Bed 1 - chard is beginning to bolt and the overwintering onions are looking like real onions. Big job was to sort out the various onions as it seemed that there was a lot of space being wasted with the erratic germination of the original sowings. I am confident that I now know the meaning of the phrase "to know one's onions" as you really have to know what is what when sorting out the various seedlings. Suffice to say after a lot of pondering bed 1 is now the happy home for all the onions that have emerged, including the remedial onions sown at home. Not many red onions, alas.
Bed 2 - garlic is going nuts and the space vacated by the various onions has been given a bit of compost from the blue bag. We are using this as a temporary nursery bed for 1 courgette and 3 squash seedlings, duly planted and watered. I also used a new anti-slug product, a kind of gel that claims to be kind to nature etc whilst being deathly to slugs. We will see.
Bed 3 - the seedlings sown direct are looking great, as is the spring cabbage. They are carefully covered with enviromesh. I moved the first sown broccoli (February??) into the same quadrant as the spring cabbage. They are already showing their heads - they are calabrese. Unfortunately they have all wilted with the shock of the move though we are optimistic they will improve with judicious watering.
Bed 4 - just watered the maincrop potatoes and removed the purple sprouting broccoli.
Bed 5 - all traces of kale and rocket now removed (both covered with some hideous grey bug thing) and put onto reordered compost area. 3 courgettes and 2 butternut squash were planted, again after a bit of extra compost was added. Very excitingly the corn and beans sown a few weeks ago are beginning to appear. We have some "spares" in case things are not altogether successful and have been offered some corn seedlings by Derek. We are great believers in sowing direct, even though we will have the greenhouse to start things off. Will our lives change? The peas are beginning to show too, though I am confused now between peas and mangetout. Oh well.
Bed 6 - peas are still doing great one side, not so great the other, though hopefully they will catch up. Lots of weeding here including getting rid of comfrey, which though removed from this area, still has a grip. Never mind, it goes straight into enriching the compost.
Bed 7 - the carrots are looking terrific, and the parsnips too. No sign yet of the second sowing of parsnips.
Pagoda - strawberry fruits and apples are forming well. Some remedial work needed on the summer raspberry fixings. They seem a lot more trouble than the autumn variety, though the latter have invasive characteristics similar to comfrey. The seedbed was weeded and all is doing well. I planted some runner bean plants inside - and a giant pumpkin. (There is also one in the compost shelter.) No sign yet of sweet peas.
Bank - the weeds are doing well (too hot to weed up there) and the potatoes are growing. Rhubarb still looking ratty and only one asparagus has shown itself. We plan to plant the butternut squash up there once the first earlies are up.
It doesn't look much when you write it down but gee it's a lot of work. The plot is now beginning its summer phase with the removal of the last winter crops. It's not just the manual side of things, but the thinking and working out alternatives and spacings. One has to be flexible and not panic too much. Sunday was enlived by a lovely bbq with our erstwhile neighbours, Jan and Pat - a great way to celebrate progress so far and to look forward to the harvest to come. We are still eating last year's maincrops - probably just enough to last until the first earlies come - and the garlic. Frozen courgettes and broccoli are available if need be. Aren't we lucky!
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