Rain stopped play...

..but still managed to have a very productive bank holiday weekend. We went up to the plot on Friday night after work but sod's law the heavens opened just as we were getting the tools out of the shed.....!

However Saturday dawned fine and sunny so we managd a full day's pottering and got the following done (long boring list I'm afraid).

• planted the reamining broad bean plants
• dug and weeeded another small bed
• sowed 3 types of carrots - Giant Red, Large ????, Large 1/2 Long into the small bed
• sowed 2 types of beetroot - White and Bolthardy in to the small bed
• MJC started digging another large bed and put woodchips on the paths - very professional looking!!
• planted the horseradish next to the artichokes
• weeded what was the strawberry bed and rescued another 3 plants from the clutches of the couch grass
• cleared around the artichokes and one of the blackcurrant bushes
• mulched the new red gooseberry plant and the cleared blackcurrant bushes
• installed the 'Greencone'

On Sunday it was too wet to do any digging so instead I did some sowing at home and managed to finally sow some other beans - 12 borlotti (Lingua di Fuoco), 12 purple climbing french (name?) and once I find the rest of my supply of toilet rolls, 12 yellow dwarf french. Also sowed 18 sweetcorn (Golden Nugget) and most of the winter squash varieties - 3 each of Thelma Saunders Sweet Potato Squash, Buttercup XXX, XXX Acorn Squash but still got Baby Bear Pumpkin to do.

Monday we went up for a visit with our next door neighbours to show them our vegetable 'kingdom' but we didn't really have time for any serious digging.

Just wish I had the rest of the week off as the weather's supposed to be lovely....sigh!

Seed Sowing & Saving Strawbs

Finally got round to sowing some seeds.

Sowed 25 sweet peas, and then 5 modules each of Black Peony poppies, Love-in-a-mist, Blue Echium and 5 sunflowers. And sowed 9 each of the following tomato varieties - Costoluto Fiorentino, Red Pear, Gardener's Delight, Golde Sunrise, Tigerella and San Marzano, and 7 Physalis ('cos they look pretty and are edible!) and 7 Sweet Pepper "Corno di Torro".

The toms and peppers are in the new propagator that I got from MJC's mum for Christmas.

I also transplanted the strawberry plants that were on the allotment, hidden in amongst the weeds. They're now in pots outside and I'll probably put them into the clay strawberry growing pots once they have a chance to recuperate.

We had a couple of hours on the plot yesterday. MJC dug another raised bed and I started weeding out all the docks and couch grass where the Jerusalem artichokes are going to be.