Early start

I made an early start at the plot today because it is in shade all morning and I can't work there in full sun. The first job was to spend a half hour watering everything. I soaked all the seed beds and the spuds, and lightly watered the areas I was going to weed......they were a bit hard. The plot gets no sun until lunchtime so the plants were not warmed up and so could take a chilly shower!

Picture 1 shows the raspberries, doing well, and now sporting their petticoats of poached egg plant. I have put the little modules in front, between, and behind the bushes in the hopes that they will seed profusely and smother weeds forever! That is the plan anyway!

I also took advantage of the shadiness and the chilly wind to do the strenuous work of weeding out two of the untouched beds. The one behind the wigwams will have beetroot sowed there on the next root day. I need a lot as I pickle them for DH for the whole year.

And the third picture show where I have cleaned the bed to front left and sowed peas. Sugar snap, which need the wigwam support as they grow to 1.5m. I didn't have any netting at the plot so will have to go back with that, and with some CDs to hang around to scare pigeons. I aso sowed Twinkle....a normal pea, which needs the usual pea supports.

I must get back to the plot soon to finish weeding out the paths so that a weekly hoeing will keep them clear. I much prefer hoeing to mowing, or clipping so the grass is going!

All in all it was a very pleasant morning once the wind dropped. (I needed my fleece until then. ) It was very cheery hearing the banter of the other plotholders as they arrived, and the slow thwack, thwack of the men playing tennis at the sports club. The almost tame blackbird came and took every worm I threw him. He waits until he has 5 or 6 hanging down like a huge moustache before he flies back to his nest with them. He also serenaded me for a while from the top of the tree by the flats.