At last I got to the plot!!

After a busy 10 days of distractions I finally got to the plot for a couple of hours this afternoon. I managed to do a holding operation there. I hoed all the paths and the veg...carrots, beetroot, onions, shallots, beans and peas, sweetcorn and squashes, and courgettes.I also planted out a courgette plant I got at Wisley on Monday...a yellow fruiting one. I had given up waiting for the ones I had sown direct at the plot to germinate, and the ones at Wisley were good value and looked healthy. Needless to say, when I got to the plot three of the four courgette plants had grown (actually only three out of twelve seeds....!) and the ones that hadn't germinated were the yellow ones (Jemma) so I did well to get a yellow one.

On my knees I clipped the path between my plot and next door.

I spread a whole load of lawn mowings as mulch over the spuds I earthed up this morning.

There is still an awful lot to do at the plot...b beans to spray, weedy bank to clear.


I am so pleased at the spurt in growth of my brassicas. Since the rain they have doubled in size and their colour has improved. Tap water just isn't the same...is it? They sulked for a while after planting out but are away now. Wish I could say the same for the squashes and sweetcorn...they still appear to be sulking.

And the germination of the peas and beans has been very patchy. I think next year I will raise all those type of seeds in modules again...direct sowing just is not so successful at the plot. It worked at home but not at the plot.



This evening I made a good start at tidying the back kitchen garden. It was growing a great deal of weeds. I have totally cleaned up 7 of the 8 beds and made a start on the strawberry bed. I must also weed out the asparagus bed and the one with the broad beans in, and the gravel paths between the beds are getting a bit overrun with weeds too. I am tempted to use a weedkiller on them.

There is a lot more to do out there so I'll be busy tomorrow.