Spuds in....well some of them!

 
A little late I managed to get the first earlies (Foremost) and my salad potatoes (Charlotte) into the ground. It was rather claggy and shouldn't really have been dug etc but I stood on some boards to minimise compaction of the soil.
I will leave the Desiree maincrop 'til the traditional planting day...Good Friday.
The photo shows how much spring digging I still have to do. Actually I don't dig any more as these are deep beds but a bit of tidying up is called for. Usually I use a hoe, with a fork for the big weeds, although most of them just slip out without a lot of resistance. I pulled up 18" long dandelion roots with just a little bit of twisting last week.

I must say I've had enough of the rain now. I really enjoyed last week's sunshine but it seems to have gone away. The long range forecast for this part of the UK gives SLEET for next Wednesday....as well as rain most other days......sigh!

Allotment progress.

A truly beautiful morning spent at the plot.
First I harvested the Brussels sprouts and pulled up the plants. There were lots of small ones still on them but I wasn't sure they would come to anything. Bed now cleared and ready for something else.

Picked and tidied the PSB. Weeded all round it, re-netted it.

Dug up some leeks, tidied the bed.

Manured the raspberry bushes.

My back feels like it is snapping so I have come home for a sit!!!

More seed sowing

Sowed these yesterday
Courgette "Black Beauty"
" "Midnight" for the plot
" "Soleil" for the plot
" "Black Forest" (a climber for my new arches....an experiment
" "Parthenon" (doesn't need pollinating so trying these in the tunnel for an early crop...an experiment)

Cucumber "Sunsweet"
" "Bush Champion"
" "Burpless Tasty Green" for the arches.
" "Crystal Lemon"

All are in the propagator on the sunroom windowsill.

Busy morning

 
It was very warm and sunny so I felt it was a good opportunity to get some big jobs done in the kitchen garden. These arches have been cluttering up the sun room for months but today they have finally been installed.
They run more or less East to West so the beds on the left in the photo will be quite shady once the various produce grows up and over the arches, so I must make sure to only put the sun lovers on the right!

These arches are my latest experiment for the climbing crops such as beans, sweet peas, tomatoes etc. I find wigwams less than satisfactory because I can't get at the stuff in the middle....

Planned crops for this year on these arches are
Borlotti beans
Runner beans
Climbing french beans
Sweet peas
Outdoor cucumbers
Squash
Courgettes
I will report on my success/failure....!

I have also filled the shallower of the two tunnel beds with a compost/vermiculite/John Innes 3 mix. I covered it all over with the empty bags to dissuade Scooby from using it as a toilet.
I took the photo during a dullish moment. The sun is out again now so I'm going back out!

This morning..

 
 
 
 
This morning was the first time for ages when weather and opportunity coincided and I was able to get to the plot. The raspberries needed pruning and clearing round so a good hour was spent on that, Tomorrow I will go and spread some of my well rotted manure around them and then just wait for the harvest!
I also pruned the gooseberry. This was very fruitful last year and I am hoping for another good year.

Here are also some photos of the Kitchen Garden at home. These show that the beds are ready for the off....some are already full(onions, garlic, shallots and broadbeans, and some are just finishing with last year's broccoli and leeks. The strawberries, salad bed and the asparagus bed are all cleaned now. I also sprinkled a good dose of pelleted poultry manure on the relevant beds.

Still lots of tidying to do, and the bean and sweet pea arches are half built and need installing....but on the whole I am up to date out here.

Still plenty to do at the plot. The soil is wonderfully workable at the moment, but it is still too cold there to sow and expect reliable germination.