Lots of lovely ripe broad beans to pick, both the autumn ones and the ones planted this year. I picked two tubs full that's over a 1kg, some will go into the freezer. I'm away for two weeks from next saturday so I wanted to pick as many as I could but there are still a lot more coming.
Also picked a tub full of strawberries and a few raspberries. They smell so good as you pick them, they've done really well this year.
These pretty flowers are on the potatoes, both the earlies and the main crop are in bloom already. The earlies will be ready to pick when I'm back from Greece.
The double row of early spuds looks really good now, I hope I have a bigger crop than last year.
The pea flowers are really nice but I noticed that some naughty birds have been pecking away at the foliage.
I noticed a single pea pod had already formed, but I'm sure there are many others on the way.
The artichokes are very ornamental but I did have to spray some of them for black fly.
Lots of lovely ripe strawberries ready to pick. I got about a half an ice cream tub full and a few raspberries as well. The raspberries aren't covered so I think the birds are picking them off as they turn red, I'll have to do something about that.
The first flowers are appearing on the peas, they're beginning to get a good hold of the net I put up as well.
I had a big plant out of things from the greenhouse for before we go away. Tomatoes, cabbage and broccoli are all in the ground. I running out of space to put things now but there isn't that much more I need to plant this year. The only empty spot is where I put the dwarf beans directly into the ground, they don't seem to have germinated yet.
Some of the broad beans are ready, I love them when they're young, green and tender. Paul prefers them when they get a bit bigger.
I picked enough for one meal but there will be plenty more to come.
First I picked some rhubarb, smallish sticks but enough to make a crumble. Then I put up the second pea net, much easier than the first one since I had a better idea of how to do it. The second peas aren't nearly so big yet but the first ones are tangling their way into the net already.
I planted up the basil seeds in pots, probably ten seeds to a pot for now. Watered them and put them in the greenhouse, let's hope lots of fresh basil is on the way.
I earthed up the main crop potatoes, been meaning to do this for a while. They always look a bit messy, especially as the plants were quit big but by next week end I'm sure they'll have sorted themselves out.
Here are the earlies that I earthed a couple of weeks back, they're looking pretty healthy now. The courgettes and squash that I planted out are looking much happier today, it seems it was the same last year that the immediate planting out makes them wilt but they soon bounce back.
A view across the plot, everything looking alright for now.
Well, not quite fields of them but I picked 18 and two others that had already gone over so I threw them away. They're a good size and colour with plenty more to come if the weather stays sunny and the slugs don't find them.
Lots of planting out was the main thing I did today. The courgette and squash plants were looking a little withered in the greenhouse and plenty of other people have put theirs out already so I thought it was time to get them in the soil. Three at the front of the plot in the half row and then five across the plot behind the french beans, let's see which ones do best. The nasturtiums had sprouted as well so I put them out as well.
I went to the garden centre to buy more twine for the peas but they didn't have any and I ended up buying a couple of pea nets instead. I put the first one up already, probably a lot better than using twine to train them anyway. I also bought some more four foot canes for the tomatoes and some basil seeds which I'll plant tomorrow.
The biggest of the artichokes now has four buds growing on it, I wonder if I shouldn't cut a couple of them down to help the others get bigger? I better look it up in my book. The other plants have just one bud each.
You can never really be on top of everything at the allotment. I took this picture standing on the old tool box to give an over view of how things are. Spent the afternoon mostly weeding, strimming and tidying. Planted the chilli, coriander, cumin and mustard seeds I was give at Christmas, direct into the herb plot.
It seemed there were a lot of people shouting at their children today.
Surprisingly humid May weather, we had a good deal of rain last night and the sun has been peeping out from between the clouds this afternoon while I attended to the plot. My very first strawberry has gone red, I didn't pick it yet as it's still a bit unripe on the other side.
Things are growing on well #68, not too many bare patches left and I still have broccoli, cabbages and tomatoes to plant out.
The peas are coming on well so I put out some canes with string pulled across them to give the plants something to hold on to.
The potatoes are looking good. In the bottom right there was a plant that didn't come up so I planted another potato there which is just beginning to come through.
The tomatoes are coming along nicely, still a bit small yet but I hope to plant them out by the end of the month. I went through the greenhouse to see how things were fairing. I've planted out a few more french beans, they're much bigger than the ones which I planted out earlier. I also put three germinated sunflowers in the soil beside my shed, let's see how tall they get.
I had taken this tray out of the greenhouse the other week because I thought nothing was happening with it. Then today I could see little shoots which are unmistakably asparagus plants. I've got no idea where I shall plant them out and it'll be at least another two years before I have any spears to eat.
I collected some herbs before I went home, the thyme is in flower and the lavender has a lot of buds on it.
A mid week visit to the plot to make sure all was well with the wind and see how dry it was. The potatoes that I earthed up are pushing back out of the ground again, I was worried they might be buried a little too deep in places but they seem to be happy.
The artichoke has grown some more and there's evidence of two more buds growing on the same plant. I gave them and almost everything else a good watering. The plants in the greenhouse stay damp quite well apart from a few near the very front, it must get much hotter there.
Some tiny green strawberries, in fact there are loads of them. After watering I put one of the mesh tunnels over the plants to keep the birds off as the ripen. The rhubarb plants have fattened up again I think I could take another crop rom them this week end if I want to.
Raspberries are beginning to form as well, I guess i'll have to cover them at some point. The french beans I planted out early haven't enjoyed the weather at all, a couple have died and the others are looking a bit battered, by contrast those still in the greenhouse are doing really well and are twice the hight. The sunflower seeds I planted have germinated and so has the extra yellow courgette but nothing from the kobochas yet.
still small but the very first pods are forming on the broad beans I planted in the autumn. I haven't taken the tops off the plants yet but will need to do it soon to stop black fly infesting them. The plants aren't very uniform in hight but the tallest ones must be almost three feet high now.
