Sue did a lot more good work today (Wednesday 31st May), cutting the hedge & digging the horsetail out of the old compost & manure heaps whilst I planted the beans and potted up a few more tomatoes. 

Cora still seems to think going home is the best time of all - probably because we often take her for a walk on the beach on the way.

Here are the Runner Beans in their carpet holes... 

...and here I am putting in the Climbing French Beans. 

This bed now has 6 bags of manure in it ready for the Courgettes & Crown Prince. 

I potted up a few more tomatoes today. The ones in the "Rooster" pots are Tigerella. 

The girls went to Manchester today so I was on my own at the lottie this afternoon. My main job was to finish what was to be the new strawberry bed and get the old compost heap into it. I am going to use it for courgettes and other squashes as I think it is a bit wide to comfortably harvest strawberries from. I will use one of the new beds near where the coping stone bed was for strawbs, as they will be 4ft not 5ft beds. 

Here it is again with the compost yet to be spread. 

I potted up some more tomatoes today in builders' buckets. The four far ones are elsanta if I remember rightly. The nearest two I did the other day and I've no idea what they are! 

I tied the bean strings together until required as they were getting a little tangled. 

I started pruning the base of the self seeded goosebury I transplanted 2 (?) years ago and it has turned into a standard! 

Is this a record?! When I dug the purple sprouting which has been leaning over the butterfly protection cage for months I was amazed to see it was taller than me...is this unusual or have mine normally been stunted through caterpillary action? 

Sue and I had a really good afternoon down at the allotment on Sunday. I concentrated mainly on preparing beds to plant into as the conditions were perfect for digging. This is the sweetcorn bed from last year. I am finding the groundcover is really making a difference to the condition of the beds and the weeds etc. Sue got up to all sorts of things as you will see below... 

This is the bed which had the brassicas - including the purple sprouting - in it. 

This bunch of chives is magnificent. However, when I get round to making the new beds I will have to dig it up.

The peas & beans I transplanted the other day seem to be surviving.

Sue was a little marvel today...here she is weeding the asparagus...

...pulling up the spent corn salad... 

...tying on the strings in readines for the runner & climbing french beans... 

...pausing for a moment... 

...and having a well earned rest 

Cora decided it was time to go home! 

Here are three views for my reference from 20th May - One... 

...two... 

..and three. 

This general view of thew allotment was taken on 20th of May. I did loads of work there today and yesterday with Sue but today I forgot to take my camera - Doh! 

I have resorted to just pulling the horsetail out of the strawberries this year before I move them and renew the bed. It won't kill it but it might annoy it a bit... 

It is rather a gloomy view out of the greenhouse today... 

...but inside the greenhouse the squashes are looking very perky. 

The tomatoes I pricked out are looking very healthy but still on the small side - I suppose they will get going eventually. 

We had the first of the Winter cauli's Big Dave gave me to put in last year and it was delicious! I've never had home grown cauli before and it never ceases to amaze me the difference in taste and texture between vegetables grown at home and the shop-bought ones. It's a bit like eating each vegetable for the first time - thanks Dave! 

The American Land Cress flowers form a pretty picture framed by the fresh green Chard leaves behind. Soon they will be uprooted to make way for more seeds. 

The groundcover had blown off the bed where the sweetcorn were last year.There is only one small weed in evidence to the side of the bed. Considering the amount of horsetail in some of the other uncovered areas of the plot I think this says a lot for the benefits of ground cover. Before I made the new bed I dug a large amount of horsetail out of the area so there must have been a fair bit left. The groundcover has kept it in check. 

The Artichoke haulm has reached its final resting place! 

Here is a different view to the usual! 

Here are the Garlic plants waiting to go out into their individual planting holes. I wonder if the holes are big enough for the cloves to swell properly? Time will tell. 

Before... 

...and after. Ultimately I intend to pave this area but this will have to do for now to keep the weeds in check. 

Ther are a ridiculous number of flowers on the redcurrant bush this year. Will it be a bumper harvest? 

The corn salad is over now and I need to dig it out to free up the bed for more crops. 

Here is the usual view for Saturday 6th March (yesterday). Spent all afternoon at the lottie though you wouldn't know it from the picture! I spent most of the afternoon potting on tomatoes & cosmos. I also brought a lot of compost from our bin at home and prepared the large plastic water tank for Salsify. I put holes in the bottom and added a layer of broken polystyrene along with the compost and some sandy topsoil from Phil's.
I also cleared the Atrtichoke haulm and potted up some sorrel I had from saved when I cleared the coping stone bed.
We came down Friday evening for an hour & Sue did a great job on horsetails in the Asparagus bed, and picking Asparagus & Purple Sprouting.

Phil popped doewn for a chat and gave my tomato seedlings a thorough inspection.
The tank on the right of the picture is waiting for me to plant it with Salsify.

Good to see someone appreciates their rhubarb! It gets a distinctly cool reception at home if not made into Rhubarb & Ginger jam. Phil once taught me a poem about rhubarb. 

I spent a fair amount of time on Saturday potting on Tomato plants and Cosmos. 

I managed to get the Jerusalem Artichoke haulm cleared up today (well Saturday actually) too.The stems were acting as an impromptu mulch and causing problems for the little shoots. 

The squash in the greenhouse are looking healthy and the broad beans need to go out asap. 

The potatoes are through in their carpet holes. 

If you are thinking of growing Chinese Artichokes my advice would be to do it in containers! I have already dug these out a couple of times and look at them at the edge of the carpet!!! Did I really want to import my own perrenial weeds....? No.

So Kevin Lynn what do you say now? The hole cutter worked really well! It's part of a downlighter kit from B & Q - three sizes for under a fiver! The trick is to run the drill in reverse so the fibres don't get tangled in the serrated edge of the cutter.  

Here are the rest of the holes ready for the Red Baron onion sets. (Planted just after I took this picture) 

We picked our first asparagus this week. Had it for tea today with Hollandaise sauce - delicious!