Visitors and colour

Lots of visitors today and the plot really does look lovely this time of year. Everything is lush from the rain a few weeks ago and now the heat.

My friend Debbie popped up with her son Max and even brought her green stove and made us a cuppa - that's the sort of visitor we like thank you so much Debbie! We had a potter and the little girl a couple of plots up -Sophia - sniffed out the biscuits and came along to see what was going on too!

The day was cool at 9am but you could feel the humidity already so we didn't stay too long.

Later on after Sammy's swim lesson Nanny and B-B came to visit and wanted to see what was going on so we popped up again. The heat really was stifling and Dad soldiered on and watered everything despite sweating his cogs off!!! Thank you Pops. Things that struck me where how quick the Sunflower seeds have reared their heads already and the Courgettes are loving it up there too. The Jerusalem Artichokes look like they are reaching for the sky and the potatoes have gone a bit crazy and also started to flower.

The Cow Parsley in the hedges is so beautiful and Sammy bravely cut lots for me with the secateurs so as I could bring it home for a vase. It really is the best time of year with wild flowers all over, lots of colours and different greens. So many types of flowers, delicate Buttercups and Wild Garlic. Mum named some of the flowers for me including Love-In-The-Mist which I LOVE and I even saw a beautiful Peony like the ones we have in the garden. Wonderful......

Seeds and our friend Mr Robin

We popped up this morning as a FAMILY wow it was quite a feat getting them all up there I can tell you!

Things are looking really good and we had a weed and a grass snip and the boys had fun watching the Robin fluttering by and eating creatures as we turned the soil. We planted Squash and Pumpkins this time and dotted flowers around the place. Neil took to randomly throwing seeds (guerilla planting if you will but we're not in Hackney now!) and so we should have some surprises along the way. Our plot is so much like a kitchen garden rather than an Allotment, just the way we like it.

The Jerusalem Artichokes leaves are really coming up now and the Courgettes are looking happy. The Potatoes are flourishing yet the beans do not look good at all. Maybe the soil is just no good for them. I have planted some more beans from seed just incase.

I think the boys enjoyed pottering about watching the Robin, Louis in particular was amazed how bold the Robin was.

We didn't have long as it was off to lunch with friends but enough time to water and meet our mysterious next door plot owner who came and did a bit of compost placing and vanished again! We said goodbye to the chickens a couple of plots up who looked very happy and were making a racket and we were on our way.

peace and quiet

Sammy was a bit poorly this week and missed Pre-School so when he was better and pottered back for Wednesday morning I went straight to the plot and had a quiet time to get jobs done.

All the rain, lots and lots of it, have made the plot super lush and slightly overgrown so I spent quite a while using the shears to chop grass and clear the edges of the beds so as we can distinguish veg from weeds again! A back aching job but hugely satisfying! 3 big bucket loads.

I dug around the established seedlings and did some weeding. My little friend the Robin followed me around as I turned the soil looking for grubs. He was fluttering by and landing every now and then on the bean canes.

I planted some more beans and covered the potatoes again; they are very happy and coming through every few days. The Broad Beans are being massacred by something so I found some old cloches and stuck them over for a while. The Courgettes look great and I have done the same to them in the hope of helping them bed in before they are eaten.

I had a go at the bed with Jerusalem Artichokes in. First time I have grown them and not sure what to expect. I dug the plot and pulled one out which helped me guess which leaf belonged to the Artichoke and which leaf belonged to the weed! Lots of weeds nearby look identical so I marked out the Artichokes with sticks and coloured tiles I found on the ground and saved them from suffocation.

The Raspberries are coming on well and are giving me an idea of how they will grow. I can't wait for those. Delicious! Think they will be ready in the Autumn.

A moment to stop and take pix and listen to the birds. Not a glorious blue sky day but very peaceful and wonderful all the same. So much nature going on all around and I felt very lucky to have the time to listen to it and hide in my little bit of rambling garden.