it was almost too hot for gardening on sunday when we were at the allotment so i'm very pleased to see so much rain today. the soft fruit is bursting forth and will need netting soon
kim and i planted out some beetroot seedlings
the chamomile wheelbarrow is looking mighty fine
tomatoes are ready to be transferred to beds in the greenhouse
the pomegranate tree is a really beautiful colour, and that's the carrot tubes in the background
peppers are doing well
and i found this prettiness living amongst the currants


and an enormous thank you to Richard and Joke for the delivery of a magnificent pile of poo !

it's been a two visit week to the allotment for me this week. once with isobel on friday afternoon and again yesterday with ashley. some big jobs got taken care of.

the purple sprouting broccoli was bursting into a lovely yellow flower and needed to be cleared to make way for onions and carrots

we've chosen to leave this one magnificent brussels sprout in place to admire it's beauty and with a view to collecting some seed.

the seeds sown in the greenhouse are beginning to appear, there's beetroot, celeriac, leek

ashley has prepared the ground for his carrot tubes that will be interplanted with onions

i stripped the remaining leaves from the broccoli stems and fed them to the compost heap. the stalks, which are remarkable woody, will be dried out and burned.

these are some sweet peas that i planted next to the rhubarb yesterday, the seeds were got at our weed swap.

and i've been sowing some marigold seeds as compainion plants - who knew the seeds looked so wonderful !

a beautiful sunny day at the allotment this weekend, and plenty to do:
making sure that the new forest part of the plot is happy and well watered

harvesting and sharing out an enormous broccoli harvest

admiring the perky garlic

and watching the boys do the real work and sowing the spuds

thanks to everyone who came to the forest garden day at the allotment on sunday - we counted 32 people at one point, and a big thanks too to jo who organised and ran the session.

photos of the finished ( or started ) forest garden coming soon.

this weekend

(click to enlarge and read details)

such a busy weekend in the garden and the allotment, it all began with these fellas, it's camellia sineses, aka Tea. leaves taken direct from the plant and steamed = green tea folks ! the seeds are enormous, like malteasers, and there were careful instructions to follow before planting. these have had their outer shells chipped, been soaked for 2 days and then been in the fridge for 2 weeks. i know it could be a while before i'm sipping a homegrown brew but i think the journey there could be really interesting. i found them on the good old interwebs from Chiltern Seeds if you fancy getting some of your own. there is a tea plantation in cornwall and i hear that they should be pretty hardy.

i'll start them off at home and some of them might graduate to the greenhouse at the allotment.

then i set about some spring cleaning in my garden, transforming this:

into this:

and these old sunflower stalks:

into bug hotels:

ashley is going to see if he can fix these old chairs so that we have something to sit on at the allotment

then i emptied my compost bin, bursting with pride, and found reminders of all the beetroot that we ate last summer, it was growing in there, little pink leaves in the dark.

on sunday we spent a few hours at the allotment, kim and ashley moved the rhubard to a more suitable location, it put up quite a fight.
tim and i got busy on our beautiful new potting table with some celeriac, onion, mulberry, leek and mallow seeds.

then we all went home with glowy cheeks and party bags

hey , look!

we've made broccoli,
and its the shmancy pants purple one.

garlic is on it's way

and broad beans too, Kim's trick of burying a piece of holly with the seed, ( apparently to see off mice ) has worked !


we're holding a forest garden making day soon, sunday march 29th, 11-3 - everyone welcome, it should be really hands-on, do get in touch if you'd like to know more.