We had a minor miracle last week – an actual, real, genuine, hot and sunny bank holiday weekend! These are rare occurrences and not to be taken lightly, so we slapped on the sun screen, grabbed our hats, and spent three whole days down on the allotment ticking off some of the bigger items on the to do list.
First thing to do was get the shed painted, add the guttering, and get the water butts in place.
The shed is looking marvellous, even if I do say so myself. The shelves in front of it were from our bathroom and are now home to some dahlias and herbs, and in front of that are two pots retrieved from behind my Mum and Dads shed (Mum had decided she doesn’t like blue pots any more!) which I’ve stuck a few of my bargain 50p anemone bulbs in. The water butts still need a bit of wiggling before they’re right (most notably, taps) and eventually we’ll hopefully put some paving slabs on the ground in front of the shed, but that’s way down the bottom of the list for now. I still can’t believe just a few months ago this corner – pretty much everything to the right of the greenhouse – was waist high with nettles!
After the shed was painted, and while C went on a weeding and digging spree, I made use of some of the better bits of wood left over from the old shed and used them to make another raised bed. C was determined to use a whole can of paint up, so it now matches the shed nicely. C has planted a couple of pots of mint (one plant split between two pots, and we’ve planted them in the pots to stop them spreading everywhere), some more carrots, some dill, and a few flower seeds.
We also came away with out first harvests of the year, a hat full spinach (I’d left the trug at home) and a small handfull of radish from the pots next to our front door. Both went in to a rather delicious salad for my dinner.
The rest of the plot is coming along nicely, and despite a few days of colder weather this week, when I stopped off last night to water the plants in the greenhouse everything was thriving.
The aubergine has a couple of beautiful flowers. The cucumber has lots of fruit, including the fairly big one above, and the lupins are beginning to show signs of flowering. There’s carrots and beetroot showing green shoots, the courgettes and munchkin pumpkins are so far (touch wood) being ignored by slugs, and the big raised bed is almost completely full of greenery now – spinach, strawberries, beetroot, spring onions, radishes, and chard.
Fingers crossed for some more sunshine and warmth now!
beansandtoast 