Today i got over to the plot in the evening and put in the runner beans and the four courgette plants, which had been looking healthy but suddenly the leaves had started look dry and shrivelled, maybe scorched, so i planted them now but may sow another couple of pots as back up's.

I'm still undecided about the rows of carrots and weeds, either try to weed them or just now remove everything and re-sow the rows of carrots. It would be a shame as the carrots that have come up when weeding look great but the weeds are so dense that i fear i'll have practically no carrots left if i try weeding.

Next i need to put in the tomatoes on the plot, sow many things, pot on the herbs, so much to do!!!

update

so today i sowed 5 pumpkins 'snowman' which are apparently whitish skinned fruits but look and taste good, and 5 butternut squash 'hunter'. For my memory the pumpkins are the ones in the plastic pots, butternut in fibre pots.

I have also put canes and twine up in the green house to help support the tomatoes and cucumbers, and today i planted the two chilli plants into growbags. The green house is also housing currently basil, coriander, the runner beans, sweetcorn, courgettes (4), the spinach is going over but been quite productive and i need to resow some more. The lettuce is still coming on, and the second trough with the little gem lettuce which looked liked it had failed before it began, has partially revived and maybe salvageable.

I have also put the strawberries into grow bags on the table outside the shed, and the potatoes in a bag are very healthy, i need to see when i planted them, or just will have a delve into the bag to see what comes up.

Over at the plot i have been weeding, planting more peas and creating support for the established ones. I have taken over but not planted all the sunflowers, but will enlist my daughter to help plant them.

The dwarf french beans need to go in next, and soon the tomatoes 'moneymaker' also. i have never really done outdoor tomatoes before and hope i'm not putting them out to early, and if they will be too exposed there also.

The potatoes have been earthed up rcently, and i'm removing lots of marstail also. Seems to be a real problem everywhere at the allotment this year.

I have done some weeding amongst the rows of carrots beetroot and spinach beet but its tricky as the weeds are very thick around the carrots, which i think if i weed to much i will end up removing most of them also.

4/5/09

I bought the strawberry plants today, my daughter choosing 'Pegasus' and 'Sophie'.
I also decided not wait for the runner beans to try and germinate (or not) from my old seed, and bought a packet and sowed approx. 32 'Celebration' seeds which apparantly is very nice with pretty pink flowers.

I was able to return to the plot last night and put in the main crop potatoes, and put the tarpaulin over the end of the plot where some weeds keep coming through from the raised path. I also managed another 10% or so of the covered bit , dug it over and manure spread on top.
Noticed also that my small goosebury plant has some fruit for the first time!!

2/5/09

So the name of the second chilli is 'Fresno'. And the 2 cucumbers are 'Pepinex' and 'Delta star F1' which is a mini cucumber producing up to 6 fruits a week (if i'm lucky!).

I was able to goto the plot tonight and managed to dig my last potato trench and line it with manure. I'm a bit late putting my main crop in but better late than never. Also discovered and removed a stone the size of a watermelon!

I also planted some celery i bought the other day, 6 plants 'celebrity'.
I then spread some manure over an area i dug over the other day where i intend to plant the summer crops such as sweetcorn and the squashes.

In the greenhouse i planted the cucumbers in a grow bag, the lettuce in another bag are doing well and the spinach is producing leaves now. The two chilli's are in larger pots and look good, and all the outdoor tomatoes and cucumbers look healthy. I potted on all the sunflowers my daughter sowed, and the second tray of climbing beans are just coming through. The 5 courgette plants have also germinated, and i planted 2 test runner beans, the seed were ones i collected 2 years ago so i'm not sure how viable they are. If they dont come good i'll need to buy some more seed. I also started putting up the bean canes over the bean trench at the plot.