Allotment tales

It is hard to think that on the 11th June the team abandoned ship after coffee following a valiant attempt at plot maintenance in heavy rain. Then a week later (18th) rain was forecast but didn’t appear and temperatures were mild. So I wonder what the report from this week (25th) is going to say!  But for now this is an update on what the team were up to on Thursday, 18th.

Despite the lack of sun up till now, the allotment is thriving. The strawberry bed is suddenly dotted with little red jewels, and the sweet peas are beginning to bloom.

We picked the first of the broad beans today.

Quite a bit of planting done. Red cabbage (Kalibos) sprouts and purple sprouting broccoli began to fill up the brassica bed. Last year’s potato plot was weeded and leeks planted individually into water-filled holes. Runner beans (Guinness Record) and Uchiki Kuri squash were planted in the polyculture bed after red orach and climbing spinach were thinned.The roots bed is growing well with promising lines of healthy seedlings. These were weeded and thinned.

Most of this year’s core planting is done, but we’ve forgotten to grow courgettes! We’ll try to get some for next week.
A wet start to the summer and “No Mow May” has meant that the grass has been hard to get on top of – especially with a very obstinate and temperamental lawn mower. Perhaps we’ll give it a miss next year? Perhaps cultivating areas of plants on the fringes of the plot for birds and insects could be a way forward?

Jobs for next week; plant courgettes; weed and water; check the damson and plum trees for “Plum Pocket”; harvest rhubarb and strawberries; start picking the sweet peas; check the garlic and shallots to see if they’re ready to start pulling.