A Great Day!

Spent half of today at the allotment, and a couple of friends came along to help! Despite a few showers, we got loads done and had a lot of fun. Thanks Kathy and Brian!

Thanks to Kathy and Eddie, the two potato beds are now dug, manured, and ready for planting next weekend.

The onions and shallots are planted, along with two rows of parsnips (White Gem) and one row of carrots (Flyaway, since I can't control the damned carrot-flies). I realised too late I didn't have enough carrot seeds for the second row - I will have to take some more down next time.

And Brian did a great job of weeding the herb garden and a few other difficult spots.

The three remaining beds down the left-hand side are covered in dead weeds which we dug up and left where they lay last year. I didn't want to compost the stuff as we've had both blight and white rot (I think) down there (and let's face it, the place isn't tidy enough to safely burn them) so I'm planning on leaving it all in situe to rot away, planting the pumpkins and squashes here in pockets of compost, and letting them scramble all over it.

That leaves just two beds to clear; one will hold salad greens and the other courgettes and a few beans.

I'm very excited to see the lovage coming up, and looking forward to my favourite chicken stew with lovage and mint! It didn't do very well last year so I must take extra care of it this year. The giant poppies next door are crowding it rather - I will have to give it some more room...