Planting the cucurbits

Planted cucubits in the front of the plot, through the mypex weed-supressing cloth. From left to right planted 6xButternut Squash (F1 Metro), 6xCourgette (F1 Astia) and 3xPumpkin (Jack O'Lantern). These plants have been nursed from seeds planted on 19th April.

Sowed up some of the large holes with garden twine to keep the light off the weeds that would compete with the plants.

Picked some radishes and a few goosberries. Both are looking good and growing well. The potatoes are showing a lot of leaf now. They needed a good watering today.

Planting sweetcorn

Had a tidy up again today. Weed growth not too bad after a weekend away from Oxford.
Sowed sweetcorn in 8 locations, two seeds in each.Tidied up the borders with shears. Really must get something like a small mower or strimmer to keep the edges in order. Using shears is back-breaking!

The leeks have germinated

Are they meant to look like this? They look suspiciously to me like the roots are sticking up in the air!

Quick tidy-up

Weather atrocious this weekend so I just had a quick hoe over the exposed soil and raked up a bit more soil onto the nicely growing potato plants.

My neighbour Duncan very kindly sharpened my hoe for me. It's much easier to use now. Thanks Dunc!

Planted leeks

Planted some leeks today. They'll probably take 2-3 weeks to germinate. I'll plant them out later in the summer ready for harvesting next spring.

Opening up some more ground for planting

The weeds were not as bad as I'd feared after 2 weeks. The rhubarb has flowered and there are some good-sized stalks to eat now. The gooseberry bush is looking like it will have a good crop too. I cut the flower off the rhubarb to make it produce more stalks.

I uncovered half of the back quarter of the plot and got rid of huge amounts of weed that had grown despite the darkness. It's now looking nice and tidy. I'll leave it a week or two so I can kill of any opportunistic weeds then I think I'll grow sweetcorn and perhaps beetroot in that part.


The potatoes have started to appear too!

Back from Hols

The seedlings are doing rather well. Lettuces have gone crazy and the curcubits are looking good. Tomatoes and Chillis still quite small but coming on OK. I'll attack the weeds at the allotment tomorrow.