Bean there....

The weather has been warm & sunny for the last few days, & I’ve not needed much of an excuse to go to the Hill – I’ve had a marvellous time!

The weeding continues apace – the soil is very dry & dusty on top, so a quick whiz over with the hoe is all that is needed & then it’s a case of just gathering up all the weeds.

Once I’d weeded the plot b (misc.), I gave the tomatoes a right good going over – I went round each of the plants (we still have 16 plants, actually – more than I thought) & chopped off anything that was remotely suspect on the blight front & gave them all a serious BATH of dithane spray. Three days on, & they all look magnificent. A few of them a bit on the bare side where I’ve stripped the leaves off, but healthy – & that’s the main thing!

The tomato plant at home has a couple of ripening tomatoes on, but ones in the hanging baskets are still very green indeed.

I also had to beat the nasturtiums back with a big stick! They are making a play for world domination, & we can’t have that, lovely as they are. The courgettes have settled in well, & the butternut squashes have stopped sulking & are putting on loads of growth – so perhaps the flowers will follow soon.

I’ve chatted to Retired Maureen a couple of times this week – always lovely to talk to – & tonight I arrived to see Secretary Hayden talking to Alison the teacher’s sister who I have not seen for a long time. I don’t think that her plot has seen that much of her either, & Hayden was having a ‘bit of a chat’ with her about that.

I’ve given everywhere a boost with some chicken pellets, & done some sowing in plot C (roots) where the onions were of a whole load of short rows of pelleted CARROT (autumn king II) seed which Wellie sent me in the post.

We haven’t grown nearly enough carrots – every time I want to pull a few up for tea, I seem to use half a row, & there aren’t that many rows to choose from! Carrot fly have also been a problem – I hope that I’ve solved this one by sowing the seed far enough apart so that I don’t have to do any thinning.

I also put in a few seeds of SWISS CHARD (bright lights) which I’m hoping will taste as good as the spinach, but not bolt at the drop of a hat.

Whilst weeding in plot A (legumes) I noticed that the black turtle beans look really good – with purple flowers – & the kale seedling I put in under the low cage have really come on too. And it was whilst weeding that I came rather unexpectedly across a dozen or so runner beans which were ready for picking – the first of, well, many I rather think!

They tasted utterly delicious, however, I suspect that the novelty of stringing runner beans may soon wear off….