Novice Neighbour Jody (I can’t keep calling him that, you know!) very kindly watered all the TOMATOES in the week, & when I went to the Hill on Thursday evening they looked all the better for it. It’s so much easier to weed when the plot is dry, but it’s clearly not that good for the plants!
I got round to planting out the pot of LEEKS (mrs d) that I sowed in February – there are only a dozen which is nowhere near enough, so it’s a good job that sowed another pot in May with another couple of dozen. That’s still nowhere near enough – I really don’t know what I was thinking, & it’s too late to sow more now for this year. Hey ho, live & learn.
I showed Jason (behind-retired-Maureen) around the plot when he came to do some watering – he said he’d never heard of half of the varieties that we have growing! I did some weeding & watering & had a ponder as to how we’re going to net the brassica bed.
Today has been an absolute scorcher, & the first job this morning was to re-armpit the tomatoes, & tie them to their stakes. I’ve taken my eye off the ball here – the side-shoots (particularly at the bottoms of the plants) have got waaaaay out of control but I did my best anyway.
Julie (2nd-best-plot-in-Birmingham) who is next to cheery Brian & Pauline came down to offer me a cucumber – she says that she’s overwhelmed with them & is off for two weeks to her caravan in Wales tomorrow so she also very kindly asked me to help myself to her redcurrants – the bushes are laden – & also to please keep picking the sweet peas. Obviously I don’t need asking twice there!
Jane came along & forked up all the 1st early POTATOES (orla & lady cristl) whilst I applied a kilo or so of growmore to each of plot a (misc), plot b (roots) & plot d (legumes) along with some Epsom salts which I’ve been advised will perk up the peas which are looking rather yellow.
I found a pack of the black plastic that we used for paths last year in the garage, so I took that along & we laid the two remaining paths – it is a bit of a two man job to manipulate the 10m long plastic sheet. The sheet is not ideal (i.e. very slippery when wet/muddy) however I’m spending as much time weeding the paths as I am the plots at the moment, so until some 1’ by 2’ slabs become available, that will have to do.
We retired to the club house for lunch then I dropped Jane & her two carrier bags of spuds, & some FRENCH BEANS (early Warwick) off home, totally forgetting that I’d taken the BROAD BEANS (violetta) to plant out. I went back this evening to do that, & also to direct sow the empty row of bean poles right at the end with runner beans – which should give a late crop to take us into autumn….
I got round to planting out the pot of LEEKS (mrs d) that I sowed in February – there are only a dozen which is nowhere near enough, so it’s a good job that sowed another pot in May with another couple of dozen. That’s still nowhere near enough – I really don’t know what I was thinking, & it’s too late to sow more now for this year. Hey ho, live & learn. I showed Jason (behind-retired-Maureen) around the plot when he came to do some watering – he said he’d never heard of half of the varieties that we have growing! I did some weeding & watering & had a ponder as to how we’re going to net the brassica bed.
Today has been an absolute scorcher, & the first job this morning was to re-armpit the tomatoes, & tie them to their stakes. I’ve taken my eye off the ball here – the side-shoots (particularly at the bottoms of the plants) have got waaaaay out of control but I did my best anyway.
Julie (2nd-best-plot-in-Birmingham) who is next to cheery Brian & Pauline came down to offer me a cucumber – she says that she’s overwhelmed with them & is off for two weeks to her caravan in Wales tomorrow so she also very kindly asked me to help myself to her redcurrants – the bushes are laden – & also to please keep picking the sweet peas. Obviously I don’t need asking twice there!
Jane came along & forked up all the 1st early POTATOES (orla & lady cristl) whilst I applied a kilo or so of growmore to each of plot a (misc), plot b (roots) & plot d (legumes) along with some Epsom salts which I’ve been advised will perk up the peas which are looking rather yellow.I found a pack of the black plastic that we used for paths last year in the garage, so I took that along & we laid the two remaining paths – it is a bit of a two man job to manipulate the 10m long plastic sheet. The sheet is not ideal (i.e. very slippery when wet/muddy) however I’m spending as much time weeding the paths as I am the plots at the moment, so until some 1’ by 2’ slabs become available, that will have to do.
We retired to the club house for lunch then I dropped Jane & her two carrier bags of spuds, & some FRENCH BEANS (early Warwick) off home, totally forgetting that I’d taken the BROAD BEANS (violetta) to plant out. I went back this evening to do that, & also to direct sow the empty row of bean poles right at the end with runner beans – which should give a late crop to take us into autumn….
Oooh, redcurrant wine next then - I've just transferred mine to the dj - high hopes for this one. Off to sow my leeks today too, I'll be planting a couple extra for you (I've got 50 eek!)
ReplyDeleteYou can plant the armpit cuttings from your toms if you need more plants Hazel. They root very well - they sulk and wilt for a few days then they're off. We supplied our neighbour with some plants last year like this, when his greenhouse was flooded. Always useful if you've got one plant of something rare!
ReplyDeleteGood thinking, Clare - I was going to do redcurrant jelly, but the wine is a MUCH better idea!
ReplyDeleteI bet you think of me when you're eating your leeks - huh!
And Flum, you are tempting me! As if 4 lots of 5 different sorts of toms aren't enough...
Mind you, it's a cheap as chips way to increase the number of plants - buy one, get lots and lots free, as it were!