I was on poo trailer duty this week so I was out early on Saturday morning. The sun was up and it already had the makings of a very warm day. The jockey wheel on the trailer has turned out to be a boon to the weary back, mine in particular. It saves a lot of lifting. Hooking up and moving the trailer is a doddle. Following a very busy week in which I did not get down to the lottie I was expecting the smaller plants to be dried out. As it happen everything had comes on really well. Unfortunately that means the weeds as well as the edibles.
I got busy with hoe but I discovered that the onions are too close together. I kept clouting them with the hoe's blade. Not something you want to do if you want nice onions. That means hand weeding. I decided that I was not in the right frame of mind for hand weeding so looked for something else to do. A small part of bed four needs turning over to prepare a seed bed. The soil is a delight to work. In no time the bed was weeded, turned over a raked flat. I put in a few rows of Maran Swede, a couple of row of Bolthardy Beetroot. It was about then I spotted that the brasiccas planted a week or to ago had been scoffed. The damage looked like that of birds but how did they get in? My lottie neighbour Pete saw some broken strands in the bird netting. This looks like the entry point. I guess I will have to find something to repair it with.
I had the place to myself on Saturday and really just pottered about. I had a brew or two, did the sowing as mention above, checked the Climbing beans [they are starting to settle in]. Whilst checking the Broad Beans I found the top three inches to be completely covered in Black fly. This is to expected but this was a very heavy infestation. I squished a few plants worth of bugs but it was messy and pretty ineffective. I spotted a few ladybirds and ladybird larva both which are known black fly predators. I thought I will leave them to it and see how they get on by tomorrow.
I went home in the early afternoon for some lunch. H and Miss L were out and about. Miss L has been allowed little time off from revising. She has only three more exams to do and she is finished with school. Gulp..... I was sitting in the garden munching my sarnies when for some reason I decided I should have a look at the roof of the shed. I should not have looked. It needs weeding. Lunch over I chucked a bucket on to the roof and climbed up after it. It only took about half and hour to weeds the whole thing. It looks quite good and I have trays of seedling which are about ready to be planted out. I also resolved to dig over the front garden and prepare it for the flower seedling which are in the greenhouse. I got my fork out and had a go. I was surprised that it was relatively easy to dig over and it was full of worms. The ton and a half of horse manure that went on it over the winter has done a good job of improving the soil although the soil is far from a what I would call garden soil. Still the plants have no choice but to make a living in the soil provided. H said she would plant the seedlings on Sunday.
Sunday came. The sun rose but I did not, well not as early as the sun. I was at the lottie for 9.30. I checked the Broad Bean. The black fly were almost completely gone. Well done ladybirds, keep up the good work. I had several trays of assorted seedling that have languishing in the greenhouse. Finally time to be planted out. I had reserved a spot for my Leeks. I gave the space a good hoeing and raking. Then on my knees I proceeded to plant out the 150 seedlings, one at a time. I got a bit bored towards the end but they looked very good once they were watered in. I had an odd cabbage and Brussell Sprout plant that were the only survivors of a sowing session. I figured they deserved a spot in the lottie. I inter-planted the few Fennel I had between the Broccoli. The Asparagus plot looks neat since the top dressing but a bit bare so I have planted out the spare Dill and sown some Borage between the rows. I had loads of Coriander in trays which I have planted here and there about the plot in any free space. I dug a wheelbarrow full of the manure that has been "cooking" since last autumn. It still hums a bit but is full of worms. I dug a couple of deep holes near the top of bed 2, dropped in the manure and mixed it with the back fill from the holes. The perfect home for a couple of Pumpkins. The heat was getting to me a bit as were the flies. The cattle in the adjacent field had brought their biting bugs with them.
A mini-veger dropped in for a chat, well his Dad did. He was over the moon about how well his lad had done and wanted to say how much the family were getting out of it. Dad works shifts so does not get down for a few weeks at a stretch so he really sees a difference on each visit. I had a few seedling going free so I gave young master K a tray full of bits and bobs. During the afternoon pretty much every plot holder came to work, weed or water and everyone wanted to stop in for a chat. I spent the last three quarters of an hour watering. The earlies [spuds] are just coming into flower so a harvest is due soon. How early to harvest is a another hot topic of debate.
I have a candidate for the cabbage eating varmint. Whilst I was working away and before anyone else was down, a pair of Red Legged Partridge flew onto the site. They made a beeline for my plot. It was not until I straighted up did they spot me. Partridge, when spotted, stand stock still pretending not to be there. I am sure they are think if I am really still and don't look at him he can not see me. The things were stood in the middle of the path looking just like Partridges that are stood still. They did not respond to ordinary shooing but had to be chased to put them to flight. I never saw them for the rest of the day. Perhaps if I had a 20 gauge shotgun handy I could have a brace for the pot.
Whilst wandering back and to the water though I heard two of the plot holders having the same one sided conversation about a rat that may or may not have been seen on or near their plots. During the discourse one of the chaps says "I don't know were the Rats come from". As quick as a flash the other one says "well when a Mummy Rat and a Daddy Rat love each other very much.......".
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