A reasonable trade off

   The plants seem to be making up for lost time from the late spring. The fruit bushes in the back garden are bent low with fruit. It is hard to get tired of eating Raspberry and Blackcurrants straight off the bush. The Apples seem to be getting bigger as you look at them.

  I am happy to report that honey bees are still around. I left some wet comb [honey comb with a some honey left on it] in the wax extractor in the greenhouse. I though the combination of the extractor inside the greenhouse might render the wax for me. No such luck. However the the bees have found it. The other day there must have been fifty honey bees and a dozen of more bumblebees in there robbing the honey. They had to pay the price by bumping off the greenhouse glass roof until they found their way out.

   All the doors and windows in the house are open so we can enjoy the beautiful weather. We get more unexpected visitors. The garage has been adopted by two very big and very active common Toads. There are a few Toads in the garden and H keeps bumping into them as she harvests the fruit bushes. The dining room has a new fixture, although I think it will only be a temporary arrangement, A Magpie Moth is spending the day with us. The picture below does not do it justice. Click HERE for some proper information on the Magpie moth. Having read up on the moth I find the caterpillars of this moth like Currant and Hawthorn plants as hosts. We have both in the garden. A few leaves for a pretty visitor seems like a reasonable trade off.

 

Visitor in the Compost Bin

   Today was trailer day so a duly trundled off to get it. When I got to the lottie the sides of the drive way was thick with Diasies. Tip the manure as useful. It was slow work because it was so hot. It was not blazing sunshine just heat. Having finish the tipping I took walk round the plot. The spuds are in flower. It has been quite dry for sometime but the recent down pours have come just at the right time. When the spuds are in flower the tubers will be bulking up. This is the time to water them.

   The peas are pushing hard against the fleece. The peas are in flower so I took the fleece off so the pollinators can get at them. The onions are bulking up nicely. I think they appreciated the weeding they had the other week. The competition was swept away. The Gooseberries are ready to harvest so I just have to be brave. The thorns are wickedly sharp. If you want something nice you have to suffer. The vines are doing but the there does not seem to be much in the way of flowers. I think I might have to right off a harvest from them this year. 

   I took a look in the big compost bin to see how it is doing. The presence of ants tells me it is too dry. However a much larger visitor to the compost bin likes it dry and warm. On the surface of the compost was two long snake skins. The grass snakes have been back to slough off there old skins. By the size of the skins there are at least two adult Grass snakes slithering round the lottie.

   I did a little bit of weeding but I had an appointment with the bees and the afternoon was wearing on. We are promise rain later today so I do not want to get caught out at the apiary with the rain coming on and hives open.




  

Sweating in the Full Afternoon Sun

   I am a little delayed in this report. Last weekend I had to do the trailer run but got delayed by find a swarm in the hedge by the  apiary. Given this year's clock seem to be four weeks delayed we are really in June. A swarm in June is worth a silver spoon as the saying goes. I bagged the swarm but it left me which little time for the lottie.

   The trailer was unloaded, hot muck on a hot day is not a lot of fun. It took a walk round the plot after cleaning out the trailer. The poppies have come into bloom and they are a vile shade of violet, showy and violet. I could live with them in almost any other colour. I was short of time but they have been designated as a weed and their days are numbered. The spuds are doing well. A watering would not go amiss. The area of concern was the top end of Bed1, The weedlings are getting going. I seem to have a flurry of Fat Hen. It is a really nice plant but it is no good to me. I also have the ubiquitous Creeping Thistle. The soil is quite dry so hoeing was quite easy. I just had to be careful round the Sweet Corn. Twenty minutes of sweating in the full afternoon sun sorted the area. No wonder I am loosing weight! The Peas are doing nicely so I loosened the fleece to allow the peas to push the fleece up. Lastly was an inspection of the vines. They are romping off now. I have the little flowers they will be grapes but I fear it is all happening a bit late. Any brave enough to forecast an Indian summer to allow the grapes to ripen?

It is only a weed if it is in the wrong place

   I went to the lottie having missed a weekend due to Miss L's 21st birthday party; Saturday was preparing for the do and having the do and Sunday, well not quite sure where that went. My excuse was that it had been raining and the ground would be soaked. That's my excuse and I am sticking to it. This weekend the weathermen said Sunday would be the warmest day [click HERE for my post from the my bee blog on weather forecasting] so I figured lottie then bees. I knew the plot had to be weedy but I was in for a shock....again.

    The Asparagus bed which was tilled black earth a fortnight ago was covered with a foot tall blanket of weeds. The Onion were struggling to keep their heads above the weeds in Bed4. The few Dock that I did not get out of Bed2 were four feet tall and starting to set seed. heat and rain. It is amasing how fast weeds will grow. I started on the Asparagus bed just riping handfuls of hick weed out. I had though I might take some home as a salad crop but I was too intent on clearing the bed. I had a nice crop of Sow Thistle as well. They pull out easily. However I did have some really nice self seeded Poppys growing and some Borage. I left those plants. It is only a weed if it is in the wrong place! I got the three pronged cultivator out and grubbed around the bed dislodging the remaining weeds. I threw the weeds on the pile of weeds that has been sitting on the patio for a few months. Next the Onion bed got the cultivator treatment. I had to a lot more careful here so as not to grub up the Onions. Twenty minutes later I had another big armful of weeds for the pile. This time mainly Grounsel, Herb Robert, a couple of Sow Thistle with String Nettle creeping in.

   I had stop for a rest in the shade of Degsy. The sun was hot and bright so I picked the wrong day for heavy manual labour. Whilst resting I was looking at the patio and the almost empty big compost bin. I was going to repair the side of the bin before filling it but I have not scrounged the materials for the repair. I decide not to do the repair, levelled out the little bit of maure that was left in the bin, then shovelled in the plie of weeds that had been on the patio. Even a heap it is surprising how much the wedds rotted down. Near the bottom fo the pile was moist loamy soil full of worms. In the clean up the pile ended up inverted in to the bin. That we getting rotting down. Hot and sweaty and not a little dizzy I had another sit down and pondered what to do next.

   I was denying the inevitable. Those big docks needed tackling. Wheelbarrow and spade were parked by the dock whilst I figured out just needed doing. For some reason the Dock finished in a line across the plot. I figured a needed to dig about about four foot of the bed to clear the Dock. The remainder of the bed was a mixture of grass and nettle which I had strimmed a fortnight earlier. I set about the weeds in the now time honoured manner. The Docks came out with a reasonable amount of force. The soil was nice a damp so yielded to the spade and the tugging at the weeds. An hour of toiling in the sun had the four foot of the bed cleared. I raked over the bed pulling in the hump of soil left over from the last diggiing/weeding session. As long as you don't look behind you the bed looks great. The Potatoes in the bed are up and growing nicely. If I am quick there might be time for a new sowing of seed potatoes to grow and mature.

   The vines have staged a come back. One has succumbed to the winter and is stone dead. Another has lost one side of its spread. I might be able to train a new leader a long those wires. The vines seem intent in making up for lost time. The leaves have yet yet fully flushing and there is already clusters of buds that will be grapes. So come on hot weather. The grapes have 10/12 weeks to do there stuff if I am to get a crop of Grapes. The weeds how have a new home in the big compost bins. I will have to find some heavy duty black plastic to cover the weeds. It is a great covering because it excludes the light, keeps inthe moisture and heats up under the sun. The weeds don't stand a chance. Some of the weeds with tap rootstry to make a bid to grow but the lack of light and hot temperature soon exhausts their power and cooks them down. I have the view there is no sense wasting the soil's goodness that has gone into the weeds. It takes a very hardy weed to survive a compost heap baked in the sun.

   The peas in bed1 are doing fine under the fleece. I will have to arange something for them to go up very soon. I packed up degsy and was very satified atteh turn round inthe plot. You can see the far end of the plot for the first time this year.

   Next job planting spuds and beans and the return of the bees.

   Extreme right Gooseberry in the foreground with Comfry behind. Middlish and to the fore Borage and Poppy with Rhubarb behind. On the right fence you can make out the vines. Under the fleece is the peas. About four post a long you can make ou the spuds. Best not talk about the right side of the plot but the onions are in the bed behind the Rhubarb......honest.
       

Daisy Fortnight

   Following yesterday's performance with the strimmer I got up early for a second round of strimming. Just to make sure the day went well I had a fry up with a couple of mugs of scalding hot tea. I figured it was going to be messy so a put my overalls and safety glasses on. The strimmer did not want to start. I was getting hotter as a pumped the pull cord to the flat sound of the 31cc two stroke turning over. I had a breather then squidged the rubbery fuel primer, select half choke and gave the cord another good tug. Before the second pull was complete the motor was running...just about. A little less choke and tentative tweak of the trigger had the motor zinging in all its two stroke glory. I was smart enough to adjust the strimmer blade cord before I started the motor. We were off. There is something very bloky about a screaming two stroke which is spinning a blade to cut a swathe through the undergrowth. In the few minutes a great chunk of the jungle which is Bed3 was mown down. I readjusted the cutting cord, which is much easier to do now I have packed the reel differently, and got stuck into the top end of Bed2. In a very few minute that area had succumbed too. So with the wrath of strimmer I set about the recalcitrant parts of Bed1 and perimeter paths. The fuel finally ran out but it was a glorious twenty minutes. The plot look less derilict after applying the strimmer.

   The strimmer gave me heart so I set about the continuing weeding of Bed2. I need to get the last of the spuds in. If we get a late autumn there should be enough time for the potatoes to grow to maturity. It is going to be a close run thing. I did the usual things to get ready to dig. It is particularly satisfying to weed when the weeds come out easily and are huge. It really shows you have done something. I found a Dog Rose growing as part of the weedy wilderness that is Bed2. I worked round it as I plan to transplant it. But I am not quite sure where yet.  

   I pulled some more Rhubarb and cut some Asparagus, sorted one of the compost bins then tidied all the tools away then set off for the Apiary. I was taken with how good the drive to the lottie was looking. It is Daisy fortnight. They line the road and are pretty much everywhere else. The bees and butterflies like the Daisys as do I but for different reasons. 

Mead for Christmas

   Tricky day today. the weather is very changeable so how do I fit in allotmenting, Trailer and beekeeping. One decision is dead easy. No beekeeping today since the showers that cross the county are driven by thestrong cold wind. The bees will not appreciate being opened up today and I don't fancy being stung.

   The peas I sowed two weeks ago are through. The trouble the pigeons treat them as a tasty morsel and have pecked at them. However there are so many of them the pigeons have not scoffed the whole crop. I was alarmed to find another lot of volunteer potatoes have come up across the pea patch. The weather this past week or two has really suited the weeds. They are massive. I had guessed the weeds would be thriving and the that pigeons would get at the peas so I went to the lottie with a plan.

   Years ago a friend of mine gave a strimmer powered by a two stroke engine. I don't use it much but I figure I was going to need help to combat these weeds. The strimmer has a nifty trick. The shaft from the engine to the cutting head breaks in two. In means it will go in Degsy. I found the fuel can of pre-mixed petrol/oil an put the goodies in Degsy. I was got going to stay long so no need for comestibles. When I got to the lottie I parked up the trailer, put the strimmer together and fuelled it up. Just like someone looming over you as you are working the sky grew dark and in thirty seconds rain was peltting down from the sky. I had just enough time to get the engine end of the strimmer and myself into the Degsy. The squall lasted ten minutee and as quickly as the squall began it was over but the ground and weeds were soaking. I got the strimmer out and in a few pulls on the starter cord the sweet smell of two stroke exhaust and the shriek of the motor filled the air. I managed to get through one of the beds before the strimmer cord needed extending. Just as I finished the bed the strimmer head spat out the lastt of the cutting cable. I did not have any with me so that strimming completed for the day.

   I have had some rolls of chicken wire and a roll of fleece stowed by the side of the plot for ages.Both the chicken wire and fleece are a pain because they are long and unruly to handle. First I had to weed out the volunteer potatoes and other weeds that had shown themselves. I rolled out the chicken wire and made a long tunnel by pulling up the centre of the sheet up and forcing the outside edges into the soil. The chicken wire did not cover the whole plot. The fleece is wide enough to cover the piece of plot the chicken wire could not reach. Rolled out the fleece and as predicted the wind wanted to blow into the next county. I managed to cut it to length and secure it without too much wrestling. These measures should keep the pigeons off the peas untill they get going properly.

  On the plus side the spuds I planted are just through and the vines have come into leaf. One of the vines succumbed to the winter so I will have to get a replacement. The onions are doing well. The Gooseberries are fattening up. Just as I finished tucking the fleece in another shower past over and dampened more than just my spirit. The trundled the empty trailer back to the stable via the petrol station.

   When I got home I made lunch for the missus who is unwell. I had five jars of Honey I found in the shed when cleaning it out last week. The honey was fermenting in the jars. I think this was because I did not bottle the honey straight away after extracting it. In fact I did not jar it for several months. I think the natural yeasts in the atmoshere got at it whilst in storage and started their alchemy. I emptied the jars into a jug and added some hot water then stirred vigorously until it was a thin liquid. I poured the honey liquid into a waiting demi-john. I had to do to batches of stirring. When all the honey was in the demi-john and topped it up with warm water. I popped the airlock in and sat back. I will leave it a week or so to see if the natural yeast will start a proper fermentation. If not I will add some wine making yeast and with any kind of luck I will have Mead for Christmas.

  The last job of the day was to load up the strimmer spool with cord in readiness for another go at the weeds.
  

Polo shirt tells the story

   Yesterday, Saturday 1st June, was the trailer day as well as a day that was too good to miss for visiting the apiary. I thought I would drop into the lottie first and have an hour of digging in Bed2. Just to move it along a bit. I was staggered by the height of the weeds. The rain and sunshine had had dramatic effect. An hour turned into two hours. It felt good to get more of the plot done. She who must be obeyed was having a day of walk with buddies on Sunday so I had a little head start for Sunday.

   Up early on Sunday. No chance of staying in bed really as the sun had been beaming in the window for hours. I breakfasted lightly whilst I got the sandwiches and drinks ready for the day of digging. Lemon curd butties. Food of the gods. When I got to the lottie I was beginning to regret the decision to spend the day at the lottie. 9am and the sun was already hot on my bare arms. Luckily I slavered myself with sun screen before I left. Remembering the weeds from yesterday I walked up the lottie path. I set myself up fro digging and with a deep breath began. The Dock and Creeping Thistle can out easily. There was just a lot of it. However it was satisfying to see the wheelbarrow fill up. I plugged away at he weeding and in a couple of hours I had got the half way marker in Bed2. I had decided
 
I would stop there are start to plant potatoes in the prepared ground of Bed2. So that is what I did. I dropped a scaffolding plank across the bed to act as a straight edge and to stop me sinking into the soil. I pulled out a trench, tossed in some horse manure from my gigantic reserve, set the seed potatoes at he appropriate intervals and pulled the soil back in the trench with the rake. The soil at the bottom of the trench was cool and damp. I expect the spuds will be up in a very few weeks. I did six rows which was all I could get into the prepared area of Bed2.

It was a bust day at the allotment as folks came down to do a bit in the beautiful weather. I continued my toil. Following the pea/mouse debacle [Click HERE for a link to the post] Bed1 had been left to its own devices. I had hoed it off a couple of times and more recently completed the weeding.


However the area where the varmint pinched all the peas how had many volunteer potatoes poking through. I went round and dug them out one at a time. I ended up with a barrow load of haulms and tubers. To bring the surface level again and kill off the other surface weedlings and got the hoe busy. It was hot work in the midday sun and my back was beginning to complain about all the bending. The bed did look good when I had finished.

 I had bought more Peas and Broad Bean seeds. This time a figured I would overwhelm the varmint so something would be left to grow. I pulled out five pea trenches ten feet long running length ways up the plot. My reasoning for the length ways row instead cross way rows is that the sun will shine down the rows as the peas get taller rather then shading each other. I had bought a pint of peas from Midway Allotments shop a week ago. The pint of peas filled the five rows. When the tramped the peas in and watered the rows a went back to Degsy and got the expensive pea seeds I had bought from the garden centre. I pulled out another five rows. This time I got just one row from each of the first three packets. I sowed Petit Pois, Mange Tout [H's favourite] and Shakeshaft. The packet of main crop peas seeds did the remaining two trenches.....just about. Those trenches were trampled in and watered too.

   With last few minutes to five o'clock I figured I could sow some Sweetcorn directly into the soil. A farmer friend of mine had sown 50 acres the week before so I figured it would be safe enough for me. In the top corner of Bed1 dibbed 25 holes in a square pattern and dropped a single corn seed into it each hole and gave the area a through soaking. Just to finish up I through a wheel barrow of well rotted manure over the area to act as a mulch. That was me done for the day; eight hours, two lemon curd butties, a banana, several cups of tea and a couple of litres of water. I was aware that I had been very sweaty all day. The back of my polo shirt told the story.