Last Chance to Plant

The pressure has been on for a couple of weeks now to get as much in the ground as possible bearing in mind the Mice scoff the juicy seeds such as Pea and Broad Beans and that in April it hardly rained. I took the plunge this weekend and emptied the Greenhouse. I planted out the Jolent & Musselborough leeks, Gherkins, a few remaining Rainbow Chard and what I think is Celeriac. I had a tray of what are clearly Brassicas but what sort? I think they are Cauli's. I also planted seeds for Parsnip and four rows of Carrot. It remains to be seen if I have missed the first flush of carrot fly. My other job that took quite a bit of time was weeding the onion bed of renegade spuds that I missed in the harvest last year. It is always a mystery to me why plants grow so well when they are weeds versus when they are grown as crops.

The trays had to go from the Greenhouse in order for me to remove the staging that creates a shelf under which the Tomatoes are growing. Taking out the staging out has increased the light and before to long the Toms will be requiring the space to grow.

I decided it was time to remove the bird feeders. I reckon the birds can look after themselves for the summer and autumn. I also hope that they will look round the plot for alternative food and help themselves to the aphids and anything else that might eat my crops before I do. I have a couple of Robins that dive into any earth I disturb as soon as I am a safe distance away. So I make a point of stopping now and then to empty the wheelbarrow or do another short job just to give the Robins a few minutes to pick over the new ground. My allotment neighbour told me that a Greater Spotted Woodpecker has been visiting my feeders. That is quite a larger bird. Apparently to had no trouble getting through my netting. My plot is covered with 4" [100mm] pea netting to keep out the Pigeons, Peasants and Canadian Geese. It is a shame the Thrushes have not sussed out how to negotiate the netting. There are plenty of snails waiting for them.

H and I had a bonanza of Victoria Rhubarb. I was going to make some wine and jam and bit for stewing but I had a little "cash crop". We dropped of my daughter for a baby sitting job with our friends. Their kids had been out collecting Strawberries [not surprising since they live on a strawberry farm] and gave me a pound and a half punnet. As soon as I got home a turned them into Jam. I am going to make some bread to do it justice.

The last job I did on Saturday was to bottle the Apple wine. On tasting it is wickedly sweet, specific gravity 1.030. It may reduce with age but it does taste like apples. The wine is quite cloudy but that too might resolve whilst it is sitting in the rack.