Two Times Five

This weekend has been fabulous. I have had two five hour sessions at the lottie and not enough rain to stop me working. On Saturday morning I loaded up the car with the Pea seedling from the greenhouse, chitted seed potatoes [Charlotte] and Red Onion sets [Red Baron] as well as the brew gear and various comestibles to keep the wolf from the door during the day. I had planned that Saturday would be a long day. As it was it did not quite turn out like that. I have had a very busy week at work with lots of travelling so despite the sun beckoning me though the curtains I still did not manage an early start. I made time for a good breakfast. After all it is the fuel for a good days digging. When I got down the lottie I got dressed as usual, plugged in the ipod and set up the wheelbarrow and stone bucket [a bucket for stones not a stone.....you get the picture] at the plough headland of bed three.

Peter, my immediate lottie neighbour, was busy repairing his fruit cage which was damaged in the gales. I cranked up the tunes and set off cleaning up the bed. Last week I stopped next to the over wintered Beetroots. The first one I picked up just squashed as I gripped it. Pretty disgusting. Thereafter I tested them before trying to pull them. If they were squishy I just dug them in. The soil was just right again for digging. It was only when I came across grass or chickweed that I had to slow down. I knocked off six square meters before it was brew time. Steve and I arranged that we would "knock off" for a brew at 11 o'clock. The time came, the barrow was full of weeds, nice timing. I wheeled the barrow down to the compost bins and tipped the weeds. I got the Trangia going and had a chat with Steve. We had the cars parked back to back so we just sat on our respective tail gates in something like comfort. J, the Flower Lady, popped over for a chat we have not seen her for ages. She has some family troubles over the winter. Having offered our solice, J went back to soil fettling and we went back to our brews. The brews had gone cold. Whilst chatting Steve and I had got ourselves excited about the prospects for the lottie's future so we set about our respective plot with renewed vigour. It was such a nice day even the Welshman made a appearance "en famille". It looked like the kids were being introduced to weeding by Mum whilst the Wizard ran the rotovator up and down his plot.

I had to go with H for pottering in Ashby plus to drop off Miss L. "I" wanted to go to the library. Me, wanting to go to the Library when there is a dry digging day available. I must be ailing for something. I also got to see Bill at Castle Garage to talk about a battery for the BM. With those two things under my belt I was able to do a little light pottering without two much angst. Home again for lunch juicy, smoked Bacon sandwiches and some Fig Rolls to follow then back to the lottie. This time I just did digging. It was relatively easy. I decided not to dig round the Celeriac but harvest them. We had with Sunday Tea. Celeriac mash, very TV chefy. The sun was starting to get low and my back was complaining which was the cue to pack up. I had cleaned up about twelve square meters to a depth of 275mm [ten inches]. I took a minute to stand back and look at my handy work. It looked great even if I say so myself, the bed all dark, level and uniform. Very satisfying. I picked some more Sprouting Broccoli. H was having chums round for diner so I made plans to disappear to the Chequers for the evening.

I had resolved that on Sunday I would plant all the things that I had brought down the previous day. I has also brought along the forty odd Garlic from the greenhouse at home. I thought I would get hard job out of the way first, planting potatoes. It was every bit as tough as I had expected but not without a certain pleasure. I am hoping the green manure will have an effect. The horse manure I piled on the bed after Christmas has improved the soil and it is teeming with worms. Always a good sign. I only got one and half rows down before a family turned up to see if they could bag an allotment. They were enthusiastic but it was not for the grown ups but for the lad. We have seen an interest from lads in vegetable growing. I had my first lottie with my Dad when I was about twelve. It was not a lottie that lasted very long, a season and a half, but it instilled something in me. I think there is a deep seated instinct to provide and husband the land. After a chat and taking of details I went back to the trenches. Not as muddy as Flander's fields, perhaps, but my own private battle. When finished the four rows looked really neat. The soil broken up by the digging looked very good. Next up was the Onion bed.

I figured I had not planted enough Sturon Onion [Whites] last week and those that I had planted were too far apart. After scuffling about in the soil I found the existing rows, laid out a string line, to keep me on track. I interplanted another two rows of Sturon. That gives me about fifty which is more like it. Next up was planting the Red Baron Onions. It was the usual business, bent over dibbling along the line. I planted up five rows with fifteen sets per rows. The Garlic was up next. These have been growing in boxes in the greenhouse since Christmas. They had very good root systems. When I turned them out of the boxes the Garlic smell wafted round me. As before I just planted them along the string line. I got them all into two rows. Then it was over to the Pea bed. I planted the seeding down either side for the line but I was running out of time to sort out the pea supports. The last job was to water everything. That took a dozen trips to the trough.

As I was finishing up H turned up for Tea and to take stock of what is and will be available. We had a chat about stuff, watched the Buzzard wheel overhead. They made a better sight than the stunt plane that flew over earlier in the day and proceeded to do a display over a neighbouring town. H left with instruction about Tea time. We were to have slow casseroled Lamb, Celeriac mash and Sprouting Broccoli. Roundup turned just as I was about to move the smaller of the two Globe Artichokes. The Artichokes are such lush plants and took two years to grow it seems a shame to just throw them on the compost heap. You don't get away from Roundup without a full update of this world and I have not seen him for a few weeks, enough said. I tidied up, parked my barrow and left for home for what was a delicious tea. The lamb was a hogget rather than youngster. It was not fatty which is something that suits me yet it was tender as it younger counterparts and to accompany it a couple of glasses of sharp 07 Rhubarb. Cheers!