The Pea bed is bugging me now. The nearer the end of the bed I get the harder the work becomes. It is mostly because there has been an invasion of Couch Grass from my neighbours plot. Couch Grass or as it is known locally "twitch", probably from the twitch you get when you see another bit after digging it out for hours, is highly invasive. It spreads by it roots which are so strong they can spear through the hardest clay. That gives rise to its other name "spear grass". Twitch, although strong, snaps in a moment and can spawn another plant from the tiniest bit of root. It can also travel deep down in the soil. I found spreading roots over a spit deep in the soil. It means you have to dig down quite far to make sure you have it all. I was not really in the mood for it on Saturday but pressed on for a while. The hat I was wearing has a button on the top which kept catching on the overhead netting and being swiped off my head. That was getting on my wick and I had lots of visitors, so I stopped.
Steve was down. He was fettling the land and his girls were empting the poo trailer with shovels. New Stu came over for a chat. Pete needed a hand to install the last post of his fruit cage. He has had to extend the cage as his minaret fruit trees are getting established and taking off, especially the Cherry. Sue C dropped in and we had a chat about allotmenting. She took up one of the new family beds. Dave & Jack came over for a chat about what is easy and grows fast. I had made a brew by this time. I gave him the usual suspects, Beetroot, Salads Leaves, Radish, Spring Onion, Pea, Onions, Pumpkin, Squashes and Sweet Corn. They already had Broad Beans and cabbage family items on his menu. A pleasant enough chat. Dave and I went back up to his plot to watch Jack not start the mini-rotovator. By the time I had supped my brew Jack had got it going so the fun was over. Dave G came over for a grumble. I did not get much more done. Steve and Pete offered me their remaining Parsnips and Leeks.I harvested some more Sprouting Broccoli and went home.
I had a little time before our friends were due for dinner. I went to Mo's to set out and planted the Tomato plantlets. I bagged some cheap plastic boxes from Somerfields months ago. I set them out in fours. I filled each box half way with Horse muck and topped up with compost. The four best seedling of each variety got a box each and a watering in. They looked a bit insignificant in the huge Greenhouse and big boxes. I have a few over which I just left in the plant pots just to see what they will do. I have four each of Red Alert, Shirley, Big boy and Gardeners Delight. I have two boxes spare which I intend to use for Cucumbers. All the other seedling are coming along and some will need planting out soon.
On Sunday I was determined to get the Pea bed finished but a couple of bottles of Merlot shared between friend, good food and good company late into Saturday night put paid to an early start. When I did get up there Dave G was still grumbling. I had a "word" and it went quiet. I plugged away at the top of the Pea bed. Again slow work. I took a bucket with me and filled it with water into which I chucked the twitch roots. They can not swim and in a month or so will have rotted in the water. I had to stop at two because I got a call from H. Earlier in the week a friend of H was saying she was going spend money on Potato bags for her Patio. She was after growing spuds at home. The Sunday papers are full of such wheezes. I convinced her to by a couple of bags of compost and I would supply the growing bags, seed potatoes and the magic ingredient. It saved her thirty quid. Three o'clock we turned up at their house. I had spare empty compost bags in to which we tipped the magic ingredient, horse muck, and then another six inches of compost. I rolled the bag down like a cuff so the sun could get at the soil. we put three seed spuds in each bag, covered them we compost and watered in. I gave T & C instructions and left them too it. Tony And Casandra have a lovely grassy areas which Casandra is keen to dig up for veg. Tony is less impressed as he gets to do all the work and he is not what you would call a keen gardener. I proposed a small scheme, just a couple of beds, which would give Casandra a small pay back without too much effort for Tony. As the talk was of veg T & C said they had never seen the lottie and would like too so I said why did we not go that instant. We both had time on our hands. So we did. I gave them the full tour. We discussed the rules, state of the soil, rotation, crops. We took a look at the vines which look dead to me. Tony made some complimentary remarks. I gave Casandra my pruning knife and sent her off to collect some Broccoli. I bobbed next door to Pete's and collected a few more leeks. Pete had said I could have all the remaining Leeks. I had Tony dress the Leeks i.e clean them up by removing the outer leaves and roots. T & C went home which handfuls of fresh veg. You never know Tony might get the bug. I have a friend who likes allotment but likes a friend with an allotment better.
When H and I got home we went over to see the new Toms. They had perked up since the previous days. Beryl came out to chat. See was not impressed with my spindly Toms. I said she would see how they buck up now they were in a sunny spot. She was not wholly convinced but the array of burgeoning seed trays made her think I might know what I am doing. The Strawberries are taking off in the greenhouse but I wish I had done more plants. Next year, there is always next year.
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