New path

It is Lucy's big weekend next weekend so I had to get as much done as I could this weekend. We have been promised rain. There are plenty of clouds but no real sign of it. The path at the bottom of Bed4 is deep and filled with big stones. This acts as a sump as this is wettest part of my plot. The trouble is walking on it is impossible without chancing a twisted ankle. Once I dumped the manure I went up the to the pile of stone and bagged a trailer full. When I got the the trailer back to the plot I had to transfer the stone from the trailer into the wheelbarrow and then to tip the barrow into the trench that is the "path". It took about six barrow loads to empty the trailer and fill the path. It was heavy tedious work in the full sun. However the path looks great and is now easy to walk upon.

The middle of Bed1 has no crops at the moment. It has plenty of weeds though. Guess what I did for more than an hour? Weeding. Two very full wheelbarrow loads. The rain in the week has made the soil just right for weeding, moist enough to loosen the soil for digging but dry enough to come away from the roots. You don't want to be throwing precious soil away with the weeds. The sun was really hot when it came out from behind the clouds. I had nothing to plant in the bed but the area looks much better and it is ready when I am.

Bed4 is looking good. The sweet corn and sunflowers planted last week have taken to their new surroundings. The French climbing beans having been getting busy in the greenhouse so it time they were outside. To go outside they need a frame to climb. I have twelve pots of beans. But I also reserved eight pots of sweet pea. I stuck eight pairs of bamboo canes into a ground. Each pair is set as an "X". The idea is that when the beans runners cross the "x" joint the beans the pods will hang outwards make harvesting easier. I put a long pole at 45 degrees the run of the crossed canes and strapped altogether with zip ties. Once the frames was dug a trench along the foot of the canes. The trench I filled with manure. After that I planted a pot of beans at the foot each the middle canes. I planted out the pots of sweet peas at the corner canes. I gave them a good watering in. The pea frame always looks scruffy but once the beans get going it will look better. Next I dug two holes in the space between the Gherkins and Beans. Each hole took a small barrow load of manure. Into the pile of manure I planted a single Courgette. Once again they got a good dowsing of water.

I went to Bed2. It needed to be weeded but hoeing was enough. I had forgotten my rake but I managed to move the soil about with the hoe. It took a bit longer but I got there. The carrots in Bed1 are coming through but so are the weeds. I went across the bed a couple of times hand weeding. Sagely Steve would be proud. The lottie is producing lots of green stuff but unfortunately it is weeds. The spuds are just coming into flower so the spuds will be ready soon. I even weeded the main path. I took a walk round the other paths and knocked back any weed that looked robust.

I did not see any rain even if the clouds did blot out the sun on a regular basis all day. I got finished about 2pm. The afternoon would be dedicated to bee keeping.