The busiest month on the allotment has arrived. May just seems to be the panic time, when we have to get all the produce and flowers hardened off and in the soil. The colder weather didn’t help. Everything just felt about two weeks later than what it usually was. It was only until the end of the month, that the warmer weather had arrived. Now, it has not rained properly for three weeks. Some light showers have been forecast for the second weekend in June. Not enough. Where has the rain gone? Last month we were questioning where the sun was, we’re never happy.
The mange tout & sugar snap peas have gone into the soil, and very well they’re doing. We use an old bed stead that was saved from being dumped in an alleyway, and is just perfect for them to scramble up. It may not look the best, but it does the job! We have to wrap some plastic around the base of them, and the beans that also went in because the wind just wipes them out. Our plot is like a wind tunnel sometimes, and until they get their roots established, we give them some protection. The peas and garlic are also doing well – although some of the peas got nabbed by the greedy pigeon! – and the garlic will be getting pulled soon, to make way for the aubergines next month.
Onions are in, doing OK, despite another allotmenteer trying to sabotage them… the onion bed is next to the spine path that runs from one side of the site to the other, and despite the small fence and flower strip they still think it’s OK to pour ‘something orange from a bottle’ onto our produce. Does anyone else have idiots like this on their allotment site??? Anyway …they’re doing OK. Some of the outdoor tomatoes have been planted and seem to be thriving, even though they look a little bedraggled in the picture. This is the second year we’ve grown some outdoors. The poly-tunnel has more in pots. A lot more. How many is too many?? No outdoor cucumbers though. They are all in their forever home pots in the green house. Sharing space for now with the Sweety Pop peppers and strawberry seedlings. Awww.
The celery seedlings are strong enough to go in the soil – if we can find some space.Why the hatred of celery? Not many people seem to like it. When we offered some spare seedlings to other plot holders it was as though we had offered them poison!! Their loss. The Yin Yang dwarf beans are doing sort of OK. A little slow, but after two failed sowings, we’re grateful that we have these. The broad beans – remember them??? – have flourished! We had started them off last Autumn, they went in the soil earlier this year and really struggled, and yet, despite their weird shapes, they are alive and doing very well thank you very much!
We hope you are all as busy as we are and that your crops are growing healthy and strong.Apologies for the lateness.
Happy Plotting!
PlotDaze 