Two Out of Three Aint Bad

I don't always view the world through rose-tinted spectacles, but they do make the clouds look amazing.

This 3-day weekend has brought us some pretty good weather, very hot when the clouds moved aside - a bit hot for digging yesterday but today it was cooler with a strong wind. Finally another section of Plot7 is cleared, but look how dry it is. The threatened rain still isn't reaching Marsh Lane.

We've dug a trench for beans on Plot7 - I've sowed Gigantes (which seem to be like butter beans - to be eaten when the pods go brown) into pots in the polytunnel. And we'll also have Yard Long beans on that section. Jamie prepared a spot for our HAHA competition sunflowers there too - the trenches have some of our lovely home-made compost in them.

Behind the wheelbarrow in that photo is a curry plant (Helichrysum italicum) - I love the smell, we just occasionally get a whiff as we're walking by or working on the plot. It's not edible.

Jamie sowed our carrots - under the enviromesh - Eskimo and Early Nantes 5. And also a row of Albion parsnips; it would be nice to have a home-grown parsnip as we missed out last year.

The radish, spring onion and beetroot are growing quite happily in the small raised bed, now that I've covered them to stop the birds pecking at them. We have plenty more seeds in the polytunnel now too. Our Benchmaster Runners will go on Plot3 and they, along with Pickwick dwarf runners, have mostly germinated, along with kale, purple sprouting broccoli and chard.

The HAHA Plant Sale is on June 8th and after that we'll have room to set up our tomato plants and peppers in their grow bags. That empty hanging basket is going to have a tomato plant in it - a freebie from Wyvale Garden Centre.

The Wilko irises are looking lovely, especially when the sun shines on them.

And the one remaining quarter of Plot 7 is looking lovely but those poppies really do have to go! I need to plant sweetcorn there...

The Californian poppies are so beautiful though.

I've been disappointed to see that our shallots are producing flower heads - I snip them off as soon as I see them, but they'll stop the bulbs growing to their full potential. The same is true of garlic, but not so concerning - I may try eating the scapes - they're meant to be a delicacy. Apparently when they straighten out and grow upright, the garlic is ready to pick - I'll probably just rely on the leaves going brown as I normally do..

And the song title... well, there are three frogs in our pond! Two little ones and the big one, but I've not seen all three together yet.

 Meatloaf provides the video.. Oh, and today I took home my first harvest of salad leaves for my lunch - hooray, so it begins. Not only living on rhubarb :-)