Out of Control

I painted a rainbow tile for the allotment gate and we've got one for the front door :-) The rainbow has become the symbol of hope for the future (of the NHS and more) - I certainly live in hope.

I’m obviously sticking to the coronavirus advice for the clinically vulnerable, which remains in place at least until at least 30th June. I have no intention of going shopping anywhere but online for the foreseeable future.

I'm not expecting to return to the lab until next year, although some of my colleagues have already returned. The site is going to be very strange; I've seen the notices about stairways and corridors with one-way access - I'm so grateful that I can work from home, even though I miss the chit-chat with people in the corridors. It has meant that last week I was able to have a couple of visits to the allotment at lunchtimes - that's such a bonus!

Believe it or not, that is inside the polytunnel; the polytunnel with no cover - at least we didn't need to worry about damage from the windy weather last week! The courgettes, peppers and tomato are acclimatizing before they get planted out next week. What a mess :-( But not as bad as Plot3 - eek!

We were pleased to see a male bullfinch enjoying some of those seedheads though - apparently there are a couple of pairs on site this year. And our compost bins have also provided a home for wildlife ... ants - it must have got a little dry. Look at all those eggs, pupae and winged ants (they'd flown by my next visit). They've turned the compost into a lovely fine soil and won't cause any great problems, they should move on when we finally get back to doing proper composting again.

We had a little visit to the plot at lunchtime today, to feed the tomatoes and peppers. We saw a few more people (at a distance). It was so lovely to talk to some people I haven't seen in months! What a haven it is.

Our leeks from last year are going to flower as are our onions, they may not serve us this year but the bees and other insects will enjoy them and they look rather pretty too.

I was hoping to recover some more of my garlic but sadly I wasn't able to save any of the other bulbs, they had all re-sprouted and weren't worth saving. The dry weather at the crucial time when they wanted to bulb up put paid to them. But we're so pleased with the over-wintered broad beans - there are plenty more beans to harvest and they are so delicious. It's probably the best crop we've ever had.

We'll be having a broad bean curry this week and I'm trying to make Jamie believe that a broad bean casserole will be delicious - I may have to eat that all to myself - he's not convinced yet :-)

And my globe artichoke has actually grown this year, but I've missed the boat on harvesting this one. I'll probably chop it off and then there may be some more heads produced which I can eat, but it seems a shame not to leave it to flower as they are so beautiful.

This is a tiny rose that's in a pot. It's so pretty but it was the cinnabar moth that caught my eye on this visit.

The runner bean plants that Ivan gave us are looking happy, but no sign of the Gigantes beans having germinated yet. Someone has left us a selection of squash plants in the greenhouse, so I'll see about getting them planted up. We have some space on Plot7 and it would be good to have ground cover at least, so that all Neal's hard work doesn't revert to weed.

The poppies are looking beautiful, but they've seeded everywhere - this was my pot of buddleia cuttings! I'm hoping to be able to salvage at least a couple of them.

I haven't cooked anything new or interesting this week, but I thought this bruschetta lunch we had looked rather pretty - on nice seeded bread from Co-Op.

So that was my week - wholly enhanced by the plot visits. I'm looking forward to more next week, especially as I think the weather may improve. If I get too used to visiting the allotment at lunchtimes though I'll never want to go back to work!!

The great song is provided by the Chemical Brothers - make of the title what you will - the country or the plot, it's all a bit of a mess!