A busy May day

     Ive been busy with work so ive got a bit behind with digging over the beds. The biggest bed is dug and planted with potatoes and a few sowings of carrots, beetroot, parsnips and radish ( however due to the hot dry April germination hasn't been the best).

    On one of the beds, its mostly taken up with gooseberry bushes. so ive cleared one end of it which just had weeds on. Ive then erected a make-shift wigwam. it consists of canes with string wrapped around them. This should hopefully be enough for the peas to grab hold of as they scramble up it. 

   The wigwam is going to be home to mangetout. Ive never grown them before due to the fact that the shop bought ones are pretty tasteless. However if they taste half as good as home grown peas then i'll be happy. I sowed the seeds at the base of the wigwam. Then i covered the ground with holly incase mice are a problem at the plot. The holly seems to have been successful too as the peas are just poking their heads through the soil now.

   At the moment I'm digging my way through another bed. As you can see from the picture its pretty over grown. It must have been the old strawberry patch, and i have to say it feels pretty wrong to be digging up healthy strawberry plants that have got green strawberries on them. However it needs to be done as its riddled with couch grass. I also need it dug ASAP as this bed is going to have my peas and beans in.



    I just have to take a second to acknowledge some of the gorgeous flowers that have burst into colour these past few weeks. There's a beautiful Peony at the back of my plot, however it has since been battered down by the rain ( I'll give it some support next year). There are also lovely bright poppies all over the plot, pinks oranges and reds. The one pictured here is unfortunately in the middle of the bed I'm clearing, so wont be around to admire for much longer.

   Meanwhile back at home ive been sowing some beans. These are Borlotti beans and ive never grown them before. i cant believe how pretty the beans are. Ive put one bean per root trainer. These will be staying at home though, destined for a row of canes in the back garden.