This week has been a bit of a wash-out. The rain that was really welcome at the beginning of the month has now outstayed that welcome. It always seems to be an all or nothing situation with our weather.

Each time we have ventured to the plot we have been rained off. On Sunday I managed to mulch three strawberry plants with straw, and then the heavens opened and the rain set in for the rest of the afternoon.

·      At the beginning of the week I weeded amongst the onions and parsnip seedlings but by the end of the week the weeds had fought back and the onion bed looks just as bad as it was. Still the rain should be helping the plants grow too if only it wasn’t as windy.

·      The rain does make weeding much easier so I also took the opportunity to clear a small area which had become infested with couch grass. Whilst the soil was damp I had a better chance of getting the entire root out.

·      The rain has revived the sad looking Blood Veined Sorrel that I planted in the salad bed. It now looks raring to grow just as I guessed it would. I dug up what remained of last year’s plants and this task confirmed the relationship between these plants and docks. Some roots were well on the way towards Australia!

·      The last beds have been rotavated which is another job that is better done when the soil has had some rain on it. Our clay soil goes rock hard when it is dry and doesn’t break down very easily when it is in that state.

·      On the negative side the rain seems to have brought out the slugs and our plot neighbours carrot seedlings were chomped off  overnight as though by a miniature lawn mower.

·      In between rain showers I managed to plant out some cauliflower plants – Kaleidoscope

·      The potatoes which are now growing well have been earthed up. Some potatoes are in a bed that was treated last year with the dreaded contaminated manure so it will be a good test of whether the soil has recovered. The Sarpo Mira potatoes seem to be slower to get going so these have still to be earthed.

·      We have sown more peas – Mangetout and Greenshaft directly in the ground. The ones sown earlier have germinated well so let’s hope that these follow suit.

·      At least work in the greenhouse doesn’t have to stop for rain although we have to put up with the occasional drip down the back of the neck. Some nemesia and mesembryanthemums have been pricked out which is maybe a bit late but they will catch up.

·      We also pricked out lettuce – Little Gem & Iceberg.

·      Also in the greenhouse we sowed salad leaves – Tuscany Baby Salad Leaves & Provence Mixed and runner beans – Desiree (white flowered), Enorma (scarlet flowered) & Lady Di (red flowered.

·      A few ornamental gourd seeds were sown in individual pots. The seeds were a present from a plot neighbour so the pressure is on!

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