And now, the pictures

We had a really good tidy up. Jean trimmed the edges of the grass surrounding the plot. I nipped the tops off the broad beans which had black-fly on them and tied a string either side of the rows to support them.

The newly planted very young beans are doing well, so they should provide much later crops.

There were a few ladybirds patrolling the beans, hopefully laying eggs so their nymphs can eat the remaining black-fly. You can't beat a bit of biological control.

I hand-weeded around the asparagus and added extra earth around it. Extra spears are still growing. I'm really keen to see this do well.

I added some blood fish and bonemeal to various places, it looks like it will rain again tomorrow so it should get washed in. Included in this were the strawberries. I got some of the bonemeal on the leaves and as I knocked it off I noticed just how many berries there are. They are covered in them.

Now the edges are cut I can see the trees we planted. The whitebeam is doing very well, but it will be years before its ready to take its place in the hedge where I really want it. All of the trees have taken so we have little oaks, hazel and rowan.

Get out

The plot looked very dry, so today I watered it from end to end. I also topped up the water butts since its about a month since we had any decent rain. I will try to use one first to empty it because I want to raise its stand a little to match its mate and level the base which has settled under the weight. It holds 210 litres which is a fifth of a tonne.

We took the plunge and planted out all sorts today. We looked through the greenhouse and made our choice. The biggest leeks went out into deep holes which were simply filled with water. The surrounding very fine earth was washed back in, but there is still a hollow which will love some more water over the next few days. The little spring onions were pricked out directly into the plot and watered in. The beetroot seedlings were just showing their first true leaves, so they went out too. The runner beans were bursting out of their pots, so they went into the plot already prepared with a net for them to climb. I soaked everything that was planted and I'll do it again tomorrow.

We have already sown some extra runner beans, though I'm not sure we'll need them, and some extra broad beans which we certainly have space set aside for. We will sow some more spring onions, some more beetroot and start our first fennel. We moved our pots with chilli seeds in to the greenhouse were they will be warmer and so might sprout.

All of the tiny tree saplings we planted have sprung into leaf. So now we have rowan, whitebeam, oak and hazel trees in the margins. I'd like a lot more.

A rubbish letter

We got a letter from the parish council clerk about the allotment. It reminds people that rent is due in April, so if anyone wants to give up their plot, now would be a good time. It goes on to remind people that the site should be kept weed free and well manured. It then mentions rubbish against the hedge that should be cleared and that another inspection will be taking place in six weeks.

The Clerk to the council is new to the job, but she has certainly ruffled some feathers. Our plot was a jungle last year when we took it over and under the bindweed and nettles there was a lot of rubbish. This included mountains of plastic netting, torn and useless membrane, metal cages and worst of all loads and loads of glass, mostly broken sheets from window panes. We took the glass to the local waste tip last year (scratching the car badly in the process), but the rest was piled up against the hedge. We took this to the tip today as two full loads in our new trailer.

I resent having a veiled threat in a general letter. If there was something wrong, a note or a phone call would have been much better. The fact that all of the rubbish was left over from the previous tenant annoys me even more. I'm also concerned that the clerk thinks that allotments need to be maintained to the standard of a stately-home garden.

Phew, that's better.

The ground is drying but the forecast is for heavy rain followed by frost and maybe even snow. I have planted some Holly seeds outside in a pot and some frost should stratify them. I want a few different trees to plant in the hedge to add diversity and suppress the elderberries. I planted some hazel nuts last winter, having being told that they were hard to grow. Every one came up, so I'm going to pot some on for a hedge. I also have some oaks, whitebeam and rowan, but I don't think oak is a good idea in the hedge.