A little bit more....

Weather here today is awful...windy, wet, cold!!! It was predicted though and I have been at work so I'm not too fussed.

Because the weather was predicted I went to the allotment yesterday evening and got all the squash plants in.

Cucumbers, courgettes, pumpkin,
butternut squash, harrier squash.

 I don't even know what 'Harrier Squash' are but the seeds were in my tin and they germinated so it will be exciting to see what comes of them. I suppose I could google it but that would spoil the surprise!

The marrow patch...we really love marrow!!

This photo is for Jenny, this is your plot of old
Jenny...how do you think it's looking??

I'm very happy that my potatoes have
made an appearance!!

The weeding before planting was a little dodgy to say the least but after it's been hied over a few times it will all be ok...I hope!

Got a few things sorted in and around the greenhouse too.

Inca berries.

Raspberry tomatoes.

I still have the cherry, standard and
plum tomatoes to plant up.....

and the cucamelons.....

and the chilli and bell peppers!

 I think it will be a bit of a squeeze in the greenhouse but I can't sort out the other until the crops come out. I'm sure I will manage...I may have to take my chair out though.

Nasturtiums and
electric daisies.

I planted the electric daisies and nasturtiums in these strawberry planters. I don't know how well they will do in here, I haven't grown either of them before so it really is an experiment. It wasn't a great germination rate from either but I really fancied growing some edible flowers. If it works out okay I may grow some again next year.

I also have goji berries to re-pot and wintergreen to re-sow as none of those germinated...maybe it was too cold??
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Picturing the plot!!

It's been a long weekend but I did take a few pics of the plot to share with you.

The squash plants are hardened
off and ready for planting.

The tomato plants are looking good
and need potting on.

The roots bed, garlic and onions doing great,
beetroot showing but no sign of carrots!

The greenhouse is in place, still needs fixing
down and can't put the glass in yet due to the
broad beans and garlic!

A new slab path down the middle of the plot
and half the weeding done..hopefully get the
rest done tomorrow.

Runner beans look healthy and the
grape vines are budding.

No sign of the potatoes yet but I was
late planting them...they will come
eventually.

I rediscovered the strawberry patch last
weekend, plenty of fruit already set.

The sweetcorn is looking good!

So that's where I'm at. The plot is relatively tidy and the weeds that are growing will be quick to clear as they aren't deep rooted. I have plans to get the squash in this weekend, and also some salad crops. My brassicas haven't germinated well this year so I may have to bite the bullet and but some unless I can get some from another plot holder. Watch this space for more improvements over the week!!

I did hive a swarm yesterday...it's nicely boxed and will be moved to its new location tomorrow so I'll tell you more about that and give you a 'bee update' when that's done!
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A Little landscaping.

Well my Dad has decided to give his garden an overhaul and make it low maintenance as he just doesn't have the energy of flexibility that he had a few years ago.

I have been giving him a hand with this and we started on the back garden...obviously we aren't professionals but we are really pleased with what we have achieved....see what you think.

Low maintenance grass.

Around the greenhouse too.

In this one you can see a few ripples
but with a little advice we got
those sorted.

This is now a lot easier for my Dad to take care of and Trojan and Louie love it!!

We didn't stop there...we have started on the front too. All the ideas were my dad's, I have just helped out implementing them....

So this is what it looked like a couple of weeks
ago as you approached my Dad's garden.

A driveway has been put in (not by us though, we aren't
that good!) and this took over half of the largest lawn.

To the right of the driveway my Dad decided
to lay slate as he liked the idea of the contrast.
He has picked some grasses to plant within
the slate.

The idea for the base of the plum
tree is to raise the base of it
with some bark .

So what do you think so far?? There is still much to be done, some of which has already been carried out but when we have completed it I will show you the finished product!!
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The longest week!!!!!

So it's been a while since I posted and sorry about that but Trojan was really ill. First we thought it was just his colitis playing up but two trips to the vets later and he was still no better. It did get to the stage where he was so totally drained that we had to help him stand, walk and get in and out of the house. It resulted in hospitalisation and some very worried family and friends. Thankfully iv meds and fluids did the trick and he is now 100% himself again and we are one very relieved family who are very grateful to all the veterinary staff that took great care of him.

Of course whilst all that was going on we still had lives to get on with but wherever possible hubby and I worked in shifts leaving the house and we got dog sitters in too....nothing but the best for our Tro.

I did some queen marking for some fellow bee keepers, carried out some swarm control, moved the greenhouse and also got some planting done.

Of course all these activities could have been photographed to make this long awaited post exciting and visual...let me just check the camera to see what I have got......okay, I have nothing to back up what I just told you but have a little randomness,

Bantam eating some Drone brood.

Yes it's a chicken pecking at live bee larvae....and why not!! This was actually sent to me by a fellow beekeeper. If you'd like to know why you could check it out here. If you aren't that interested then I haven't wasted time explaining myself!!

The weathers is pretty awful today but I was on the allotment shop anyway and I had decided to have a pretty laid back weekend....can you believe that another week and we have a bank holiday weekend?? I also get a week off as it's whitsun so maybe it will give me time to sort out the new greenhouse.

Talking of the new greenhouse....anyone know the best place to get replacement glass??

I will be back with a more scintillating post and some pictures before the end of the weekend...promise!

Duck Park!!

Waiting patiently for toast!!

Trojan, Louie and Barney
waiting for my Dad to
finish his toast.

The roots are in!

So over the weekend I did do more than just bury rocks. I got the roots into the ground too.

Not very exciting but I am quite pleased with myself.

Neatly planted root bed.

So this year I have stuck with my normal roots, Beetroot, carrots, turnip, swede, red and white onions and shallots. Then of course there is the garlic that was planted at the back end of last year.

The seeds are coming on nicely in the greenhouse too but I'll show you those over the week.
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