Springwatch returns to the TV tonight and reminded me that Spring is rapidly turning into Summer and we haven’t shown you what’s been happening on the veg patch for a while.

We’ve been digging and weeding and generally getting the soil ready to plant fruit and veg, and also, having fun in between the hard work. Some of us work harder than others 🙂

Some of us like climbing trees. This was a few weeks ago when the apple trees were in blossom.

The trees have now set tiny fruit.

We were lucky enough to win some new toys in the SCW raffle and so the kids play cricket…

 

…and toboganning in between the jobs.

The potatoes had to go in first, but the soil was still cold and wet so digging was no fun but we’re very pleased to say that they’ve all popped up now and are about to flower so we’ll have more digging to do in a few months when we dig up all those lovely potatoes.

 

The broad beans went in at around the same time

and since then they’ve grown taller and taller,

Joe is our yardstick,

until now, they tower over his head and have flowers on, which is great because flowers mean beans.

We’ve planted other kinds of beans too, the kind that climb up canes and if you climb up their beanstalks you’ll find giants.

Everyone seems to think the idea of leaving Joe inside the wire is very amusing. They all do it. You’d think he’d know better than to fall for it every time.

Lots of things are flowering.

Strawberries are nearly here.

The blackcurrants are small and green 🙂

Joe has noticed that Spring is in the air…

but others just like to climb fences.

Some things are already good to eat. These are our first radishes of the year.

The polytunnel was dug over and prepared for this year’s tomatoes.

 

And now we’re growing several varieties, including a heritage variety we’ve never grown before.

And we have back-ups ..

They’re all growing nicely and have given us another job to do. We go every evening to water them and check that we haven’t trapped any bees or butterflies in there.

The skies above the allotment are full of screeching and swooping Swifts

and it’s a joy to have them back.  The bees are enjoying the Lavender and we’re enjoying the sun, and the Buttercups..

 

Some days though have been so hot that we have started the day at 7:00 am to beat the heat. Joe said he was willing to start that early but when it came to it, he seemed to need more sleep.

We all hope you have as much fun this Summer as we plan to do  🙂 x

Joe and I managed to do a few jobs on the allotment this weekend….. much more to do over the long Easter weekend but at least we made a start.

 

First Joe left lots of birdseed around the pond where we know the birds expect to find it. We saw Partridges and Fieldfare this weekend, as well as the usual Robins and Blackbirds, Starlings, Thrushes, Rooks and Pheasants.

We were hoping for frogspawn in the pond but we were disappointed.

We left half a coconut in the hawthorn too.. there’s still a pigeon’s nest up there from last year. I wonder if they’ll come back…

Our big job this month is digging over the soil and taking all the weeds out, ready to plant potatoes…we’re hoping to get them in next weekend. They’ve been chitting for weeks to develop little roots so that they get off to a good start once they’re under the soil.

I can’t dig it all by myself so Joe helped out with his own shovel and his own wheelbarrow…and of course…

……his own mug of tea 🙂

 

 

“Morning !  Lovely day for a walk. ”

“Yes, this indoor park is nice and warm but have you seen what the weather is doing outside  ?! ”

“I think the dogs would like to stay indoors today and get to sniff each other for a while. ”

“Ok, well, I’m meeting the others outside…. I’ll see you out there. If you dare 🙂 !! ”

10 MINUTES LATER

“It’s really snowing !!! Can we make a snowman ? ”

Caleb’s busy making a snow angel….

“I might have known you boys would start a snowball fight, ….. ”

“What me ? There’s nothing in my hand …..”

…. “well this one’s for you !!”

“OOps, sorry, that was meant for someone else 🙂 ”

“Where’s Spot…. ? Your little legs are too short for snow this deep.. “”

 

“Fido will dig you out, won’t you Fido .. ”

“I’m out !!”

“Come and see what we’ve made !””

“He’s borrowed one of the boys’ hats and a scarf and Mum gave us a carrot and some buttons for his face. I’m not sure he has a very happy face. He’s probably just cold. ”

 

“Our hands are like ice now…I think it’s time to go in, say good bye to Mr Snowman, Spot.. ”

“Bye Mr Snowman. I hope you like the cold. You’ll meet birds and squirrels today and they might just try to eat your nose so watch out !””

And so everyone came in for cocoa and there was a scramble for best place on the mantelpiece 🙂

We can’t remember when we last had so much snow so we made sure to take lots of photos to share with you. Hope you liked them 🙂

 

 

There’s not much happening on the allotment at this time of the year, but we check in from time to time and drop off compost for the bins and make sure the poly-tunnel  hasn’t blown away.

 

Today we just went to see how Bill & Ben are keeping warm in their buckets (they prefer them to plant pots – they’re shinier apparently 🙂 )

 

They were fine, of course. They love it out here in any weather. They have all kinds of animal and bird friends to play  with. And lots of little weeds 🙂

We noticed our plot neighbour Trudy has got the Christmas spirit so we might have to come back with something just as festive to brighten up our plot tomorrow.

 

 

Merry Christmas Everyone xx