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