Awesome little thugs

07/04
A quick evening visit to the plot to plant out some sugar peas. After giving them a really good soak I planted about 8 plants next to the trellis built at the weekend and topped them off with a bit of compost and another food soak. I popped some netting over the trellis to protect the plants from the pigeons. I watered the onions and carrots and placed the board back over the stripe of carrots that have not yet germinated. This is to keep the soil more damp (in comparison to the uncovered areas), it is better for successful germination of the carrots.

Before tidying up and going home I sowed a row of Californian Poppies - these are leftovers from a packet from Higgledy. I have a big batch of collected seeds too, I will sprinkle those about at some point too I imagine. I love the orange flowers and I hope I can keep on top of them. My nan will tell you that these prolific self-seeders are weeds. I will do my best to harvest the seedpods and keep some control over these awesome little thugs.

Time at the plot: 1hr

12/04
Yesterday after a walk I took the doggo and some helpers to the allotment to give it a soak and to take stock of what work needs doing at the weekend. I also wanted to check the peas. It has been very dry since I planted them and the seeds were planted in loo rolls, with the whole thing planted when I put them into the plot. The loo rolls are convenient, but they also soak up lots of the moisture. I needn't have worried, the peas were looking good and nothing was looking particularly parched. There is definitely a whole load of weeding to do at the weekend, but nothing major. There is no more veg planting planned at the plot (yet) but I might plant some some flowers for companion planting at home.

At home today I potted on some veg and flowers. The yarrow which I had been growing from cuttings has grown really well and looked healthy but they had not made to much progress with roots. The lidl propagator trays that I have been using have worked ok, but it was not that easy to get the plant babies out of the little modules. I have seen all sorts of methods out there, I may try using a little kitchen fork next time. I am not sure that the Brussels sprouts will be happy with being potted on and disturbed, but it is all a bit of an experiment. I hope that by the time I get the Kalettes and Cavolo Nero out of the modules I have perfected a minimal disturbance method.

I have also experimented with planting carrot seeds in egg boxes, and I have sowed 5 kinds of pink flowers in the Lidl propagator trays.

Time at the plot: 30minutes

13/04
Today's visit was mostly just general weeding and a tidy-up. I also planted dill, chives, spring onions and a seed tape stripe of flowers into the brassica beds. The quince is in full bloom, the comfrey is full of bees and the plum tree is already fully laden with lots of little fruits. I have brought home lots of little pots for potting up seedlings.

Next on my to-do needs to be some salad patch stuff I think. Then I will need to sort out an actual bed for a salad patch on the plot. But for now I think I will just take over the office windowsills again.

I have fallen in love with the seeds from She Grows Veg, I didn't spend a fortune but order all sorts of lovely looking things. This post is actually being put online in Chelsea Flower Show week where She Grows Veg have a beautiful stand. Check out their instagram and the website.

Here is what I ordered and the price I paid for the seeds. Shipping was well priced.

Time at plot: 2hrs
Money Spent: £28.90