Sun and rain equals weeds (2025)

7th of July
I did not do a full plot visit at the weekend and from the quick(ish) visit today you can tell! The combination of sun, heat and rain has really made things grow, especially the weeds.

I pulled up my garlic and some of my onions. I left the onions on top of the soil to cure, this was not really down to me doing some research, but because it is what I had observed other plot holders doing. We are not due any rain, so hopefully they will dry nicely, but there are still some in the ground if it goes a bit wrong.

And anyway, mistakes are just future compost! And I think my plums are mostly future compost, they have a dry texture and very little flavour. Also they are only a little bigger than cherries, kinda like the plums you find in hedges, not plums for a fruit bowl.

I harvested carrots and chard and a pile of salad, and also some little beets. Next I planted up the last raised bed with three types of asian greens, some salad onions and radish. I added some canes to the squash patch which provided (a largely ineffectual) structure for the plants to scramble up. There will be a lot to do at the weekend!

Oh, yesterday I did some planting at home. I sowed two trays of chard, one pink and one yellow, this is to replace trays that I managed to kill with too much heat. I potted on some companion plants (taggets, nasturtium and marigold), and I sowed a tray of mixed salad leaves. I also potted on my mangelwurzels and violas.

It was so sunny I set up a big pink brolly as a parasol to keep me shaded at my potting station. That worked out well until the wind picked up and the heavens opened, I had to hold on to the slightly precarious construction, but it saved me from a drenching and from the inevitable sunburn - overall a success!

Mood: feel like gardening MacGyver, glad to be dry

What things have you made for the plot or garden that you are proud of?

What things have you learnt from looking at other people's plots?