We had a few days last week when the sun shone and when the cold breeze abated it was almost summery – almost!

We spent three busy afternoons at the allotment. Martyn, spent time strimming as the grass is growing at an alarming rate. The conditions are ideal for both grass and weed growth so Martyn strimmed and I weeded.

We did, however, fit in quite a lot of other things too.  

Many of the potatoes have now pushed through and the ones planted earliest have produced some healthy tops, Martyn earthed these up. This activity actually completes two tasks in one, as not only does it give the tubers more cover, but it also weeds the beds.

More brassicas – cabbage and calabrese were added to the brassicas planted earlier. Hopefully, the staggered planting should provide us with a staggered harvest.

I planted a second batch of broad beans and Martyn sowed a third batch directly into the ground to fill the bed.

We sowed our carrots. These were sown in trenches of compost set into slits in weed control fabric. The bed was covered with enviromesh, which will remain in place throughout the growing season, to try and keep carrot fly at bay. The weed control fabric should cut down on the amount of weeding necessary as disturbing the carrots can also attract the flies attention.

Our first batch of peas is now growing strongly and so, Martyn provided them with sticks to cling on to.

We also constructed the sweet pea framework using hazel poles and twiggy branches. We haven’t cut back a hazel bush this year so are likely to run out of pea sticks.

Our repurposed cold frame has been relocated. The new position should provide easier access to both sides. An aquilegia had self sown in the frame and this was moved to a flower bed.

Martyn, sorted out the allotment greenhouse and I planted tomatoes in bottomless tubs of compost which have been sunk into the ground. As we don’t visit the plot every day, the idea is to make keeping the plants watered easier.

A video of our week’s work is posted here.

In the garden, our bluebells and wild garlic are now flowering in a mini edge of woodland type setting. I’ve added some lily of the valley to the mix. My mum always used to pick a small posy of lily of the valley for my birthday, so the flowers always remind me of her.

We visited Temple Newsam again for one of our walks with Ruby. The azaleas are now looking even more spectacular. We found lots of walks around the park that we hadn’t explored before despite having visited for many years. It looks like becoming a regular haunt.

Ruby also met some young kids, of the four legged variety. We thought that they were super cute but Ruby wasn’t as sure.

We had another walk around a local park where the horse chestnut tree was in full flower and looking beautiful.

We didn’t visit Nostell due to rain so I hope all the cygnets are surviving. Instead, we paid a visit to a garden centre where Ruby sniffed out the dog food aisle and took us to explore what was on offer.

Finally, we used some of our homegrown vegetables in some of our meals. One was vegetable paella which used our onion, parsley, frozen French beans and peppers.

Another was a sweet potato and chicken hotpot that used our onion, frozen leeks and frozen peppers.

That’s all from me this week. Here’s hoping for another productive week ahead. As always keep safe and well.