Our spell of lovely summery weather was short-lived and we are back to dodging the rain.
Despite the weather, we have managed to get on with work on the allotment. In the plot greenhouse, Martyn planted up the tomatoes There only remains the plants that will live outside at the plot to plant out.
The courgettes have also been planted out. They will share a bed with the runner and climbing French beans.
The spring-sown sweet peas have been planted alongside those that were sown in autumn so hopefully, this will extend the flower picking season
Not pictured are the morning glory that I have planted to climb up the supports which brace the sweet pea frame.
All the potatoes are now growing rapidly with some even on the point of producing flowers.
The broad beans are flowering. They have a lovely perfume
The onions, shallots and garlic are growing well as are the weeds growing amongst them. I weeded one of the beds and will have to turn my attention to the other one.
The chitted parsnip seeds are now through and growing the first of their true leaves. So far so good, hopefully, last year’s experiment won’t turn out to be a fluke.
Carrot seeds are germinating so I hope that the slugs leave them alone.
I hope they fare better than our first sowing of peas. They germinated well but the rows are now patchy. Either, the wood pigeons have been at work or, the young plants failed to outgrow the weevils.
When we arrive at the plot, we invariably disturb wood pigeons foraging on the fruit trees. They strip many of the young fruitlets before they mature. The problem is that the wood pigeon population is increasing each year. When we first started on the allotment they weren’t a problem but now more crops need some sort of protection.
A short plot update video is posted here.
Fruits are setting on the strawberry plants. One had started to ripen and had attracted the attention of a lucky bird. This provided a timely reminder to get the nets in place.
One plant that we wish we hadn’t planted was horseradish. It spreads like crazy and is almost impossible to dig out. We are just about managing to limit its progress. It shares a small bed with a few perennial plants. I’m sure some people must think that we are cultivating docks.
A plant that pops up all over the allotment is the foxglove. It provides some color and the bees love it so as long as it isn’t causing a problem we let it remain.
Our first harvest of the year, if you don’t count the salad leaves that we pick from the garden greenhouse and forget to take a photo of, is provided by a few stalks of rhubarb. Do sweet peas count as a harvest?
We have had our usual walks. From a distance, the rhododendrons at Temple Newsam look spectacular but close-up many of the blooms have faded and petals are scattered at their bases. 
The next time we visit the display will probably be over.
We are likely to give Temple Newsam a miss for a couple of weeks as much of the parkland has been taken over by preparations for concerts. Huge metal screens encircle an enormous area cutting off access to pathways. Ruby’s not impressed as she hates walls that she can’t see over. It really is a monstrosity.
Cattle have moved into some areas at Nostell but there is still plenty of room for our walks.
They won’t be introduced to the main meadow until the wildflowers have finished. At the moment this meadow is painted yellow by buttercups.
The return of part of the winter lake shows that the rain is back.
We have often commented that we have never spotted any ducklings at Nostell. Last week a family of ducks came to see us.
A video of the ducklings and cygnets is posted here
One of the swans with all four cygnets, also came to the edge of the lake. I’m guessing this was mum as the other swan was kicking off at the far end of the lake. He seemed to be in a bad mood as he was charging at any unfortunate ducks that ventured too close to him.
Most of our meals at the moment are making use of vegetables from the freezer. A cauliflower and lentil curry, (I forgot to take a photo), used some of our cauliflower and green beans from the freezer and one of our dwindling supply of onions.
A turkey stew used more frozen green beans along with leeks and peas from the freezer
We still have tomatoes left in the freezer so I made a batch of pasta sauce I may make some ketchup with some too.
Anyway that’s all for now so until next time stay safe and well
Lovely to see your crops growing so well. The slugs almost decimated our courgettes and runner beans. I was going to grow horseradish but won’t after your timely warning. I do love the foxgloves. Lovely seeing the water birds.xxx
We’ve just put out our beans and courgettes, Dina so fingers crossed.
Sue, your tomatoes are growing well. I like the turkey stew, it looks delicious. Your garden is neat as always, the potatoes are growing quickly.
It’s hot here, +28, and it hasn’t rained for a long time.
The potatoes are growing the best for a long time Nadezda.
Wow! You have a lot going on. I’m always so impressed your scientific way of gardening. I wish I was as detailed. That meadow sure looks pretty with all of the blooms.
I’m married to a civil engineer, Bonnie
Your potato plants look green and lush! I miss having the homegrown ones but they never produced well for us here. The sweet potatoes do much better though they aren’t the same of course. Our wet weather looks to give us a break this week with dry and sunny days forecast.
We wish we could grow sweet potatoes, Dave