I dig digging

I love my family dearly, including those who came to partake of a Mother's Day lunch of roast beef and all the trimmings and chocolate fondant pudding with poached pears - yum!
But - it was still nice to nip to the allotment for half an hour and dig over the potato bed whilst the boys cycled around the garden and OH did the washing up.
I am sparing you the picture of a dug over potato bed - I kind of guess you might have seen one before. I took one for posterity though - bare weed free soil is a bit of a rarity on my plot - the moment needed to be recorded.

Slowly, slowly, catchey monkey

My OH (to be known for the remainder of this post as lovely husband LH) looked after the boys for an hour and a half on Sunday so I DID get something done.

Broad beans under the cloches, peas under the glass lean to radish planted between the sticks, onions under the netting and a bit of digging to boot. Still some way to go though. I'm sure I was much further on at this time last year. Will the winter digging be done before August, will the weeds ever be brought under control and will the boys ever want to come out into the cold again. All this and more to be answered in due course...

The inside of the shed

Soilman http://www.soilman.net/?p=2212 posted about the state of his shed and dared us to show ours.  I think it is fair to say that I am not a (rude word deleted as I am a lady) but I am a little untidy. OH is horrified that I would publish this. It did have a positive side though, instead of tidying it I weeded the strawberry patch another task I do no undertake lightly - although the results were far from impressive...

I've bean planting

We went to the allotment yesterday YS and I. It was a lovely afternoon and my companion was very enthusiastic (it always helps). It was two hours until OS finished school so I had a chance to get  lots done.

First the broad beans. now beginning to get a bit leggy it was high time they were planted out. So we set to. My companion began to mutter about being cold and wanting to go and see grandma. I jollied him along but the mutterings turned into moans, so I increased my pace. Two full rows of broad beans were planted out in twenty minutes and that was it. Time up. Grandma was lovely, as always, and the tea and cake was very welcome but I NEED TO GET THINGS DONE! Grrrrrr!

So no photo either...

Plotting

Still haven't been to the lottie as this week's weather is torrential rain and after watching OS play football in it this morning I really can't face getting bone cold again. So we are at home plotting what we are going to plant this year. The window sills are already filling up and the lovely lady is getting a bit crowded. (I see the windows need washing and the fence repairing too...)

This weekend YS and I have been planting flowers. Marigolds, Dahlias and Lobelia as well as some herbs and sprouting mung beans. The peas and beans are ready to go under cloches, the sweet peas are ready for the cold frame the parsnips are chitting on paper towel and the potatoes are laid out in trays in the conservatory. There are definite signs of sping in the garden though.  Here's hoping that next week there will be more outdoor progress!

Winter's last blast (hopefully)

Well the snow is back in Leicestershire. We were sledging again yesterday so it looks like yet another weekend of inactivity at the plot.

All is not lost however, I sorted my seeds out, and to the comment you can never have too many seeds I have to say - I can!

February fill dyke

We used to sing a hymn at school.

"Glad that I live am I,
That the sky is blue,
Glad for the country lanes
And the fall of dew,
After the sun the rain after the rain the sun,
This is the way of life 'till the work be done"

So I'm looking forward to the sun as it is pretty wet at the lottie. I've clocked up 3 visits since Christmas totalling about 4.5 hours. I consoled myself by buying some (more) seeds.

Leeks tommorrow I think.