We’re nearly at the end of May, it’s been 10 weeks since the Weeder-in-Chief has been on the plot and I’m struggling to get it all done, there’s always something that doesn’t get finished because I’m sidetracked by weeding.

The weediest bits of the allotment are all on the new half, especially the bindweed which seems to be everywhere and it’s so dry, I’m just pulling up what I can and hoping that eventually it’ll die but right now I’m really frustrated about it because the volunteer potatoes everywhere are bad enough. The old half is also starting to look neglected, I really need to get down and sort out the front, which is full of californian poppies (lovely) and grass (not so lovely).

Weeding woes aside, what did I actually get done last week? Well, the compost arrived and I filled and planted up one of the big squash beds with winter squash. 15 plants mostly uchiki kuri and waltham butternut. I was also given some sweetcorn at the weekend, so that will get planted into that bed this weekend.

I also got around to planting up the last of the tomato beds. I think I did pretty well, I have 30 plants in the raised beds and only 5 left over. They will go into the overflow boxes as they did last year! But that’s still pretty good, last year I had to give away over 30 plants, this year I gave away eight and I only lost one, the benefit of being at home and able to do daily watering before work!

So what’s left to plant?

I have four beds at the front of the plot that are reserved for courgettes, crookneck summer squash, cucumbers and french beans and I need to plant the sweet potatoes in the hot boxes next to the herb patch. As mentioned earlier, I need to get the 10 sweetcorn plants in for the three sisters bed.

The biggest job is going to be the second squash bed, I didn’t have enough cardboard and compost to cover this and so for the last 10 weeks, it has languished and the heavy clay has hardened and grown bindweed. I’ve watered it this morning and covered it with plastic, in the next two weeks, I’m going to have to uncover it, water it some more dig it over (not my favourite thing at all but there’s just no way I can cover it with compost and hope for the best, it’s way too dry. Once that’s done, the last 9 bags of compost can go in and I’ll plant the remaining winter squash in there, I have about 7 good plants and a bunch of pumpkins and a patty pan that can all hang out there!

Then, after watering, I have to start the weeding and cut the grass on the paths and moving some stuff and working out what to do about the pond area! Life on the allotment is all go but there is some time to admire the flowers!