Sometimes when you have an allotment, it seems like you work stupidly hard but don’t materially change anything. This week was one of those weeks.
We started, Ma at the top of the plot and me at the bottom. Ma weeded, watered picked an abundance of raspberries (they are really going nuts!) and then weeded them! Oh how she suffered, truly her arms are covered in scratches!
I weeded, watered, and pruned the 4 tomato beds. I love growing tomatoes but the do take a lot of work and a lot of water! I also picked peas and planted out the emergency cucumbers!
I sowed borlotti beans in the ‘three sisters’ bed
The spinach had bolted in the hot weather and so we pulled it up and sowed beetroot in its place. I also sowed carrots, lettuce and spinach in the ex-broad bean bed!
We worked for hours, but as ever didn’t get everything done! I’ll water in the week and probably pick peas and raspberries but the work will happen on the weekend
I’m solo allotmenting then, Ma is in Lincolnshire for a holiday (which means that though I’m down a weeder, I’ll be up a haslet when she’s back, I didn’t know my Grandma but my love of haslet must be hereditary!)
The list
- Sow parsley
- Sow coriander
- Sow kale
- Sow chard
- Sow pak choi
- Buy and plant basil plants in tomato beds.
- Weed
- Water
- Thin carrots
That done, I watered and added more compost to the big squash bed. The squash bed was covered with ‘loves lies bleeding’ which needed to go so transplanted them to two of the circular beds. In the third bed, I set up some canes and planted some runner beans.
Then we had visitors.
Fred was very confused and excited. We sent them home with rhubarb and broad beans and salad and spinach and tomato and basil plants! Then we got back to work. We put mot compost down in the tomato bed that it not doing well, weeded and watered all the other beds.
Then we harvested. Raspberries, strawberries, beetroot, spinach, salad.
I was impressed. Peas won’t be that far behind
I also sowed another bucket of radishes, and planted out the basil in the tomato beds and the last three tomato plants in a bucket. 
The courgettes have their first flower, they are behind but hey I’m just pleased they’re alive!
This week, I had a total wardrobe malfunction, skirt ripped all the way up the back. Thank goodness for long cardigans.
As I did last year, I am ‘celebrating’ World Gin Day by going to Junipalooza. This year with Ma, Sarah and Ryan but if you’re not sure how to celebrate, Monkey has you 
Because Ma had a car this weekend, we bought more compost. Which I did manage to wheelbarrow to the plot. We earthed up the potatoes, watered everything, picked our first strawberries (all 6 of them), picked broad beans, spinach and salad and then had to home because I was not feeling well and it was really hot.
The nice thing about being weeding obsessed is that we can have a quiet weekend sometimes, it’s still in good shape. Yes my squash is behind, my cucamelons were eaten by slugs, I only have one cucumber plant alive and all my tomatoes are a bit weedy. But the sweetcorn came up, the squash are alive, the peas are flowering and there are pods, the raspberries are going mental and the salad and beetroot beds are looking fabulous. Also the californian poppies are everywhere, which I will show you next week when I’m on the plot and don’t feel ill.
Nic Dempsey 