First tomatoes

First baby carrots

Gooseberries

These are ready for picking now.

Birthday Boy

I'm having a day off from the plot today as it's the birthday. First prize for the cheekiest card goes to my daughter - I've absolutely no idea where she gets her warped sense of humour from.

Ticking over

Nothing much to do on the plot at the moment except deal with a few weeds and harvest the fruits of my labour. Just as it should be for this time of the season. I have turned the compost heap and spread what was usable as a mulch, so it's not as if I've had my feet up all day, just thought I'd make that clear for all you puritans out there.

Carnations

These are coming along now so I've put up some support:

Mulch

As the ground's wet after all the recent rain it's a good time to get a mulch on. What compost I've got I've spread around the sprouts and broccoli.

Raspberries

The strawberries are about over so it's time for the raspberries:

Snapdragons

These are starting to flower so will soon be ready for picking

Peas

I'm picking the earlies now and the maincrop are coming along nicely.

New potatoes

The Pentland Javelin have finished flowering so time to dig up the first plant, always an anxious moment: will there be anything there? Will they be full of wireworm? So I was well pleased with this booty, I suppose these are the moments we go through all this nonsense for. Lovely and clean and tasty and with the promise of no more shop-bought taters for months to come now.

Phacelia

This turned out to look really nice and has been smothered in bees so it's a shame to have to dig it in but that's what its for so that's what's happened!

Summer cabbage

The Greyhound are ready for eating now just as the Durham Early are coming to an end, which is brilliant timing, although more by luck than judgment if I'm being honest, which I suppose I ought to be.

Sweet peas flowering

Spinach

I'm trying to eat this as fast as I can before it bolts.

Rubbish weather

Well the solstice has been and gone and I have to say that for growing the weather in June has been absolute pants. It's been much cooler than usual, and I don't mean in the trendy sense, often windy, and we've only had one decent day of rain. Still, you have to keep plodding on.

Not much to do this weekend: I've resown the gaps in the rows of maincrop carrots and planted out the purple-sprouting broccoli. All things considered the plot isn't looking too bad. The early peas are flowering, I've picked the first sweet peas, and the early potatoes are nearly ready - it's too windy to take any photos so you'll just have to take my word for it. I've started feeding the tomatoes too, now that the first trusses have set. Try saying that after a few drinks.

Strawberry jam

I usually get the mother-in-law to make this - I provide the fruit, she buys the sugar and we split the produce - and it's kind of appropriate as she gave me the original runners of my plants years ago, but anyway she's a bit bad at the moment so I thought I'd give it a try myself. I mean how hard can it be? So I cooked up the fruits and the sugar but after about half an hour it still didn't look as if it would set and I was getting a bit bored so I've bottled it up and am hoping for the best.

Jam-making: messy but fun.


I've learnt since that you're meant to add some lemon juice but lemons don't grow for me in this climate.

All done

The plot's about planted up now, except of course it never is: there's still the leeks to go in and the sprouting broccoli and I've sown some more cabbage - "Golden Acre" to follow the "Greyhound".

I'm still eating spring cabbage, the first broad beans are ready for picking, always a treat, and the strawberries are cropping well now.

Snapdragons (antirrhinums)

I'd sowed these back in the middle of April and planted them out today:

First broad beans ready