The potatoes were probably ‘over-chitted’ to be honest (four or five inch sprouts must be too long??) as they didn’t really have enough light while they chitted (aka as ‘sprutting’ apparently!), so it was quite difficult to plant them properly as there were roots sticking out in all directions! Not the best of starts, but we’ll see what happens!

We got most of the Swift earlies in, but there’s still loads left and still the Epicure to plant too. The potato plot may end up a bit larger than anticipated!!

Lisa’s pink t-shirt and the cotton bag (re-usable & washable – ooooh!!!) are available from our shop

So we’ve got:
Purple Moldovan Garlic (the bigger bulbs in the pic, the others are supermarket garlic which we’ll experiment with)
Radish – Scarlet Globe (plus two half packs left over from last year – Scarlet Globe and French Breakfast)
Onion – Red Pearl F1 & Ailsa Craig Prizewinner
Parsnip – Countess F1
Courgette – Ambassador F1
Broccoli – Bordeaux F1
Leek – Lyon 2 Prizetaker

And our potatoes, both earlies, are ‘Epicure’ and ‘Swift’.

Just off to work out what ‘chitting’ is!!

We were delighted to find that beneath all the jungle of weeds our tomatoes were actually growing!! They’re little and green, but hopefully they’ll ripen nicely. Lisa’s mum has also given us some smaller tomato plants so we need to get them in the ground once we’ve cleared a few more weeds (she also gave us a green tomato chutney recipe should they not ripen!).

Also growing well are the sweetcorn, beans and broccoli, so we’re very hopeful of some good crops there too.

The herb garden was very overgrown, but apart from the parsley and the chilli plants everything is doing well, including three frogs, who leapt out of the jungle and looked quite annoyed at being disturbed! We think we’ll have to find them a little Toad Hall to live in!

We’ve been rather neglectful of our plot over the last couple of weeks and we’ve been fair-weather gardeners while the heavy rain has been pouring down.

Today was the day to tackle the triffids!

We made a good start, but there are weeds everywhere… including some massive alliums growing out of our stinky bin bags!!

Siobhan cleared the weeds from around the onions and leeks while Lisa made a pathetic attempt to clear the weeds (including nettles and thistles – ouch!) from around the beans and broccoli.

Another couple of evenings and we should be sorted.

The radishes are doing very well indeed – they desperately needed some thinning out, which Lisa persuaded Tony to do (he refused to have his picture up because he’s “not a girl!”… hehe). The lettuces and rocket will also need thinning out soon.

The sweetcorn is slowing coming along, as is the courgette (his leaves are a little yellow-looking, but he’s growing up fast!).

The beans have grown very quickly, they’re not looking too bad, but it looks like the slugs are moving over from the broccoli…

We have decided what we’ll be growing though!

In no particular order:
Leeks
Onions
Garlic
Radish
Lettuce
Endive
French Beans
Courgette
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Cabbage
Potatoes
Carrots
Parsnips
Beetroot
Asparagus

and herbs…

Salvia (sage)
Bay
Basil
Peppermint
Coriander
Thyme
Chives
Parsley
Tarragon
and some Lavender, Calendula and Camomile (because we like them!)