The raspberry canes have been in two weeks now and all six, we are very pleased to report, are sprouting leaves! We will need to stake them – originally we thought they were autumn-fruiting, which don’t need staking, but they’re not… Glen Ample are summer-fruiting, so need a little something to lean on!

Really pleased with the raspberry canes from Thompson & Morgan – planted them (almost) according to the instructions… a couple may be a little too close together, but we’ll see! We have ‘Glen Ample’ which *should* produce a heavy crop – roughly 11kg (24lb) with our six canes – fingers crossed!

After the disaster with the last lot of garlic, we’re trying again with some ‘Spring-Planting Garlic’ (don’t know the variety)… these bulbs certainly looked healthier than our last, so high hopes this time!! One row planted so far, alongside the raspberries, in the well-dug section – soil looks really good here, no bugs or grubs [...]

Had a voucher for Thompson & Morgan, so this morning placed an order for Garlic, Onions (Sturon & some free Corrado), Shallots (Picasso) and Raspberry Canes (Glen Ample). We had Sturon last year and they were great, as for everything else, I’m ordering ‘blind’ – they sounded good, but I have no experience of them [...]

At last, a dry and mild day… got lots of digging done this morning, giving us plenty of space for shallots and garlic. Or raspberries? Can’t decide!