What a difference a week makes weather wise, gone are the beautiful sunny skies and warmer temperatures. I have to admit it has caught me out as I thought the risk of frost had gone, only to wake up this morning and hear the dreaded weatherman say there is a chance of frost over the weekend. Of course, I planted some tomato plants out this week as they were getting so big and the weather had been so mild, so I have had to wrap them up all warm and cosy in some cold weather garden fleece protection and the courgette plants are going to get the same treatment.
But at least we have had some rain and the plants are grateful for that but it has left us gardeners a little soggy.
It has been a very busy week in the kitchen garden got some of our main crop potatoes planted out and the pea and bean frames all netted up ready for this season’s crop, that’s waiting to be planted out but this has been put on hold till this cold snap has past. The early strawberry plants are looking good, allthough these do tend to have a smaller crop than those that bear fruit later, they do make up for it with their large, very sweet fruit.
We have had two new additions to the kitchen garden this week, allotment wooden raised beds these will be planted with celery and celeriac. These are really excellent products especially for the allotment gardener as these beds are so easy to maintain and keep weed free and as we all know we never have enough time to spend in our allotments. But these certainly help with that it means you can spend more time doing all those other jobs on the very long list and keep up with all watering, an endless task in the summer months. They are also really good if you have just taken on a neglected piece of land. It takes such a long time to clear the site and get the soil workable but add a few of these to the plot and you can have crops this year while working on the rest of the ground.
