Only 9 days til the longest day.

 These are my apple trees and - under the green cloche - 3 courgettes. It has been quite cold - not at all like summer - but the cloche is there to keep the birds off the slug pellets that I have put down round each plant. Yes, it's slug time again, and they are either in my enclosures, or they have somehow managed to cross the 10cm depth of shredded bark that I have laid on all my paths.

These are the legumes. Broad beans (nearly ready to pick) in the background, then in the middle are runner beans. Despite the netting, they have been badly affected by the wind, hence the scorched brown leaves at the bottom. However, they are recovering now, and are beginning to twine round the poles. Nearest to the camera are climbing French beans. I put these out a week after the runners, and they escaped the worst of the wind.




I took my old cultivator up to the plot at the weekend. It's about 60 years old, is heavy, and makes a lot of noise, but it is very effective at breaking up the clods. So everything is ready for the sweetcorn seedlings, which are in the mini plastic greenhouse that is just visible in the top photo. I planted 36 seeds and every one came up, and is now a healthy seedling. This is because I put them individually in pots of seed compost, and started them in a heated propagator - they like heat. Most only took 4-5 days to germinate.  They will go in the space next to the potatoes, also in the top photo. Looking at my post this time last year, I see that the sweetcorn were already in (too early?) but the slugs were having a field day .... what's new?
(It was a busy weekend but fortunately the weather was kind - dry but not too hot. I cut some of my hedges at home, and ended up with 4 builders' bags of clippings.)
I have also planted another row of beetroot and another row of carrots on the plot, so space is quickly running out. Just room for another row of lettuce seedlings. 
Next week I hope to pick my first produce of the year - lettuce, a pointy cabbage and some broad beans. Can't wait!