No more frost?

I hope that there is no more frost this spring, as I have just planted out my runner beans. Probably a bit early, but the plants had grown very quickly from seeds (20 out of 20 germinated, from my own saved seed) and the roots were coming out of the bottom of the pots. I think that they  should have a good chance of making it, although there will of course be more cold weather. They are all tied up, watered well, with slug pellets (of course) and under a wide mesh to keep the birds off.


My strawberries are looking very good - lots of blossom, which is being held up on rigid vertical stems. These will bend over as the fruit grows, but the fruit will then rest on the chippings, so should be OK. Now all we want is some decent weather. April was very dry - practically no rain at all - but we have recently had a couple of days of rain, which has softened the ground nicely.

I have also tied up my broad beans, which were beginning to flop over, and the peas, and planted purple sprouting broccoli, green broccoli and cabbage plants.Still to be planted out are French beans and courgettes in the next couple of weeks, then leeks later.

The tent - again

I have now taken down my fine-mesh 'tent' from one small plot and put it up over the next, and have planted cabbages inside. This has already got my broad beans in, which are doing very well - lots of flowers and growing strongly. But the weather is very variable. I took this photo yesterday, when the sun was shining and the ground was warm, but today it is overcast and very cold.
I shall also plant some purple sprouting broccoli in here, as it has been such a good crop this year.



Last year, I surrounded my strawberries with
(you've guessed it) straw. However, this was barley straw with lots of seeds in it. They all sprouted and I was left with a lawn around the plants. So this year, I have put a lot of wood chippings round the plants. Hopefully, this will keep the fruit dry and soil-free - and the slug pellets will keep the creepy crawlies off. And the mesh will keep the birds off! The plants look healthy (and have lots of flowers) and have had fertiliser added, so now I must hope for some good weather.
At home, I have French beans, runner beans and courgettes sprouting, and will put in sweetcorn soon.