We had trugs full of broad bean, blackcurrants, blueberries and blackberries. It also included our first cherries, courgettes, tomatoes and potatoes (but didn’t want that to spoil our title!). We are now consistently taking large amounts of produce home so it really feels like we are in the swing of things!

We spent a good few hours there this weekend and seemed to get quite a lot done. Most things are looking green and perky thanks to the heat wave breaking with a few rainstorms. The last of the brassicas that had yet to be planted out had come on leaps and bounds as a result so they really needed to go out. After unsuccessfully trying to buy some more netting from the local garden centre and B&Q, Mickey came to our rescue (thanks Mickey!) with some spare. That end of plot 118 still hadn’t been turned over since we put some barrows of manure on it weeks ago so we first had to dig it over which was no mean feat in the humid, sticky weather! We then planted the brassicas out in three more tunnels. This means we have Brussel sprouts, igloo cauliflowers, candissa cabbage, kalibos pointed red cabbage and Savoy cabbage in one block. In the second block we have minicole and tundra green cabbages, scarlet borecole, cavolo nero, dwarf curly kale, red arrow sprouting broccoli, calabrese green sprouting broccoli, summer purple sprouting broccoli and regular purple sprouting broccoli. Phew!

Neil planted a couple of rows of green manures between the tunnels, because he sure does love the green manures. I think he used phacelia, trefoil and some crimson clover.

It was a week of season firsts on both plots. We harvested a handful of perfectly sized courgettes, both green and yellow. Neil also dug up our first crop of Charlotte new potatoes which looked great, really good sized and consistent quality and probably our best for the last couple of years. In the greenhouses we have our first aubergines, chillies and peppers growing. We also managed a handful of the first tomatoes to turn red. Things in the greenhouses have grown quite a bit so I needed to tie some stems up to support canes, which was good timing as I had to hide from a pretty heavy downpour! Other maintenance jobs included weeding the front of plot 97 (again! It never stops!) and tying up some of the larger plants as they were starting to droop into the pathway.

There had been a manure delivery which was quite good quality, not too much sawdust or hay, so Neil collected about 8 barrows worth! I think he’s replaced Ironman training with wheelbarrowing, he kept getting some saying it would be the last then going for another until he’d finished one whole section of plot 118! We can properly dig this in once some of the produce comes out as that side could do with quite a bit of matter added, as it’s lagging behind the left side that we’ve given more attention to.

We’ve been seeing lots of wildlife on the plots lately. We had a new season little robin come and scavenge some worms when we were digging the soil over, lots of bees and butterflies are enjoying the lavender and sunflowers and we’ve lost count of the number of colourful cinnabar moth caterpillars we’ve found. Is lovely being down there when it is full of life!