We have had notice that the judge will be visiting the plots on 22nd July and we had a few things we wanted to do beforehand to try and get as many extra points as possible compared to last year’s results.
The weather has been lovely lately and really quite dry so a water butt was the last thing on our mind but it is one of the things you can get extra points for and we have always had butts on plot 97, we just hadn’t got round to it on 118. When Neil was doing a run to B&Q (reasons for that below!) he came back with a slimline water butt perfect for the space we had by the greenhouse. With some guttering and some crafty joins it looks a treat!
Neil’s big project that required plenty of wood was a double compost bay. Again it was something we hadn’t got points for in the 2013 judging for plot 118 as we compost all our things on plot 97 and just bring manure over by the barrow without storing it on the plot first. The space at the back of the plot wasn’t used to its best and so it was the perfect spot for a compost bay and what a beauty! Although when you then start filling it up you realise just how big they are!
The sunny weather has meant we have had our first ripe tomatoes, just a few rather than enough for a meal just yet, our first climbing beans and a lot of the flowers are really coming into bloom.
We finally got round to planting some lettuces, a combination of loose leaves and headed varieties. I’m hoping that the heat is not too much to prevent them germinating or thriving. I’ve planted lollo rosso and lollo biondi, radicchio (palla rossa) rocket, little gem, endive (pancalieri) and Paris White. Fingers crossed! I also planted some viola (symphonia) and antirrhinum (snap happy mixed) which a bit like the wallflowers get started now for flowering next year.
Our cherry tree had a paltry year last year and looked like it was dying off so we weren’t expecting any cherries this time around. Now it only produced in single figures so it’s nothing to get giddy about but they were pretty perfect looking and the tree in general looks really healthy which should mean better years to come.
There will still be more weeding and tidying before the judge’s visit but we made real progress today and the plots look great.
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