1. I don’t know if it’s just down to the weather, or that we’ve got the blackberry on a support this year so it’s not trailing the ground…. but whatever the reason, we have loads of fruit this year!
   

   

   
   And so far, it looks like the deer have left it alone, so there’s no need to net it
   .
2. This is the first year I’ve tried growing cucamelons – the seeds germinated, but seemed to stop growing so we invested in a plant from the garden centre….
   

   

   
   We split that plant into two, so one piece is on the allotment and the other is in a pot in the garden. In the end, the seed-grown plants started growing again too (apparently that’s normal for them to pause growth if they’ve not got quite the right temperature or moisture).
   One of the plants grown from seed has died, but we still have one seed-grown plant left too,so that will be heading to the allotment tomorrow to join this one!
   .
3. I don’t know what happened with my “original” strawberry plants this year – I started out with about 40 plants across two raised beds….
   

   

   
   ….and now have about 10 left as the others have all died off. These were runners saved from previous years, so I wouldn’t have thought they would be ‘tired’ and in need of replacing just yet.
   In contrast, my “fancy strawberry bed” is proving more successful – Just Add Cream (which is meant to produce more fruit and less runners) is sending out runners, and Snow White has runners which have already rooted!  I’m hoping this will bode well for next summer!
   

   

   
   .
4. The gooseberry bush is a great success this year – whatever ate the berries from it last year seems to have left it alone, as we’ve had plenty to pick.
   

   

   
   .
5. Onto the peas and beans, and I think the peas have definitely gone over now….
   

   

   
   ….we did get plenty of peas from them though, so compared to other years I’d class that as a definite success!
   The runner beans have taken off like rockets – I think I need to take a stool with me to the allotment next, to reach the tops of the canes in order to nip the growing tips off!
   

   

   
   .
6. And to finish, how about a mini game of “spot the creature in the compost bin”? This Slow Worm was pretending to be a stick, so I’ve added in an arrow to make it easier to spot!
   

   

   
   They seem to like that particular compost bin – I’ve never spotted one in either of ourother bins.

Don’t forget to check out the Propagator’s Six on Saturday  and read through the comments section for more blogs to check out!

1. Let’s start with a collection of three bargains from Morrisons supermarket…. I went with the aim of getting some more strawberry plants – they only had one variety, but the plants looked nice and healthy so I chose a couple to head to the allotment this weekend.
   

   

   
   While I was there, I spotted a blackcurrant for £2 – well I was looking for a new plant to replace the ‘failed’ redcurrants, and £2 was a much better sounding price than £10 we’ve seen elsewhere. The ground isn’t (quite) prepared for it to be planted on the allotment yet, so this one’s been repotted into a slightly more generous pot for the time being.
   

   

   
   And lurking in the houseplant section, I found the “bargain basement” selection of plants, which included a pack of 20 sorry-looking pansies for 45p! They’ve now been picked over to encourage new flowers, and will either be planted into a pot, or straight into the garden.
   

   

   
   .
2. The broad beans are settling in well on the allotment, which means there’s more space in the garden for another tray of runner beans to be sown (so far only two runners have germinated).
   

   

   
   .
3. Finally the blackberry support is finished! It’s almost impossible to get a decent photo of that, but you should be able to make it out. I just hope the deer don’t develop a taste for blackberries, now it’s easier to reach!
   

   

   .
4. It’s not the most picturesque view of the allotment, but meet the “three bears” – so called, because it looks like ‘Daddy bin, Mummy bin and baby bin’.
   

   

   
   These are open-based and just sit on the soil…. I do need to cut the grass surrounding them to try and stop those weeds from sneaking in under the bins, or maybe I should put something at the base of the smallest bin (where the mint was growing) to try and prevent anything from growing through.
   .
5. Next up is the gooseberry, which seems to thrive on semi-neglect! I think we’ve been leaving it too late to pick the fruit in previous years – it’s ended up mushing as we picked it. Am I right in saying the gooseberries should be quite firm when they’re picked, if they’re going to be cooked?
   

   

    .
   .
6. And finally, we have a little “guess the flower” which I’m sure most people will be able to figure out without too much hassle….
   

   

   
   the answer is at the very bottom of this post next to the comments section, so guess before you scroll down!

Don’t forget to check out the Propagator’s Six on Saturday and read through the comments section for more blogs to check out!

So did you figure out what plant the flower comes from? It’s from my overwintered broad beans, which look like they’re getting on surprisingly well considering the weather we had in March!

1. We’ve been talking about getting the Blackberry bush onto some kind of support for ages, and finally found some suitable stakes this week. I thought it was going to be challenging to get the stakes in the ground, but it was surprisingly easy – a couple of old socks on the end of the stake padded the top, while a large pebble-like stone worked as a makeshift hammer.
   

   

   
   All we need now are some suitably short vine eyes to screw into the wood, and we can get the wires attached.
   .
2. Rhubarb! It’s grown a lot in the last week, so this week we brought home the first few pieces – not enough to make a crumble(!), in fact it could be described as a “taste” of rhubarb rather than a sensible sized helping, but looking at the plants, I think there’s plenty more to come.
   

   

   
   .
3. We decided it was time to tidy the Raspberry patch before the autumn-fruiting raspberries grow too much. The grass sneaks into the patch every year, making the patch feel more like a jungle at times, but I want to try and keep it more under control this year. As you can see, it’s not the easiest ground to dig grass out from, but the lumps of grassy soil we removed, have been ‘recycled’ into steps at the side of the plot.
   

   

   
   There’s still a lot of work to be done before this is grass-free (or at least has a straight edge!), but I think the soil needs to dry out a bit more before we can get more digging done.
   .
4. Digging out the Cucamelon patch was a bit easier, although there’s a lot of huge stones lurking just under the soil. We’ve not planted anything in this section on a regular basis, and a couple of inches below the surface there’s pure clay…. I think this calls for a load of compost before we can plant anything!
   

   

   
   .
5. Several years ago, I bought this Penstamon and up to now it’s been looking great… unfortunately the green leaves it had last month, have all browned off. I’m guessing it didn’t approve of the cold and snow in March. A relative tells me I should “cut it back”, but didn’t tell me if it’s like Lavender where you don’t cut it back too much, or if it should be cut back as hard as possible. I’m reliably informed by Granny’s Garden that nothing should be cut until the risk of frost is over, and she cuts back to one green leaf on each stalk. Given that I have zero green leaves on the stalks, that might prove challenging, but I’ll give it another week or so just to check the chance of frost, given that the allotment site is so exposed.
   

   

   
   .
6. Finally, we have a Morrison’s Supermarket bargain buy… these Geraniums aren’t heading to my allotment, but we’re potting them up to grow on for a relative’s garden.
   

   

Don’t forget to check out the Propagator’s Six on Saturday and read through the comments section for more blogs to check out!