Great Downpour

There was a great downpour in the afternoon that was like a tropical monsoon; huge drops of rain that at times turned to hail. It was a short lived but copious amount of H2O. Good for the garden that had become a little parched. The earth this morning has turned a rich dark chocolate brown colour - a change from the slightly cracked grey clay of the day before.

I did a lot of digging yesterday. I was surprised at the good condition of the soil in one bed - hardly any pernennial weeds; so a tickle with a fork and a gentle feed of organic chicken manure is all I thought was needed. The other new bed I dug over I covered with mushroom compost and some more of the chicken manure and then I laid carpet paths to avoid walking on the bed and compacting the soil.

This isn't very good photo - it's my bed of broad beans which I must say I'm very pleased with. They have nearly all come up. The recent warm humid spring has suited them just fine.


The very helpful P on one of the neighbouring allotments (he who is 87 and can touch his toes) has given me some fine green mesh to put on my glasshouse roof to cut out some of the harsh sunlight so my seedlings don't get scorched. Difficult to believe they could in English weather - but they do. You can paint also paint the glass with special green or white paint.


I don't know if this photo does it justice but it shows the fine green
mesh I've put up with the help of my friend Di. It took us a while to work out. Di also helped me fix the roof with an old shower door a while ago when winter winds blew out one of the massive panes of glass on the roof!




This is the sorrel I planted about a month ago. I love it cooked with potato in a soup.