Check out the new link to my new allotment gallery - to the right ->>>>

Note - having problems posting pictures at the mo, will put them up ASAP.

Wow, summer is finally here thank goodness and my veggies look a bit happier.

Had a week off a the end of May and managed to make another 3 beds, now have 11 in total. Also managed to make my herb path. Not quite finished, but its looking really good.

My birthday surprise from OH was a pond ! Here it it, still needs edging stones, but its already attracting quite a lot of wildlife:

Here's a shot of the site, think my lottie is somewhere in the middle of the picture.

Have planted out my sweet potatoes, which look frighteningly like bindweed. They are under black weed naterial, so I'll have to wait and see what happens with them.

Courgettes, squashes and pumpkins are all in. Just planted another 25 sweetcorn (have 50 plants in total now - eek !) Sunflowers are visibly growing.

Carrots have finally germinated and I think I've even seen some parsnips poking their heads above the soil.

Broadies have very small pods on them, strawberries are showing and I have my first tomato - about the size of a 20 pence coin. Pepper looks as if it will flower any day. First peas have flowers on them and second lot are peeking through (although I think my mouse family have been helping themselves too).

Potatoes are all about to flower and I can see colour appearing on some of the sweetpeas.

All in all, very pleased with myself - just need to keep up with the watering now.

The sweetest thing

It was nearly carnage on the lottie yesterday. Have been in full digging mode, ruthlessly casting aside dandelions, bindweed and other such horrors. The ground is so thick with weeds that I have to dig a bit and then hand sift the soil.



Had just turned some more soil ready for sifting when I heard a strange, but persistent and alarming noise. With a bit of trepidation I started to pull away the surface weeds ... was it a bees nest I'd disturbed, had I accidently injured a small critter ?? Saw some dried grass that had been made into a circle, gently pulled it away to discover some lovely little mouse / vole babies !











They came unbelievably close to being sliced or stood on, poor little things. Covered them up again and sat down next to them to sift the soil I'd dug, thinking maybe the mother would move them that evening, when a small movement to my right caught my eye.

I glanced down and there was the nervous but very focussed mother. Managed to stiffle my scream, after all this is their territory more than mine, and sat stock still.

She moved really quickly, using the weeds as cover, ran under my feet, into the nest, grabbed the first baby and quickly made her way back to where she'd come from.

She made another 6/7 runs until all of the babies had been moved. She's a beautiful little thing, has a very short tail so I don't think its a mouse, but perhaps a vole ?



Maybe thats where my peas disappeared to ...