Sat 1 May 2010
Weather : Cooler with showers
Progress : Made a brief visit to gather some Rhubarb and Greens. At home I sowed some Lettuce (Winter Density) into a tray.

Sun 2 May 2010
Weather : Overcast and showery
Progress : Picked what new growth I could off last year's Curly Kale, including the sprouts. Cut the first Asparagus.

Mon 3 May 2010
Weather : Overcast, showery and windy.
Progress : Haunched up the Potatoes where shoots were showing through as frost is forecast tonight. One row of Foremost in plot 3a were well advanced so I covered them with the fleece tunnel which had been a present from my son. Pulled plenty of Rhubarb but, whilst slashing off the leaf with my gardening knife which I had recently sharpened, I cut a finger so I abandoned work and went home for repairs. I came back after lunch and dug over part of plot 2b and sowed a row of Carrot (Resistafly). Dug over part of the same plot but at the other end and sowed a row of Swede (Marian) which puts them in the wrong section but I am short of spacer in the Brassica sections. Dug up a dozen Strawberry runners and potted them to give to my son for his new roof garden.

Tue 4 May 2010
Weather : Sunny spells
Progress : Sowed a row of French Bean (Green Arrow) in plot 3c. Dug up a lot more Jerusalem Artichokes and bagged the majority for disposal. Pulled up and composted the remains of the Winter Cabbages from plot 3c.

Wed 5 May 2010
Weather : Sunny spells
Progress : Delivered some bags of horse dung. Double-dug another trench in plot 3c and manured accordingly. Removed two half-buckets of large stones from the trench. Watered the Asparagus and a few other things. Trimmed the top edge of plot 3b along the access track. Picked some of the Swiss Chard that has resprouted from last year. Also some Parsley. Removed the fleece cover from the Potatoes and watered them. Topped up the water tank.

Thu 6 May 2010
Weather : Some sunny spells.
Progress : Delivered some more bags of horse dung. Dug up the remainder of the Jerusalem Artichokes then planted three tubers ready for the next crop. Picked off the Dandelion heads in the grass paths. Replaced the fleece cover over the Potatoes. Fiddled around a bit.

Fri 7 May 2010
Weather : Dull, colder and windy.
Progress : No work today as I was working on the house.

Sat 8 May 2010
Weather : Showery and cold.
Progress : No work today.

Sun 9 May 2010
Weather : Dull
Progress : No work today.

Mon 10 May 2010
Weather : Dull and colder
Progress : No work today.

Tue 11 May 2010
Weather : Light frost. Dull
Progress : Mowed the grass paths. Double dug another trench in plot 3c. Cut two spears of Asparagus - much of the new planting has not germinated. Watered the Asparagus and Blueberry bushes. Removed surplus water weed from the tank in area 2 and noticed that there were loads of baby Water Boatmen so I decanted a few into the other water tank. Picked some Spinach Beet also cut a stem of the bolted Curly Kale to take home and strip. Haunched up the new emerging Potatoe shoots. Two rows were more advanced so I covered them with plastic sacks against the expected frost tonight. I am looking after the allotment of neighbour whilst he is on holiday so I checked it over and watered the seedlings in his coldframe.

Wed 12 May 2010
Weather : Frost. Sunny spells
Progress : Loaded my barrow with surplus bricks to use on the allotment to hold down netting. Trimmed the top edges of my plots. Hoed round generally then watered where necessary. Sowed another pot of Leeks (Autumn Mammoth). Put netting over the emerging Brussels Sprouts seedlings and put down slug traps. Sprayed the weeds on the central paths.

Thu 13 May 2010
Weather : Frost. Sunny spells and light showers
Progress : Took the car to deliver a bag of fresh horse dung. Also took some more bricks. Stapled a liner of old plastic sacks inside the compost enclosure in area 1. Cleared the bolted Curly Kale from plot 3c, composted the tops and bagged the roots for disposal. Turned in the top dressing to part of plot 3c and sowed two rows of Climbing French Bean (Cobra). Did some watering. Pulled some Rhubarb and picked some Spinach Beet. Had a word with the senior contact regarding an adjacent householder whom I had seen dumping garden waste on the allotments. It seems he is not an allotment holder and the council have lately sealed his gate that led onto the allotments. Another allotment holder told me that two small youths had been warned off the allotments recently.

Fri 14 May 2010
Weather : Light frost. Sunny spells
Progress : Double dug another trench in plot 3c. Watered some of the seedlings that weren't done yesterday. Filled some seed trays ready for sowing extra seeds to fill in where germination has not taken place. Had a bit of a chat with other allotmenteers. Removed the plastic sacks from the Potatoe rows and found that there had been some frost damage. I left the fleece tunnel until tomorrow as the temperature will get low again tonight.

Sat 15 May 2010
Weather : Sunny spells
Progress : Turned over part of plot 3b and sowed Salsify (Giant) and Scorzonera (Russian Giant). The intention was to sow one row of each now then make another sowing in a few weeks, however, I was chatting as I worked and accidentally sowed two rows of Salsify. Sowed some Purple Sprouting, Autumn cabbage and Asparagus Pea into pots as backup because germination of my sowings into the ground are poor. Took the fleece tunnel off the early Potatoes - it has saved the shoots but they have been scorched a bit. Checked my colleagues coldframe.

Sun 16 May 2010
Weather : Showery
Progress : No work today.

Mon 17 May 2010
Weather : Mostly sunny
Progress : Sowed some Dwarf French Beans into as tray to supplement the lack of germination of those sown in the ground earlier. Did some watering. Weeded between the Asparagus then watered the plants and cut a couple of spears for dinner. Sowed a second row of Turnips in plot 2d. Sowed some Spring Onion (Guardsman) into a tray.

Tue 18 May 2010
Weather : Sunny spells
Progress : Turned over part of plot 2b and sowed a second row of Carrot (Resistafly). Resowed the row of Pea (Delikata) in plot 3c. Used the Onion Hoe through plot 2c. Sowed a second row of Beetroot (Boltardy) in plot 3d. Watered the soft fruit bushes in area 2 then the beans and peas in plot 3c. Sowed some additional Curly Kale into a tray. Picked some Spinach Beet from last year's plants. I keep water plants in my tanks which encourages pond life and I noticed some unusual squiggly things swimming around today. Sowed some Cauliflower into a tray as infill for poor germination.

Wed 19 May 2010
Weather : Mostly sunny
Progress : Delivered a bag of fresh horse dung to layer in the compost in area 1. Watered generally. Finished moving the temporary compost then restacked the pallets. Hoed the uncultivated areas.

Thu 20 May 2010
Weather : Overcast but humid
Progress : Hoed some more uncultivated areas. Watered items not done recently, especially the Strawberries. Collected the Strawberry plants in pots to take to my son for his new roof garden in London. Put a layer of dirt into the kitchen waste compost bin in area 1 as it was getting rank in the warm air. One of the irritating allotment holders was back on site today after an absence. He was trying to cadge the use of some implements from a new allotment holder who has not yet become aware of his habits.

Fri 21 May 2010
Weather : Hot and sunny
Progress : Popped in briefly in the morning to water the seedlings before we went off for a weekend break in Wales.

Sat 22 May 2010
Weather : Sunny and very hot
Progress : On holiday in Wales.

Sun 23 May 2010
Weather : Sunny and very hot
Progress : On holiday in Wales.

Mon 24 May 2010
Weather : Sunny and very hot
Progress : Went up to do some watering but it was too hot already to water the foliage of the tender new shoots. I watered the Blueberry bushes and the Strawberries, many of which ar drying up. Watered the seedlings in trays in the coldframe. Found some slug pellets in the water trough by the pump so fished them out as they would probably harm the insect life in the trough, let alone any crops they got onto. It was rather careless or irresponsible of someone to let them get in there. Cut some Rhubarb and Asparagus. Went back in the evening and watered as much as I could but left the tanks to be topped up tomorrow. It was very busy with many allotmenteers doing the same thing.

Tue 25 May 2010
Weather : Sunny and very hot
Progress : Went done in the late evening and topped up the water tanks. Watered some of the items that did not get done yesterday.

Wed 26 May 2010
Weather : Sunny spells. Cooler.
Progress : Used the onion hoe through the rows of seedlings as necessary. Also did the Broad Beans and Onions and some uncultivated areas. Turned in part of plot 3c and sowed two rows of Runner Bean (Polestar). Sowed two more rows of Sweetcorn in plot 1. Watered items that had not had proper attention recently. Cut some Asparagus and pulled some leaves from the Spinach Beet. Sowed trays of Aubergine (Moneymaker), Sweet Pepper (Ace) and Courgette (Tuscany) and placed them in the coldframe with plenty of slug pellets around. Dug up the remaining unwanted Artichoke tubers. Lent my draw hoe to another allotmenteer to haunch-up his potatoes.

Thu 27 May 2010
Weather : Overnight rain. Sunny spells
Progress : First proper rain for seven weeks. Delivered a load of bags of fresh horse dung. Hoed the bits that I missed yesterday. Watered the first early potatoes. Resowed the row of Swiss Chard as only one seedling has appeared. Sowed a row of Good King Henry in plot 3a. Sowed some Squashkin seeds into a tray. Picked some Spinach Beet. Put out some more slug traps as they will become active after the rain.

Fri 28 May 2010
Weather : Sunny spells
Progress : Double dug another trench in plot 3c but left off the top dressing for the moment. Pulled some Swiss Chard and Parsley for dinner tonight.

Sat 29 May 2010
Weather : Rainy morning
Progress : No work today.

Sun 30 May 2010
Weather : Sunny spells
Progress : A short visit today to get some Spinach Beet and Asparagus for dinner. Checked the seedlings in the coldframe for slug activity and found that some Dwarf French Beans had been eaten so I added more slug pellets. Pinched a sprig of Mint from a nearby allotment and left with a guilty concience.

Mon 31 May 2010
Weather : Overcast
Progress : Double dug the final trench in plot 3c then top dressed with fresh horse dung. Resowed the row of Dwarf French Beans as none had germinated.