The start of summer?

Flinging open the blinds at the weekend,  it was great to see that our old friend the sun had decided to pop back and pay us a visit. With not a moment to lose, I dashed off into the garden before he changed his mind.

After all the rain, there were a gazillion and one jobs I could be getting on with. The greenhouse is overrun with plants which need moving on at some point, the weeds are taking over the universe, and the bean wigwams aren’t going to pop up by themselves.

First job was to plant out my sweetcorn plants that I bought from a garden centre last week for the unbelievable price of 10p a plant. I wasn’t planning on growing it this year, but they just jumped into my trolley when I saw the price.

Next, I set to work on the beans. The broad beans are looking rather pleased with themselves, and I think I may end up with rather more than I bargained for. Thinking that not all of them had popped up over winter, I shoved a few more in – and lo and behold, they seem to have taken the hint. I put a cane in at each corner of  the bed and wrapped some string around, to keep them in place.

On a roll now, I built a runner bean wigwam along a similar vein. First I put some black weed suppresant fabric down to (hopefully) keep the weeds out, the moisture in, and the soil warm. Next up came the canes, and before long I had myself two handy frames for the beans to climb up. I planted out the runners (slightly got the two varieties mixed up, but hey ho…).

The borlottis can live in the  greenhouse for a bit longer,  as they’re still small. You may have noticed the peas romping away behind… we have a few tiny pods already, which is all very exciting. The last little jobs were to plant out some rudbeckia and nicotiana plants, and to mow the lawn. That all done, I’m pretty chuffed with how the garden’s looking at the moment…