May

My maincrop potatoes went in during the early May bank holiday at the beginning of the month, and by the time of the next bank holiday near the end of the month I've just spotted them breaking the surface, so they've put on some good growth from chitted tubers in about 3 weeks. This adds weight to my theory that most things will catch up if planted a bit later and there is no point in putting plants into wet cold soil. They will just sulk until it warms up anyway.

That said the year seems to be flying by at an alarming rate. I have some salad seeds but it's looking like I'll need to buy some plants as well as I haven't got the seeds in the ground yet. I've already bought some squash and cucumber plants and one courgette (bit of a gamble there; don't want too many plants but if this one doesn't survive, I'll have none). They are currently residing in my old cold frame, having not built the new one yet. However, there has been a giant leap forward in cold frame technology and I have used my glass shower screen as a lid. It works really well because you can slide it open and closed, so I will consider that a success for now.

My wife and the tiny human spent quite a bit of time at the plot last weekend, and the place is now bedecked with wind chimes, streamers, garden gnomes and little fences, along with a freshly tidied-up patio area outside the shed. I always wanted part of the plot to be an ornamental garden so it's fine by me. It also means all the twee garden ornaments chosen by the tiny human can grace the plot instead of the garden at home.

Vole / Ravenous Beast

I turned my compost heap and found a vole in residence. The little creature obviously mistook me for the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal* and attempted to escape by turning its back on me and sitting still with its eyes closed, but I eventually coaxed it out of the back of the heap.
*(a ferocious but stupid creature, who assumes that if you can't see it, then it can't see you)

New compost bins

Rain again this morning, but by the afternoon the sky changed from its usual grey to a funny blue colour and a strange, bright yellow light appeared in the sky, so I took a chance and disappeared off to the plot for a couple of hours until the light disappeared again.

 I cleared out my 'rubbish corner' and used a combination of new and old pallets to make two new compost bins. It's been nearly a year since I dismantled my previous heap, and I've missed it.

Now harvesting: leeks, parsnips.

The new compost heap

Progress

Progress is being made on my 2010 plans. In the photo below, you can see:
Front right, garlic, planted using a sort of semi 'no dig' method. More on that later. Behind that, new location for the compost heap. Further behind that, the area to be used for more compost, & maybe my storage chest; in front of the shed, I will just lay to grass for now (whilst looking at this area try not to look at John's pristine plot next door. I find it helps to cover one eye). Middle left, you can just see this year's overwintered broad beans, and just in frame on the front left, is the cage for my purple sprouting broccoli, which at the present time is neither purple nor sprouting.

Murphy's Law for beginners

Everything is growing away strongly on the plot now, I'm just waiting impatiently to start harvesting stuff. I was so nervous earlier in the year that my carefully chitted potatoes weren't going to come up that I actually dug one up to see if anything had happened (of course it had). Now I'm a little more laid back - patience is a virtue. Not that I should have worried of course. I carefully prepared the soil, diligently chitted the specially-sourced seed potatoes in my spare room, acclimatised them to the outdoors, painstakingly planted them at the recommended spacing and depth, added fertiliser to the soil and weeded and earthed up...

Meanwhile, amongst the kitchen scraps, left alone, forgotten, discarded and with no attention whatsoever, I now have 3 healthy potato plants and a spire of brocolli sprouting luxuriantly from my compost heap!