I have put the flower seedlings into their final bed now and they look happy and will bed in nicely if this fine rain continues. They are Nasturtium, Lupin and Campion. I have also filled an oblong planter with Nasturtium and placed it alongside the rose bed. They will attract Hover Flies which in turn should keep my roses free from green fly.

I have potted on the biggest of the tomatoes now. Four are in place at the allotment in the lean to and the other six are at home in the garden.

Today I have sown nine Butternut Squash seeds saved from last year. They look a bit feeble though so if they don’t show through I shall have to buy some fresh seeds. The two courgette plants seem to be doing well and I have put them outside to harden off a bit.

The four Cucumber plants are still on the window ledge and look very frail. They are the long white bought last year from T&M. I don’t hold out much hope for them.

Cucumber Femspot is an F1 Hybrid cucumber, one of the best selling varieties in the UK. The plants are really strong growing, earlier cropper than most other cucumbers. You can enjoy the bitter free, ribbed fruits all summer long. Ideal greenhouse crop, but can be grown outside too in a sunny, sheltered spot in the garden or in your allotment plot. Femspot has proved to be one of the best all female varieties for outdoor production.

A good cropping cucumber with tender skin and a sweet, juicy tang.

A  beautiful crisp white cucumber perfect for outdoor or greenhouse growing.Produces an abundant crop that looks really pretty on the salad plate. image and info from The Seed Merchant on ebay.

Marketmore is a basic cucumber like we can buy in the supermarket but Lemon is a little different. Both are well worth growing. The Lemon is a little sweeter than most and is quite hardy so can be grown out on the plot once all threats of frost have passed.

We spent a couple of hours at the plots this afternoon. The weather was warm and sunny and the ground was workable so we did a lot of weeding. Still back breaking work but easier than when the ground is dry or heavy with rain. Rob dug up a few rows of potatoes and we emptied three bags too so we came back with quite a haul. They seem ok as far as the Blight is concerned so lets hope they store ok. This evening I cooked some Charlotte and they were very good.

We cut another cucumber from the Carmen plant and though they are few and far between the quality of them is brilliant. We also cut one of the Butterhead lettuce. Pity the tomatoes are still not big or red enough to eat. The outdoor tomatoes seem to be getting the first signs of Blight with the young fruit turning black. Very sad.

The runner beans were loaded and I picked a large box full as well as giving Frank and his wife quite a few as his were a bit late going in and are only just starting to produce. I pulled a few of the Rainbow carrots too.

There seem to be plenty of snails, earwigs and wood lice having a go at everything, especially the brassicas and the white fly is starting to show itself again. We brought home a couple of cabbages and found one that was so nibbled we had to throw it on to the compost heap.

The pumpkin plants are rampant and covered in yellow globes of varying sizes and are a reminder that Autumn will soon be here. 

Back at home the melon seedling have been turfed out of the broody box to make way for seven new chicks, the final count of the hatch is two Pekins and five Orpington bantams. There is still a lot of potting on to do as the seedlings of pumpkins, butternut squash, tomatoes, lettuce, sweet corn, melons and pak choi are all crying out for attention.

The first of the Tomato plants is also in there. It is a Black Cherry, one of our favourites from last year.

After getting the ground to a fine tilth with the rotavator Rob sowed the Swede seeds, Champion Purple Top and Parsnips, Hollow Crown.

We fished out the tent greenhouse which was virtually destroyed last year by gale force winds. Rob managed to get it back into shape and we planted some crisphead lettuce plants and sowed Raddish, French Breakfast and Spring Onion, Lisbon. We have secured it well and hope that it will be safe this year as it also has the protection of the tunnel at the side of it too.

All the beds are now clear of weeds and both plots are looking good. Weeding is an ongoing task but we have definitely broken the back of it now.