Its all grow! grow! grow!

   It has been a busy week. Why do I say that? It is always a busy week! The garden has really taken off. The grass grows while you watch it and really could do with being cut twice a week. The weather has been wet and warm but the ground has been drying fast. It is now ideal for growth and ideal for planting out. There is still a possibility of a frost but every day that goes by makes it less likely. I have dug a second herb bed. This bed will have tall herbs in it, for example, sage, borage and lemon balm. The strawberries have flowers on them.
   So what has been going on this week. In the poly tunnel the pace carries on being hectic. Seed sowing and plant transplanting goes on at a pace. In the the years I have grown broad beans I never realised what a nice perfume the blossoms have. Being the in the poly tunnel the scent is concentrated and it is very nice. I almost ran out of pots to transplant into but I decided to plant out my sweet corn and that gave me back around 90 pots. I have planted out some tomato's (Roma and Moneymaker) with the idea that they will produce earlier than the outdoors ones. We will see. My bush tomato's, variety Vilma, have flowers on them and I really need to put them out. Pak Choi has been transplanted and some Italian parsley sowed. I have four varieties of lettuce on the go - red salad bowl, Little Gem, Batavia Rene Glace, rosa de trento and a chickory! How much lettuce can one eat I wonder? Cape Gooseberry seed has germinated along with celery and chrystal lemon cucumber. That is a round cucumber with which I had great success with last year.

Transplanted sweet corn Kelvedon Wonder

Roma and Moneymaker tomatos in the poly tunnel

   Outside potatoes continue to pop up all over the place. I have transplanted Bedfordshire champion and Spanish onions grown from seed. Onion sets and shallots look good. The peas are now uncovered and pea sticks put in and I noticed that the broad beans have beans on them!

First broad bean

   I now thinking about poly tunnel sowing for the winter!! I have sown a few winter cabbage (Lion King - a white variety) already. Outside the next sowing of beetroot and carrots will need to be done. I have sorted out my first row of  beetroot (Cheltenham Green Top) which are now established and they have recovered from a chicken strike! I fear my parsnip sowing has been drowned and I may have to resow. Least here in La Creuse the growing season is long.  Has my gamble with the borlotti beans and haricot vert paid off? No sign of germination yet. So onward to this week and yet more sowing, transplanting and mowing the grass!