Matt and Lee Ann

Sunday 19th April
Matt and Lee Ann are staying with us for the weekend, and offered to come down to the allotment to help out. It was a lovely day, although there was a cool breeze. We seem to have a very sheltered plot, so we soon warmed up and didn't notice the breeze. Peter and Matt got to work on trimming the hedge with a borrowed petrol driven hedge trimmer. Matt collected all the trimmings onto the last part of the plot to be dug over, so we can burn them later. He also stacked all the wood we have amassed on the plot - logs, pallets, boards - and made them look a whole lot tidier. Peter put the newly repaired lawn mower into action and cut the paths. He was very pleased with his efforts as it was cobbled together from two lawn mowers costing £5 each. One came from the tip and the other form the auction. The new one works really well.
Lee Ann and I planted some sunflower plants along the front fence, and some more along by the peach tree. That way they can grow up the peach tree supports. I just hope slugs don't like sunflowers! We then did a bit of weeding on the asparagus bed. There's lots of bindweed coming up now. Next we prepared the soil for planting out the Brussels sprouts and the cabbage plants. I have to confess I bought them at the farmer's market last weekend. I didn't think it was worth planting a whole packet of seeds - much better to plant just a few plants.
Matt was just removing some pallets which were leaning against the hedge, when he discovered a robin's nest with four blue eggs inside. How exciting! We quickly replaced the pallets and left the nest undisturbed. We think we saw the robin later in the afternoon, so we will have to watch out for some baby robins soon. We all stopped for a brew, got the primus stove going and had Lee Ann's home-made banana loaf with our coffee. Looking over at the grassed area - it's looking quite green now, so last week's warm wet weather did the trick.
Matt and Lee Ann set off for home and we stayed a bit longer. Long enough in fact for Peter to go home to bring the dog - we're looking after Betty for a few days - and the paper to read. We sat and enjoyed a cuppa in the sunshine. I carried on with the weeding in the asparagus bed - it's not easy to avoid digging up the asparagus roots, or to avoid treading on the shoots. Peter picked another good helping before we went home, and there's lots more to come.