Strawberry plants

Sunday. I think I've broken the back of the work on the strawberry bed. Finished weeding it today and dug over the soil along two edges to extend the size of the bed. I added some manure to the newly dug soil and planted some of the runners which had rooted in the wrong place. That still leaves me with all the other plants in pots. I have about 20 down at the allotment waiting to go in and another 47 at home which I potted up last week. Help! Anyone need any strawberry plants? Peter came and joined me later on - just in time for a cup of tea. He picked more beans and did some watering. He also picked some blackberries so I could try making apple and blackberry fruit leather. It was a lovely warm day and we just enjoyed sitting in the sun.

Tuesday. One more go at the strawberry bed and it's finished. All the new plants in - and I still have 47 at home! I could start a farm! I started digging over the old broad bean patch to put in some brassicas. The soil is terribly dry and difficult to dig. We haven't had any rain for weeks. In fact it's been a beautiful September. I was just about to pack up when Peter turned up with a superb cappucino in my Tim Horton's mug. It still had all the froth on top! He picked yet more runner beans and dahlias. Bernie was down today - I haven't seen him for ages. He said he wants to come in to my plot to mend his fence post. Thanks goodness as it was causing me some problems when the fire was on. On the way home we saw John who gave us a couple of very impressive corn cobs and a lettuce. We picked a pound of cherry tomatoes today - they're very tasty but have tough skins. Perhaps I'll make soup with them.

I did have a go at the fruit leather and although it proved difficult to remove from the greaseproof paper, it was delicious.

Thursday. Another superb day - wall to wall sunshine. I finished digging over the patch for the brassicas to go in and added some manure. It's quite well rotted now but I had to weed the manure heap first as the weeds have taken root in places. I watered the soil first to make it a little easier to work. Typical of me - I read the planting instructions after I'd put the plants in. The Brussels sprouts should have had 30 cm between plants and the sprouting broccoli 75cm. Ah well.....!! Still I did spray the plants with bug spray and spread some oats for the slugs to eat before I covered them all with netting. I wouldn't have thought about slug protection but before I got all the plants in I noticed one very fat orange-coloured slug marching meanfully towards my plants. I sent him winging over the hedge towards the river. Perhaps he'll find some juicy snack over there.

The tomato soup turned out well - a recipe from the Gardener's World website. I added a home grown chilli for extra flavour, but shouldn't have added the seeds as it was just a bit too hot. We're very pleased with success of the chillis this year - a free packet courtesy of Gardener's World.