Late frosts and tadpoles

Despite the lack of blog entries lately I have actually been down to the allotment over the past two weeks, I just haven't got round to writing anything down!
I planted my dahlias out about a week ago and lost the lot on Tuesday night when there was a hard frost! I also lost the French beans which Bernie had given me. I'm silly really as I'd bought fleece for this very thing - I just didn't believe the forecasts. The fig tree had about three leaves on it and they've all gone, as have some of the leaves on the grape vine. Ah well, that's a lesson learned for next year.
Peter came down this week and cut the grass which had grown quite long. He also measured up for the wood to make a fruit cage. He's now finished constructing the wooden supports and has attached the netting to one side. The red and black currants are growing fast, so we need to get it finished soon. The gooseberries are also looking good again this year.
I've prepared the soil in the raised bed ready for the butternut squash plants. All the seeds I saved from last year seem to be thriving and I've even given some plants away.
Today I planted the runner bean plants, some of which were about 18 inches tall, and beginning to climb round each other. I don't think there's any frost forecast for this week, I hope not anyway.
Many of the peas are now big enough to need staking so I've put in the pea sticks. And at last the sweet peas are beginning to take off. I'm still watering the carrot, beet and parsnip seeds regularly although there's nothing much happening yet.
I've been doing a bit of weeding alongside all the planting and have planted some cornflower seeds as well as the flowers George gave me last year, in the little border near the gate.
We were delighted to count about four big fat tadpoles swimming in the pond-bath today. We added some chickweed for food and poured in some water from a height to add a bit of oxygen.
I made some nettle soup a couple of weeks ago for my 'Souper Lunch' club. It was really just a variation on an Irish potato soup and was actually very good. I must have looked a strange sight, picking the nettle tips from the side of the road with my rubber gloves on! I also used the last of the parsnips to make a spicy parsnip soup.