Full Metal Wheelbarrow

by A Longtailed Tit

Well, yesterday was Bird Watching Day, so like good little birdies, me and the gang went to do some watching. Couple of weird humans in one back garden messing about with a big see-through shiny thing. Clamping it between bits of wood, pointing a big noisy red thing at it and changing the shape of it till it looked a bit like a giant bird-house. Wouldn't have been any good for that though - too drafty and the stoats and owls could get in far too easily. Stupid humans.  About then a cat came outside to help them so me and  the lads decided to go and watch somebody else, just in case...

( The finished product )

This morning I made a cloche from two panels salvalged from the original greenhouse. I used Rob's old soldering iron to bore holes in the panels and joined them together with zip ties.  I then planted out the first of the spring cabbages under the cloche. They were raring to go with roots poking out of their pots, so I'll have to get a move on and make more cloches this week so I can plant out all their brothers and sisters. I haven't gone quite as mad with the spring cabbages as I did with the other brassicas, but there are a couple of dozen of them.

( Cabbages and things... )

I picked what I expect will be the last of the runner beans, as there's frost forecast for tonight. I think the beans have been my most successful crop this year - we've had oodles of them, enough to freeze some and give some away.

I'm also pleased that I built my bean supports well enough that they didn't collapse in the strong winds we've had this year even though some made by older, more experienced allotmenteers have succumbed. Don't get me wrong - I'm not pleased that other people have suffered damage to their crops, I'm just pleased that I didn't, even though I've had less practice.

This afternoon I need to fill a spray bottle with washing up liquid solution and spray the brussel sprouts which are afflicted with whitefly. Then it's down to Budgens for some vinegar and pickling spice, so I can pickle the beetroot from the veg box.