Full Metal Wheelbarrow

Today I paid my first visit to the allotment this year. Shockingly remiss of me really but the weather's been such crap that I couldn't have done much if I'd gone before.

Not that I did a huge amount today either. I tidied up the greenhouse a bit and pulled out all the dead tomato plants. I also pulled up the sweetcorn stalks that I'd left overwinter and put down some old curtains to suppress the weeds in that area. I noticed that the few cobs I'd left on the stalks had been picked clean - I was pleased to think that they'd fed some hungry birdie.

I also got to meet a very cute puppy - one of my allotment neighbours had two lovely labradors, but sadly lost the black one last year. The other dog was lonely so they've now got a new puppy to keep him company and very sweet and bouncy she is too :-)

I'd hoped to plant some seeds today, but I found that my bag of compost had dried out over the winter, so I left three trays of modules soaking in the hope that the compost will take the water up enough for planting some leeks and cauliflowers later in the week. If not I'll have to get a new bag and use the dry stuff for soil conditioner. The soil on the allotment can always use more "stuff".

The weather forecast for tomorrow is a bit crap again, but if it's not too bad I'll try to go down there again and clear up a bit more. The artichokes need a bit of a trim as some of their leaves have suffered in the cold and there's plenty of weeding and rotovating to do.

No sign of the broad beans I planted in the autumn yet, but given how much colder it's been than the past couple of years that's not really surprising. They may come up yet.

And now a guessing game - what do you reckon this is ? :-

( Mystery object )