I’ve never seen the allotments as busy as they were when I turned up. A warm Sunday between rainy days was perfect for planting and sowing.

I put three Jack be littles and 3 gourds in against the big netting, alternating them one side then the other. Hopefully they’ll throw out some tendrils and hook on soon.

I’ve put a long line of beetroot and carrots in front of the runner beans. I’ll wait a few weeks and put another row in with the bitter melons.

I’ve deadheaded the nigella. Usually I just leave them, so it’ll be interesting to see if there’s any notable difference in their blooming.

I made a start on clearing out the patch next to the compost heap – of course, without taking a before photo. I ripped out piles of daisies and weeds. Further over are lots of nettles and vetch which are twined around all my canes. I’ll continue the job at a later date, as I need to come up with some kind of longer-term solution as well as tidying up for the short term.

In the afternoon I opened up the last bed – and uncovered another toad. The bed needed edging and my shears weren’t working. I fixed them with a sharpen and by tightening them right up. I’ve put the gourds in pairs, with the idea that they’ll grow around roughly in two circles. There are 2 Marina di chioggias and one gourd.

One of the gourds in the middle bed is getting quite big and has lots of flowers coming. One of the gourds in the front bed already has a female flower developing. I’m not sure there will be any men around when she opens though.

I’ve planted out the replacement gourd and with that only some flowers remain at home for me to bring on a bit further / plant out / give up on. There’s a zinnia or two that could fill the gap left by the poppy that fell over.

The French beans weren’t really clinging on, so I’ve given in and tied them to the canes. They should be ok now. They and the yin yang beans are still dropping leaves here and there, but above the missing leaves they look good and healthy.

One of the tomatoes near the elder tree was looking a little floppy, so I gave it some extra water and tried to shore the very soft soil up around it again.

Around the boundaries little seedlings are appearing, but it’s not clear yet, whether they’re flowers or weeds. I want to do another broadcast sow very soon, but ran out of energy for it this weekend.