Hot June continues for the beginning of the month. Picked up some more gardening work which is always a joy. Wednesday (3rd) was a lovely day with me and the kids staying up the allotment until 8 o'clock. Still a lot of watering to do but the crops are doing ok. The strawberries are coming on now so i have put some straw under the fruit to protect them. On Thursday we had the first strawberry of the season, an 'aromel' everbearing variety, very sweet and juicy. All the plants were fed with liquid seaweed to give them a little boost. Some of the beans still not looking too good and a couple of the courgette plants dont look like they will survive much longer.

Very pleased with the turnips 'oasis'. These were sown 2/3 seeds per module and planted out without thinning. As you can see in the picture, as they grow they push each other apart. This may not do too well if they were left to grow full size but they recommend you pick them about the size of a golf ball. I have to say i prefer them raw than cooked. Nice sweet taste when raw and more to them than radish.

At the weekend the weather turned cooler and eventually rained which was good for the plants but not much to be done. I did pot up the chillies at home, pricked out and potted up the lupins, sowed a salad tray in modules, some more peas and beans and finally some green primrose seeds. On Gardeners World Carol Klein demonstrated how to grow primrose from green seed, worth a try.

Through the week the wethaer has picked up again, not as hot as before but a good mixture of sunshine and showers. A busy week of gardening but well worth it. Below is a little tray of pickings. Turnip, radish and spring onions for salads, rhubarb for dessert and chinese cabbage for soup. The cabbages have done really well with not pest damage and little attention. These were sown on the 14/4 so are pretty quick to mature.

On Thursday I dug up first if the salad potatoes 'belle de fontenay' with my little helper Elisabeth. We both had great fun finding all the little potatoes in the soil. Despite the rain recently the ground is still very dry. For one plant we collected 1 1/2 lb of potatoes. They had a lovely sweet taste especially with a little butter and salt. They were planted on the 22/3.

Friday was another day of rain. Whilst always welcome for watering the plants it is difficult to be motivated. However my first attempt at pak choi was a good success as this picture shows. These went into a nice stir fry with sweet chili sauce.

Saturdays weather was a little better quite sunny in the morning but then the rain came back. I try to work outside in the good weather and inside when it is not so good. It sounds pretty obvious but i try to save jobs for inside when the weather turns. So in between showers i cut some new pieces for the staging from old pallets. This gives me more work space and frees up a section of staging to make a complete section for the back of the greenhouse. The bottom photo shows the salad tray pricked out into respective pots.

The next job was to make a large cloche for one of the salad beds. Both the beds are the same size so the cloche can move from bed to bed depending on requirements. These will be handy for protecting early and late crops. The design is similar to geoff hamiltons from gardeners world. A rectangular frame is made from 4"x1" treated timber. Blue water pipe is then fixed to the insides with screws. A ridge of timber helps hold the pipes and rigid and supports the polythene which is then stretched and stapled to the wood. The cloche can be propped up for ventilation and access. The crops inside really do grow better under protection. Next step a polytunnel i think! The smaller square raised bed has a similar cover made from a timber square with a polythene cover. Finally i planted out some lettuces between to strawberries. It's good not to be tied to certain crops in certain beds, with salad leaves etc they can go anywhere there is a gap without affecting any crop rotation.

Sunday was a good planting out day. I put the green calabrese and dwarf kale in their permanent positions 12" apart and covered them with netting to prevent cabbage white butterflies and other pests. The sprouting broccoli's (Italian, early and late purple) are put into the nursery bed for transplanting later. Apparently the calabrese not good for transplanting. I also started off the compost heap properly. I got a load of fresh manure, grass, cardboard and materials from last years heap and built up in layers so there wasn't too much of one material. The compost heap was filled to the top but a few days later it was starting to heat up and the heap has settled down. in a week or so i will turn the heap over and mix everything up so that oxygen can get in and rot everything down quicker. The heap needs enough heat to kill weed seeds etc but not too hot or it will kill useful bacteria and worms.

On Tuesday i planted out the peas, celebration, alpine strawberries origen improved and the second sowing of delphiniums. The tomatoes in the greenhouse are doing well and the first strawberries. These are aromel which are an everbearing variety. The last picture is the asparagus bed. Most of the crowns have taken and are sprouting. It's just a case of keeping them clear of weeds, a little feed in summer and patiently wait