Pinch, punch...

...first day of the month, and I spent a good few hours on the plot. Despite the weather forecasters predicting continuous rain, it didn't rain once in Hampton Wick all day!

I couldn't believe (but shouldn't have been surprised) at the speed that the grass and weeds had grown over the past few weeks. So the first job was to crank up the old petrol strimmer and cut back the grass along the paths around the edges of the plot. After a bit more tidying up I then cleared a bed to plant my spuds - eighteen each of Pentland Crown and Anya. Should be enough. I also raked over the bed I dug during my last visit, and planted my onion setts (48 each of white and red onions). They're going in a bit late, but we'll see how they do.

There have been major developments for us over the past few weeks. We've recently had an offer accepted on a house! The vendors are currently finding somewhere themselves, and we are awaiting the outcome of surveys and all the other legal stuff, so we won't be moving that quickly. Unfortunately the new place is quite a bit further away from the allotment, so I don't really know what will happen with it. The rent is paid up until October, so we'll see whether I can still manage to get down there to tend to it frequently enough from the new place. There are allotments closer to the new house, so depending on waiting lists I might be able to get one there. The new house only has a small garden, mostly laid to paving but with a few beds (and a pond), but one big plus is that it's got a greenhouse! How exciting. Being able to grow tomatoes, aubergines, peppers etc. without depending entirely on the vagaries of the English Summer!