Busy Bee in the Bean Bed

My to-do list just seems to be getting longer and longer and I’m continuously adding more to it everyday! Not that I’m complaining at all, I love being busy and it sure helps to keep my mind off Wales, plus it means that I can spend time in one of favourite places… the trouble is finding the time. What with the online shop and the garden shows we have been super busy during the week, even some evenings and the weekends too and when we’re not doing a show I like to head on up to Wales to see a certain someone. So it’s been a bit of a juggle lately to try and tick a few of those things off the allotment to-do list.

Because we spent all of bank holiday selling at the Kent Garden Show I was treated to a day off on Wednesday so I could get up the allotment and plant a few things out. I’ve decided to seperate my list into smaller chunks so I can focus on particular beds and areas without being completely swamped… Wednesday was the day to focus on the bean/other bed so off I went with a wagon full of seedlings to plant out and seeds to sow!

My priorities were to plant out the leeks and courgette plants, sow some french beans and carrots and to tie up the broad beans. If I had enough time I was going to big the flower border and plant out some annuals but I’ll save that for another post!

I sowed some leek seed in February and they’ve been desperate to be planted out for the last month. They are the Musselburgh variety and I managed to plant out two small rows, making a grand total of 12 leeks! My plan is to grow a small amount now to tide me over, then once the potatoes are harvested I’ll be planting 3 or 4 rows of leeks in that bed to be harvested throughout Winter. Which means I’ll be sowing more seed in the greenhouse ready to be planted out in July/August… Still with me?

I also planted out my ‘Black Beauty’ courgette plant, the idea was to plant out two but my other two seedlings died and I’m planning on picking up another in a garden centre very soon! I sowed some more carrot seed and carefully marked out where the three sisters will be planted. My sweetcorn and ‘Crown Prince’ squash are still growing away in the greenhouse so for now I sowed 20 ‘Cobra’ French Beans. Hopefully the sweetcorn and squash will be ready for planting out at the same time the french bean seeds germinate and then they can all happily grow together in harmony!

I also managed to support the broad beans, harvest a small handful and dig the flower bed, but I’ll save all those stories for another day… Oh and I did it all whilst filming 2 new videos for the Youtube channel!

I can’t begin to tell you how much fun I had, it felt so nice to spend a few hours getting my hands dirty, ticking jobs off my list and finally planting things out. I have really missed spending time up the allotment and sometimes I feel like it’s all getting out of hand and going to pot! I’ve even had moments when I think about giving it up but then I spend a day up there and realise that it’s my happy place, my little haven and how could I ever possibly give that up?!