A Much Better Week

After complaining of not really being very productive for the past few weeks, on account of the heat, this week I've managed to achieve a bit more, thankfully.  Productivity  has mainly been on the gardening front, but at least it's something.

On Sunday morning, on the way back from the dog walk, I dropped into the allotment to water the plot and harvest anything that was ready.  There were lots of tomatoes, beetroot, rhubarb, potatoes, more French beans and a couple of courgettes.

I ended up staying for a couple of hours and weeding the plot, as it was in total shade, thanks to the boxing club next door. This made it much more bearable and I was able to get up to scratch with keeping it looking tidy.

I didn't manage to get any photos, however, as I'd left my phone at home charging.  I'll try to get some the next time I visit.

Later in the week, on my day off on Wednesday, the weather was decidedly cooler so I ventured into the garden, which had been looking a bit overgrown since we came back from our holiday.  I nearly didn't do this, as I got it into my head that I would go to the garden centre instead, to possibly buy some new plants and have a mooch. Thankfully, the frugal part of my brain, which sometimes makes itself heard, told me not to bother and that it would be a better idea to stay at home and tidy the garden instead, which is what I ended up doing.

I gave some of the shrubs in the borders another chop back and also cut back some of the climbing plants that come from next door and start to smother my plants if I don't take control of them.  After I'd finished I was happy with my progress and proceeded to clear one of the raised beds and sow some more lettuce seeds into it for an autumn salad crop.

We're managing to use the existing cut and come again salad at the moment, but there's not that much of it left now, so I thought I'd better make arrangements to grow some more for when it eventually dies off.

I did a couple of other small jobs, including repotting a Date Palm, that I'm trying to grow as big as I can before I plant it in the border.  In the autumn, I'm finally going to remove some of the old woody shrubs and put some new plants in, as one of the borders is getting very congested now.  It will be strange and a bit sad to see the old shrubs go, but I feel it's time for a change and I'll enjoy sourcing some new plants for this border and seeing how they grow and fit in.

After sweeping up the decking, I moved inside to do some other jobs, the first of which was to boil up some beetroot I'd harvested on Sunday and pickle it.  It made a couple of jars, so that should keep me going for a few weeks or until I make some more.

I've currently got French beans drying on the window sill to use as seeds next year, green tomatoes ripening and sweet pea pods also drying, so it's a bit of a production line around here.  There's also lots of rhubarb in the fridge, plus gooseberries and blackcurrants in the freezer, that I need to make into jam at some point. I still have more than two jars left from the last time I made some but it's quite tasty and is a good way to use the fruit up that no one else in the house likes.

Finally, I also blanched and froze some French beans we've had in the fridge for over a week, as I didn't want to waste them by letting them get past their best. So, it's been quite a productive day all told.

I'm hoping the cooler weather continues for a while so that I can get more jobs done.  I'll keep you posted.