Izzy whizzy we are busy

Read some correspondence from The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society with my early morning coffee. It's different!
A trip to the allotment required today so a walk with Ella before it got too warm.
The floorboards that I got from the gateway down the road needed to be unloaded first. Only the nosy wife of an allotmentee was there when I pulled up, she was looking at someone elses plot, but moved away pretty smartly when I arrived. She left, then Alan arrived. He spends most of his days up there with his dog, Bonny, a golden labrador. She eats raw potatoes if she can find them .. not sure how good that would be for her. She lays in the back of the car normally, but it was flippin' hot up there today as I quickly realised carrying cans of water from the supply to my plots. Something else I need to do .. a water butt mid plot would be useful. Many of the gardeners run a hosepipe to their butts when it's quiet. The water pressure drops considerably but I'm normally up there very early morning so should'nt be a problem. Something else to add to the list.
It's surprising just how much there is to do, I could easily have spent the day there, tidying, digging, well attempting to dig. I actually resorted to the adze to  break up the ground where I'd been growing onions. It was rock hard, & I want  plant peas there next week so will have to use plenty of compost when planting. I pulled out the marigolds that had gone to seed. I'm saving the seed to scatter along the grass bank that runs along the outside of the perimeter wall at the house we rent. I'll mix them up with nigella and other annual flower seed that I have around. It should give a lovely show then next year & attract the wildlife. I lifted two rows of potatoes again with difficulty. There must be an art to lifting spuds as I manage to stab one with the fork every time ... or perhaps that's skill. lol!! I hope eventually to have good friable soil, but that will probably take a couple of years at least. Rocket is the variety I'm lifting at the mo, they taste good but very irregular in size. I planted 7 rows of Rocket, & 7 Charlotte. The top growth is dying  back with the lack of rain, but hopefully they will still be good for eating. I lifted  the two beds of onions, and laid them out to dry in the sun before storing them in the shed. Fed the pumpkin, squash, courgettes, runner beans, borlotti beans and sweet peas. Pulled out the first row of pea plants, they were'nt a great success, fingers crossed the new batch will do better. Broad beans are looking perky :) Picked runner beans, broad beans, courgettes, sweet peas, & blueberries. I might get 3 more blueberry plants this Autumn.
Time to head home, quick lunch with hubby before returning to Torquay, & Ella. I dropped off a handful of runner beans, a couple of courgettes and a small bunch of sweet peas to the chap where I got the floorboards. He was sat on his garden wall, taking a break from doing his building work with a cuppa. Ella was fast asleep when I got in. I harvested the remaining lavender on the driveway, did some deadheading, watering & feeding. Then it was cider time. I made a soup for dinner using veg stock, coconut cream, onion, sweet potato, butternut squash, whole baby corn, young broad beans, the few peas off the plants pulled up, & cherry tomatoes from the greenhouse here. Added a Ainsley Harriott Aromatic Thai Chicken & Lemongrass cup soup sachet at the end of cooking. Topped with some freshly chopped coriander. Yummy! Eaten sat out on the decking looking towards the last of the days sunshine .. Perfick!
My flower for this Friday are my super duper white flowered runner bean plants. It's probably the variety 'White Lady' but as I salvaged the seeds from the allotment waste heap last year I'm not 100% sure. They are producing great beans so I will have to earmark some pods for saving for next years crop. The bees and hoverflies were all over the plants, & the Borage flowers.

Thanks to Anni/BikerBear for hosting