Sunday April 13th
YAHOO! I got to the plot AND managed to plant three lots of spuds. The only ones not in are the Rattes, which are maincrop anyway and so can cope with a little more delay. Baby and Sir went up too but elected to stay in the car given the huge black cloud hovering (and a wise decision that was). Loraine was there so tried to thank her and see if she wanted anything, but more thought (or persuasion) is needed there. She´s done the other half now as well, though left some of the plants in such as the still-going salsify. More about that later...
The second earlies (Kestrel and Charlotte) are now in two rows in the bed closest to Keith. Next to that was supposed to be a spud bed too, but for some reason it´s full of mental garlic! I can only imagine that it´s leftovers from last year, as Chris planted the thermidromes where they were supposed to be, up on the other side of the shed! In which case, I´m going to have a *lot* of garlic. I planted the tubers with handsful of comfrey- it had sprouted quite a lot and knowing how big it gets later, I simply twisted off all the top growth. Was just covering over the Charlottes when the heavens opened and I took my chance to plant the shallots, which one can do easily under a golf brolly! Came out again as the rain eased and planted up the Picasso maincrops, which have a generous spacing and I hope will do well.
Decided to pull a garlic from the oops bed and see - it´s bulbing up nicely already! Then stuck a fork into the salsify bed (which is going to need serious shoring up at some point) and found I couldn´t get the smallest one out. Fork in to maximum extent, bed with hardly any stones in, and it still took a massive tug and the thing snapping to get it out. Now I know how people get decent salsify roots. They leave them in for a couple of years! Shall have to remember that...
Had a look at the apparently weed-covered bed by the shed, only to recognise the plethora of seedlings there. Self-set Purple Sprouting Broccoli!!!! So I don´t have to sow any here, I´ve got a ready-made seedbed, and will only have to shift them when I need to plant onions (which I haven´t got yet... more late planting!) and they could go in the winter onion bed in the meantime (currently covered with canes).
And to welcome me back, I´ve been bitten on the legs. Argh!

Got back to car to find baby fast asleep and husband reading. Not a bad state!

Saturday April 26th
Despite a really horrible cold, got Sir to babysit and took the last potatoes up to the plot. Chris was already up there, and told me that she was awaiting the annual manure delivery. Lovely! I timed that right... Unfortunately I didn´t bargain on feeling so awful that when it did arrive, I managed perhaps a dozen shovelfuls to get it off the path and onto the area around the redcurrants. Did however manage to plant up the Ratte spuds: popped them into the gaps at the end of the existing rows, six on one row and two on the other, again with comfrey. I only really wanted eight so just as well! Gave the rest to Kate, who also has a lousy cold.
Poor cherry tree not looking too happy as three main branches are dead. Cut them back and then bent a side branch upwards to take over as leader. Looks a bit better now, and hopefully there will be some regrowth.
The grass is quite awful at the moment, and had a struggle to get a couple more clumps out. Little by little, I´ll win. Meanwhile... dug up nine of the tiny PSBs and potted them up into a module tray. Hopefully that´ll be enough - I need the bed for the onions! Felt too ill to stay much longer and so went home with some of Chris´s PSB and kale. Yum.