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>I am amazed by the generosity of allotment holders. Not only will you get a cheery wave and hello, free ( but not aways wanted) advise and an excuse to chat but there are gifts. I have been given, french and runner bean plants, purple sprouting and Kale and just recently a lot of pak choi seedlings which I love. If anyone has anything to excess they share it. With a bit of luck I will be able to do the same. Anyway- thank you to those who help others.

>Spent Sunday afternoon weeding and hoeing. I am sure some of the weeds were back before I got to the end. The thistles and comfrey are the most difficult to deal with. Comfrey leaves grow before your eyes.
Put in some yellow carrot seeds, more salad, parsley and basil. Transplanted some rainbow chard. Oh yes, watered and watered . Plots very dry and exposed.
Looks like I should get some salad soon and some French beans now in flower.

>My first crop from the new allotment. 6 red, round radishes. Peppery and wonderful. They probably cost £15 each to grow! Worth it though.

>The wind is blowing down the hill and has already blown one of the brassica cages away. On my daily watering visit I was able to capture it, make a few repairs and reposition it. The crows had not managed to get at the cabbages and the wind kept he butterflies away so no damage done.

We have not had any rain since last Thursday and I really need to water every day. The potatoes on plot 20A are in leaf, the runner beans, on 20 B are finally running up the canes, the shallots and onions are showing leaf. Some carrots seeds and rainbow chard is sprouting as is the mixed leaf salad. Other plants are coming on but slowly. Again it is cold around 18C so I imagine slow growth. However the thistles and comfry are sprouting everywhere as fast as I can hoe or dig them up. Homebase has run out of canes which I need for the french beans and the tomato plants both of which are rather windblown.

>I have finally finished digging and planting most of the second plot 20B.

 The plan is as follows:

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The plan for 20 A is now like this

>Light rain last night helped to wet the ground but was it enough? I
Have also committed to the next door plot so officially have a full blown allotment. My former neighbough moved plots due to a minor border disagreement on the other side. So the new plot is half dug so I should have a head start. Planning still to be done.

>It was over 27C yesterday and the Sun baked all the allotments. I called in after work to see what damage was done and to try an revive my newly planted beans, squash and corn. The stone mulch seems to have done the trick as they were looking much better. Many watering cans of water later and all the plants looked very happy.  The temperature suppposedly dropped overnight and should be around 18 C for Tuesday.  I hope that growth will take over survival.

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Spent much of the weekend getting plants in even though it was so hot. Now have potatoes, shallots and onions sets in. Also sweetcorn, dwarf beans and artichoke plants plus carrots, french beans and radish seeds. Even managed to get the black, red and white currents, gooseberry bush and rhubarb corm in place.

Experimenting with a stone mulch to keep moisture in and protect roots from sun. Used much of the comfrey as a trench filler,

If the scorching weather continues will consider grape vines, tomatoes and chillies!

Now for watering – my 9 year old son proved to be an gold medal waterer. Only when I started did I realise how heavy the can was.