Cutting the grass

I keep forgetting to take the camera. Today it was a real shame, the sun was out and half of the allotment looks pretty good. The other half is a work in progress! Talking of the other half, J should be arriving back from Amsterdam in about an hour but I don't suppose he'll make it home until eightish so I'm in a quandary about making him any supper. Or not. Hmm.

We did our first grass cutting of the year at the weekend. J on the strimmer and me with the shears. Teamwork. We've got a lot of grass on our allotment, a large patch around the old tree where nothing much grows, all round the edge of the pond and all the paths between the beds - and they all have to be strimmed. The ground is far too uneven to mow with the push mower that I keep at home for the pocket handkerchief sized lawn, so some years ago we bought a petrol strimmer. It's hard work using it but the results are great. Maybe we'll be able to have a barbecue round the tree for my birthday again this year. I love decorating the tree and putting up bunting for when all my friends come to enjoy the party. I do hope I remember the camera then.

The weather's certainly looking up. 21 C with a light warm breeze and I ended up in just a vest (well, not just a vest) as I put in two more rows of carrots and another of spring onions. I'm putting them next to each other to confuse the carrot fly. I also put in a tiddly little row of beetroot and made a bird scarer with canes, string and old CD's to put over the newly planted out broad beans. Useful things, old CD's, lovely and shiny, the light bounces off them and dances around over the patch you're protecting. I think the light moving around scares the birds better than the actual CD's.

When I leave to go home, it's always with the thought of the next thing I want to do. Next time I must find a space for the parsnip seeds. I nearly put some in the other day but it was so windy that when I poured my tea from my flask to my cup it missed because it flew out horizontally, so I didn't think it was a good day to sow parsnip seeds which weigh virtually nothing. They'd have gone everywhere! I've used up that space now, with the carrots and onions so I'll have to find another one.

Happy gardening (and grass cutting)