May on the allotment: what I am doing right now

The last few weeks have been ground work — clearing, digging, raking down, getting things in drills or under membrane. The plot looks bare. A lot of dark soil with small markers in it. This is what May looks like and I know it, but it still feels like not much.

Sown in March, potted on twice since. They are in litre pots now, spending the days outside on the path. The tomatoes are stocky and dark green — potting them on deep paid off. The peppers are slower, as they always are in the UK. Both come in at night until I am confident there is no frost coming.

Carrots, beetroot, peas, radishes, spinach — all direct sown this month. Squash, French beans, and courgettes are still under cover; they go out in June at the earliest. Too soft to risk it yet.

The vegetables are all too small to be interesting. But the Tumbling Ted in the tall wooden planter has been going for weeks — a cascade of pink that you can see from the other end of the plot. I planted it as bare roots last April because I wanted something that would tumble over the front of the planter and not need much watering. Year two is quite something.