I have had a couple of very useful weekends at the allotment. Plenty has been sown - radishes, lettuce, spring onions, leeks, corn salad and beetroot (all now germinated) and parsnips, perpetual spinach and kohl rabbi (sill awaiting germination). At home in pots I have runner beans - almost ready to be transplanted, greyhound cabbage and brussels sprouts (growing nicely) and courgettes and cucumbers (just sown today). I am not harvesting anything except purple sprouting broccoli at the moment, but it is magnificent! I dug up the last of the leeks last week, and shall be sorry to see the end of them. They lasted all the way through winter. I hope this year's will be as successful. The really big news, however, is that the tame photographer built me a fruit cage to cover the raspberries, gooseberries and blackcurrants. Apart from the netting, we didn't have to buy anything; we just used an assortment of iron posts and canes and it looks just great.Rather like a see-through marquee. You can't see it in the photo, but there is netting on all the sides as well as the top of the cage. And the following is a view skywards.This was taken before the sides were attached.

My other big news is that a friend two plots away has let me use three of her beds this year so that I have room for courgettes and butternut squash and whatever else I need. She is going to be too busy to do much gardening so the arrangement suits us both well - she gets her plot looked after and I get a bit more space. I have begun to dig the beds over, but they are full of weeds - couch grass and bindweed mostly. The marestail is beginning to appear in my plot, so I will have to deal with it quickly and not let it get out of hand.

It hasn't rained for two whole weeks (until today) so I have had to water once again - but only the seeds. And finally - I had the first rhubarb last week - and it was delicious.