Morning!
thank goodness its a bit cooler now, but still no rain , so I had better go and water before going out today.
I missed a few things last night after doing a slight skim read .
2rebecca - you have covered all the bases on feeding courgettes, so maybe just time now - mine sulked for ages, and are only now this last week doing the 'mile a minute' that is usual. I wonder if it was just a bit too cool?
timtam - have you a local builders merchants, as sometimes you can get free pallets from them. I admire your skip diving.
Cathp0t - well, its good that the children are eating fresh fruit , at least you don't have to ^make6 them :) . Does sound as if not enough water, its suprising how much a compost heap needs. We actually have the overflow of the waterbutt directed onto the compost heap at the plot. Peas I have had no problem transplanting, but the birds will eat them at whatever size, so maybe a bit of chicken wire or netting to prevent them when you plant out?
jealous of your thunderstorm Grouchy , I love them. If you want a double go at broad beans, some varieties overwinter so you get an earlier crop - I do mine in October/November normally, but this year they got gotted , so I set some off in plugs in February, and they worked really well, and then some were sown direct later. ( By the way, for anyone who freezed stuf - I experimented over the last 2 years on french and runner beans - I now just open freeze them from fresh, I don't blanch them, and in honesty you can not tell the difference). Raspberries shouldn't be horribly tart - so are they picking them not ripe? They should leave the white core behind on the bush without any need to tug.
Phoenix - that sounds like an automated reply to me - councils are good at that! - Is it possible to ring and speak to someone? Is there a plot member who you can ask? At our site , there is usually 1 and often 2 committee members on site every day working their plots - their names and plot numbers are on the website. I water seedlings every day in this hot weather, but I tend to go by look and feel tbh, and I water on an evening ( though that has not helped on the slug/snail challenge) . I remember Doreen saying that the best way is to stand them in a tray of water for a time, then drain them. That way they take up the water they need, and nutrients aren't washed away.