Ladbird vs. Blackfly in The Battle of the Beans

Didn't get down the plot till late today. Chronically hung over all morning and afternoon but had a nice sleep by the river surrounded by dragonfly.


Discovered that my Broad Beans have a serious black fly problem. On the plus side there were a lot of ladybirds about. I read recently that if beneficial bugs are at work it can be best to take no action and let things re-balance on their own. So, instead of spraying with soapy solution I decided to let the little red bugs keep munching.


*Edit 8 June - The blackfly are now gone, but they have completely decimated the beans. Waiting to see if they'll recover.

Baked or steamed to death?

Well I got home in a mood to do some gardening, glad to get out in the good weather and bounced out to my plastic greenhouse only to discover that *shock horror* I'd forgotten to unzip the bloody door this morning. All my tomatoes, peppers and broccoli wilted to death in a great seedling massacre. Thankfully a few survived in the shadier shelves and my lettuce at the bottom wasn't too badly scorched, but it feels like I'm back to square one...


On a plus point, the calabrese I planted out on Saturday is still alive down the plot and I have my first broad beans flowers appearing!

Little helpers

Rosie got dropped off by her Mum to come and help me today. They brought Trampus and Bramble with them who immediately charged onto the plot next door to take a leak on Jim's leeks. Little terrors...


Rosie did a good job sowing some beetroot, onions and parsnips for me.



The first onions are now up, as are the broad beans...