Pimientos de Padron

20 June 2007 Warm sunny 22c. Heavy rain last few nights

Slugs have been out due to the heavy rain,eaten most of the turnip seedlings and also had a good go at red lettuce. Some were hiding under leaves in strawberry patch, now they are dead.
Planted out 4 Padron pepper plants by the toms, the plants were gift from el tio de mi esposa. Muy bien!
Sowed a row of swedes by the turnips and 2 rows each of little gem and red lettuce and radish.
I have also covered two beds with black weed prevention sheets and then covered this with sods from other beds and soil and a few bricks. This will hopefully make autumn digging easier.

Blackfly seems to have gone from the broad beans which are starting to flower.
Only two of the fennel plants I put in few days ago remain, they were feeble and with the heavy rain the slugs probably had them.
Netted the peas and fed the toms, still look sickly though, bit yellow. No idea why? Bad soil, bad plants? Bad gardener?
More raspberries for the freezer today, there should be loads more in a few days, must remember to pick them as some have spoiled through not picking.
Loads of sparrows around today landing very close, there is usually hardly any birds on site, other than pigeons, maybe the cats are away?

Fennel and pea

16 June 2007 Weather is cooler, 18c, with some very heavy showers

Planted 10 pea plants around a wigwam - I forgot to take the net so pigeons will most likely eat them up.
I also planted out the Florence fennel, looks a bit leggy so not sure what it'll do.
The toms looked a bit yellowy so gave them a seaweed feed again (I'm probably killing them?)
Collected about half pint of raspberries, froze them, as it appears they will ripen over several weeks- some are deep in the bramble, which will hopefully ripen a few early again this year so I can put them with the strawberries and make a summer pudding.Pulled rest of radish, keep forgetting to take the seed down to sow more. The red lettuce are doing well, the green less so, 4 eaten.
Carrots starting to show through and turnips will need thinning shortly, only a few parsnip through. I must sow swede soon.

Read on a chat-room somewhere about strong tea and a drop o' soap for killing black-fly. I have tried this, though there didn't seem to be many on the broad beans today. We, or rather I, shall see.