It was good to get back on to our allotment after days of rain. Having said that, it was a tough day with plenty of digging!!

We were clearing a new bed at the sunnier end of the site.

We’re still uncovering lots of old bricks which will come in useful for more path & border building. The growing pile provided a nice perch for today’s feathered visitor – a gorgeous baby blackbird.

He looked as if he had only just fledged. He hung around for a while – we even threw him a couple of small worms which he ate gratefully. Eventually, he toddled off to under the gooseberry bushes in the direction of his parents’ calls.

It was a case of four hours of digging, ten minutes of planting today. The only things we put into the soil, apart from a spade, were half a dozen tomato plants donated by a kindly neighbour. They’re an outdoor variety, but it will be interesting to see what kind of crop we get on our relatively shady allotment – and how ripe they get.