We succumbed to a bit of instant gratification prior to this week’s allotment visit – impatient waiting for all our seeds to sprout! 🙂

We pass Gordon Riggs garden centre on our way there, so we pulled in and picked up a few things. Some pretty French marigolds – a perfect companion plant for the tomatoes we planted last time – its smell discourages whitefly that feed on the tomato leaves and cause the fruit to ripen unevenly.

A tray of Cavolo Nero – a very hardy variety of kale that’s disease resistant and unlike cabbage, not considered a tasty snack by hungry pigeons! Some Savoy cabbage too – and a few young celery plants.

They went into our newly created beds – in neat rows at the specified distance apart. At least we’re sure which are the vegetables and which are the weeds. It’s not quite as easy when seeds go straight into the ground. We have to confess that after this small job, the rest of the afternoon was spent drinking tea and reading the papers!