Working in the rain

​Friday, 17th June
Despite the weather I decided I needed to press on and plant out my squashes as they are growing apace. When I picked up the pots containing the spaghetti and butternut squashes from where they were standing in the greenhouse I found they had rooted into the soil beneath.
Having placed the pots around and between the corn I decided they needed something better than plain soil, compacted during the growing of the brassicas. (The last time this patch was dug over was the autumn before last as they like to be in firm ground.) I therefore fetched a barrow load of good quality horse manure from just inside the gate. Having dug a square hole a spit deep, I loosened the soil at the bottom before adding a good shovel full of manure and mixing it with a fork. I then scraped the soil back over and pressed my foot onto the heap to compact it a little.  The various stages are illustrated in the photo. (Spade - hole dug: Shovel - manure added: Fork - manure mixed and soil returned ready for  planting: Planting complete in the background.)

​Planting into that was then easy.
I added three Patapan squash plants in the space behind the corn. All the squashes should enjoy the semi-shade of the corn and the plum tree on the neighbouring plot. I don't plan to follow the 'Three Sisters' approach by planting climbing French Beans to climb up the corn as when I tried it a few years ago I got a good crop but harvesting was a nightmare picking my way through squash vines trying not to step on the developing squashes while picking the beans. By the time I harvest the corn I hope the squashes are big enough to avoid!
After adding kitchen waste to the compost bin and covering it with grass clippings from a neighbour, I picked some strawberries and pulled masses of radishes from those marking my parsnip row while weeding the row. I also dug out the first plant of my first early potatoes and took home enough for two meals.
Needless to say, despite sheltering in the car several times, sometimes with the engine running and the air conditioning going full blast to dry me out, I went home soaked!

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