Nasty surprise

A shotgun cartridge and a Kinder Surprise toy casing - not the sort of juxtaposition usually encountered.

Transplant transport

Today's tricky-to-transport seedling for transplanting is the borlotti bean.

Mange non

Miraculously the molluscs haven't munched the first of the season's lettuce.

Bee friendly

Berry first

Mind your hands on the thorns as you harvest the first berry of the year, just beating the strawberry season by a week or two. You're supposed to prune out the centre of a gooseberry bush otherwise it's likely to become infested with saw flies whose larvae will strip the bush completely. I seem to have got away with it, but did get a few scratches, which is one of the reasons I've avoiding pruning it. Last year one of the low branches rooted in the ground producing another plant (much like strawberries) and at the end of this season I'll cut the gooseberry umbilical and sever it from the mother plant.

Bristol Green Capital

"Helping to create a Low Carbon City with a High Quality of Life for All"

(But don't go planting sunflowers, marigolds, dill, sweetcorn and broad beans or we'll rip it all out)

Architecturally significant

Zygoptera

Damselfly on a chilli plant.

Market for bunting

After many years of failure, I've finally got some dill to germinate and grow outdoors. Instead of horticultural seed it's culinary, which means lots more seed for your money. Wasn't sure if the experiment would work but now there are several clumps around the allotment.

Peas up

Growth forecast

Hot sun after the rain has meant that established plants, like spinach, chard, artichokes, parsnips, broad beans, strawberries, rhubarb, black and red currants, gooseberries and raspberries have put on loads of growth, but it's difficult to establish seedlings without attentive routine watering.



Weeds are growing well too, especially bindweed and poppies.



The tallest parsnip plants are running to seed and will be removed soon, but at the shady base there are lots of new seedlings for next winter.



The very last of the purple broccoli and white cauliflower shoots that heve been supplying the kitchen for the last few months. Time to sow some more.

Toxic Bloom

"The Azalea and Rhododendron were once so infamous for their toxicity that to receive a bouquet of their flowers in a black vase was a well-known death threat."

wikipedia.org

Flowering

Harvesting

Vulgar granny

Aquilegia vulgaris, aka Granny's bonnet

Every one's a winner ..

... that's no lie
you never fail to satisfy

100% success rate with the runner bean seed saved from last year.

Germination anxiety

Around this time of year there's a nagging feeling that there are probably some seeds that should have been sown by now and some seeds which have been sown that should have germinated.

Assuming that anything will grow in the water.

Don't push me ...

... cos I'm close to the edge.

I'm trying not to lose my head.

Uh huh huh huh.

A bigger butt

A bigger butt is needed to cope with all this rain we've been having.

Blue lines

Marigolds on

This and that

Too wet for this ...

... but not for that

Crops

Leeks

Onions

Parsnips

Spinach

Cauliflower

P is for ...

Peas



Pumpkin seeds

Malus domestica

Cox's Orange Pippin blossom buds.

Dulband

The word tulip apparently derives from the old Persian word 'dulband' meaning round.

Cauliflower sprouts

New Pollution

Location: Eastville Park, tributary to the River Frome

Description: Grey/white emulsified sludge

Source: Unknown - tributary runs from underground

Thanks to the heads up from Mr G of Fishponds, who tells me that the whole stream was opaque yesterday and that the Environment Agency was contacted. The tributary flows underground from the centre of Fishponds where any number of possible causes of pollution are possible.

Ooh me plums

Plum blossom

Pushbike

Leaf

A timely reminder to check out The Leaf Label, home to some great music including Murcof, Efterklang, Polar Bear and the wonderfully named Vladislav Delay.

Artist's impression

An artist's impression of what it probably won't look like at the Gloucestershire county cricket ground at Nevil Road: The club resubmitted development plans to Bristol City Council this week, having previously been refused planning permission.

www.bbc.co.uk