Tuesday 18th June

 A lunch time visit to water and check on the mini greenhouse. OK it's a lot hotter than it has been and I'm looking at what looks like mildew on the surface of the four new toms in pots compost that I put in the mini greenhouse (picture below)

The mini greenhouse has no ventilation and I watered the toms with some nettle tea yesterday,  so I'm not sure if it's the combination of the tea and the humidity that has stared off the mildew process because the inside of the greenhouse is lined with lots of condensation I'm guessing this because I notice how quickly mildew appears on tea when put in the darlek composter, or is it as I've been informed that it's impossible to grow toms down on our allotment due to blight?   

The bigger Toms in buckets on the floor of the greenhouse appear unaffected by this mildew? Is that because they are nearer the ground where it's cooler and there is some ventilation at the bottom?

Needless to say I have removed the four toms in pots, off the shelf at the back of the greenhouse and have scraped and washed off the mildew and left the toms outside to breath and for the surface to dry out a little. If that does not work I read somewhere that a solution of baking powder can help prevent or cure mildew - I shall have to investigate some more.

During lunch I also managed to weed out a lot of the large thistles and bindweed that seem to have come out of nowhere and have been hiding in the potatoes, in Beds 1 - 4. I found a live slug in one of the buckets with Toms despite all the blue pellets of death and so I dispatched him to sluggy heaven and then mourned the loss of yet another young pepper plant, with a tear....... Ok I really looked up in the air, mad a tut sound and curst the slug and his mates, then has an evil grid because I had my revenge <wicked smile> 

Evening visit to water Keith's and my plot - Owen, Adi, and Michelle were there - Michelle is paranoid about this years inspection having received an improvement notice last year, as did Adi and most of the others despite it raining all the time and being one of the worst years for allotment holders in recent history.

Replaced one of the ends of the hose network I have built with a stop end that stops the flow when disconnected from the watering tools, so that I don't leave the sprinklers and ends out to be pinched.

Now I have soakers on the grapes and beans and hoses off the main hose run down the centre path at each end and at third points down the length plot, that allow me to water without having to drag the hose around the whole plot. I can just disconnect the watering head and take it to the end of the next hose and continue ....... luxury or what!