Mostly horticultural

 After our recent work on improving the herbaceous border at the rear of the cottage, I made an impulse purchase.  I decided that a few Cranesbill plants would be the perfect addition to the border, providing a long lasting display of colour at the edge against the path.

Three plugs of the geranium Azure Rush were purchased from eBay, and they arrived with yesterday's post. This morning I headed out to the potting shed and soon had them potted on and watered. The plants are tiny, with barely a couple of leaves showing above the soil surface, and I felt that they would benefit from a few weeks in a pot before being transplanted to the border.

Next job was to water my leeks, and then replenish the water in the butts and tanks.

In the afternoon I finally got around to planting out my Savoy cabbages.  I purchased these as plugs at the beginning of the month, and they have flourished in our cold frame. Their roots are now starting to appear through the drainage holes in their pots, and they have many more leaves.

A line was laid out in the veg patch. A watering can was filled, and a trowel and kneeling pad was collected from the potting shed. I dug my first hole, and was surprised and delighted to see that the soil is still moist a few inches below the surface. I have been told that cabbages like to be planted deep, so their roots should be able to access the water in the soil. Needless to say, I filled each hole with water before planting, and gave them a good soaking, after they had been firmed in to the earth.

30% and I then spent a good while protecting the plants with a sprinkling of slug pellets and netting. It is amazing how quickly the cabbage white butterflies can locate a brassica plant. I swear one of the little sods was flitting over my plants within ten minutes of them being planted out!  And as for pigeons, those bastards would raze the crop to the ground in moments, given the opportunity. The only good place for a pigeon is on the ingredient list of a terrine!

The cabbage planting took most of the afternoon, especially when I take in to account the time to tidy up, and celebrate with a self congratulatory cuppa.  By five o'clock I had definitely run out of steam, and did little more.