I should be careful what I wish for! My allotment plans have been thwarted by the rain and I am stuck in the flat tidying the kitchen and bedroom. Both things I really dislike doing! I wanted to get the navy bed finished & saffron bulbs planted out in it – the next pink one needs starting, which is destined for winter brassicas. Will also have to scrap the broccoli raab seedlings as there is now nowhere to put them.

I spent yesterday afternoon baling out the pond from the part-dug navy bed (approx 38 litres) and the rain that’s come down over the last few hours will have more than filled that again. It is really thumping down here. Hopefully the mini beet seedlings won’t be flattened. I am glad I staked some of the tomatillos and the cape gooseberries yesterday. *sigh*

The other downside is that, with the temperatures & humidity as they are, today will probably have met the second consecutive full Smith period criteria. I might need to get the blue spray out to protect the tomatoes. I was really hoping not to have to, but I don’t want to lose them to blight. I will also think about taking off the foliage from the Desirees. One lot has had 19 weeks, the other 18 weeks, so they are early, but I’ve had bumper crops off the others and we’ll struggle to get through what we have in store, even with giving potatoes away too.

The end of my road is closed for Ride London – I feel so sorry for those poor people having to cycle through a monsoon!

At least the squashes should like the rain.