Weeding, Strawberries and Chatting

I had a couple of hours available last night, so I decided to do a little work on the plot.
As usual, my two hours was not particularly productive.
15 minutes weeding
30 minutes watering
15 minutes picking strawberries
about an hour chatting with another plot holder

Weeding
There are two ways to go with this, the quickest and easiest is to push a hoe through the top 1/4" of the soil. This cuts the weed leaves from the root, and they can wither away over a day or so. A better, but more involved way is to pull the weed out completely. This is the patch I am going to have a go at.

There are some young beetroot plants amongst this lot, so I chose to pull the weeds out instead of hoeing.
You will need

1. Bucket ( to put the weeds in)
2. Fork ( to gently loosen the soil)
3. Kneeling Pad ( seriously! )
4. Time

We have divided the plot up into individual beds, with bark chip paths between. This means that I can weed a patch, and see a finished product, even if I only have a short amount of time.

The soil is loosened by pushing the fork in by the weed, a gentle levering upwards, then taking it back out. I am not trying to dig the weed out, just loosen the soil.
The weeds will snap if you don't get your fingers right down by the root, so expect to get dirty. I pull as quickly as I can without snapping. You can feel the tension required after a while, and it becomes fairly easy.
This was the result of 15 minutes work

And the beetroot is left to get on with its job.

Strawberries
There is not a single thing nicer on a warm evening than to find that your strawberry patch is full of ripe strawberries. Plump and juicy, and unmarked by the usual critters.
This evening was one of those times!
No slug damage! The copper wire seems to have done its job
No bird damage! The netting was a good idea

We don't place straw around our Strawberries any more. The last time we did, we were over run with grass growing from it, and when it got wet it just went yucky. We now just put bark chippings between them, it seems to be ok.
I got a good haul!

Remember though, the golden rule when picking
"One for the basket, one for the mouth" ( don't tell Kate!)

Watering
Even though the year started off very wet, the last few days have been bright and sunny. I like to water every other day if I can, and give everything a really good soak.
It only takes about 1/2 an hour and as usual, the next day it rains, bloomin typical :(

Neighbours
Our Allotment site has a friendly bunch on it. If you are looking for a site, try and choose one where they are miserable and unfriendly. Why? You will get MUCH more work done!
Joking apart, it is good to share time with the other plot holders. Last night Ali came down to discuss digging, and how to break up our clay soil. Of course, this leads to sampling Strawberries and Radish ( not a good combination) and planning the next assault on the seed shops.