Rain, and therefore more work

Rain!  The wider back garden, seen from the son's window, July 2025

The evening after writing the previous post, I watched a youtube video (but I can't find the link) about the hosepipe ban from a vlogger with an allotment who lives in my region (with the same water company);  people in the comments suggested visiting the water company's website to confirm than hosepipes can in fact be used in this region for watering food crops.  On the website, the company goes on to ask that a watering can be used if possible but that people won't be fined for using a hose for this purpose.  

I'd already rolled up my hose at the allotment and have been watering by hand this past week--I'm able and willing to do it at this point.  However, we've had a change in the weather:  it's been raining--and typically, it happened the day our school summer break started!  The last rain we had, about two and a half weeks ago, did top up my barrels but didn't much penetrate into the soil.  I planted out some autumn/winter cauliflowers at the allotment last week--clearing away the turnips to make room--and the topmost cm (or less) was damp but under that was pretty darn dry.  Thankfully, after a prolonged heavy rain on Saturday, the soil is moist and soft, perfect for seed sowing:  which I already did at home, moving seven random strawberry plants (and clearing lots of weeds) from the herb bed, and resowing with daikon radish.

Now I can get on with my succession planting at the allotment, which I've put off because of the heat;  I've carried on succession planting at at home as I'm able to water by hand several times a day if needed.  I'm ready to clear away the last of the new potato bed (been digging and eating these gradually) and the snap pea bed (left to dry for seed).  Perhaps I'll also pull out the rest of the kohlrabi and resow/replant their bed too.  

At the allotment I'll sow at least one more bed of beet seed, and one of winter radish (the large cooking type, not the little salad ones).  I also have some asparagus grown from seed;  I need to decide on a long term location for these.  At first I dismissed the allotment because of the ongoing couch grass infestation--but then I reconsidered:  is that really such an issue with asparagus?  Can I make a raised bed for them, perhaps?  Or can I maybe just keep sheet mulching around them as needed to keep the grass at bay?

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In other gardening news, I'm so swamped with vegetables right now it's almost overwhelming.  I reminded the husband about the summer it all became too much, though this time thank goodness it's not for the same reason (I don't think I could handle doing that again!);  this time it's the sheer volume of work I've been doing.  

I watched another youtube video (below) about self sufficiency in the veg garden, and this man, Huw Richards, estimated it took about four hours of work per week.  I would say that's roughly what I've been doing in the active months--mid spring to say mid autumn--but I would have to add that's not all the work that's required.  It takes me a minimum of half an hour every day for preparing, cooking, preserving, etc, in addition to the actual work of growing the food in the first place.  Sometimes I'm at it for two hours in a day, if I've got a lot ready all at once, for instance when I did the big kimchi marathon two weeks ago--or when I picked, pitted and froze all the Morello cherries from my little tree.  I like growing, I like to cook;  but really, the sheer volume of it is getting away from me again.