Could this be it for another year...

Somewhat unbelievably, and less than a year after the last one, we finally managed to finish our second veg bed. In truth, this was actually finished last month, but holidays and camera problems have meant that the blog is a bit behind (or, as we prefer to think of it, fashionably late) of where we actually are. We are working up a bit of a slope here, so the top side of the bed is actually at ground level, with it being raised about 9" at the bottom side. This looks like the steepest bit of the veg plot, so the next bed (and we have planned for another six - should be finished in 2017 then!) should be rather flatter. The new bed is going to be used for beans and peas (if we ever get around ot sowing them - this week I promise) while the old bed, which had these last year, will be for onions and allies.

Bed two: job done
(with the rather optimistic start of bed three in the background!)

Of course, while these beds look lovely, they are somewhat useless if there is nothing to grow in them. Having learned our lesson from last year (that you can sow lots of things, but with no beds to plant them out in they rather go to waste), we have chosen to swing to the other extreme and sown virtually nothing. However, we do have about 120 "Radar" onion sets (got from ISSA in the autumn, and forgotten about until they started to sprout out the paper bag last month) potted up in the greenhouse and, with a decent looking forecast, they look about ready to plant out in the bed, although we'll probably keep them undercover for a few weeks. Also in the greenhouse are some onion seeds (not ready to even be pricked out yet) and some tomatoes.

Onion sets
(looking good (well, better than the tomatoes at any rate))

We all have our achillies heel. For us, tomatoes appear to be determined to wreak misery and hardship upon our lives. Last year they grew really well, and nine, healthy, well-cared for, nurtured, perhaps even pampered, plants produced a single, solitary fruit (and it wasn't even that nice). We thought we might have been a bit late sowing them, so this year they were sown by the end of January. We put them in pots on the window sill, covered by plastic and kept watered - they thrived. We put them out in the greenhouse at the beginning of this month and, three weeks later, all but one has died. Were they unhappy we left them to go on holiday? Should we have taken them with us? For some reason I feel guilty - its all so sad.