34 degrees in the shade.

Well it has been an absolutely glorious weekend weather-wise.

Which has been great for my tan and the impromptu BBQ we had last night with friends, but the heat has made it difficult to do any gardening.

The greenhouse has been like an oven, I have just been throwing the door open, letting the heat roll out and then watering in there.  The ground in the veg garden is rock hard again, the deluge we had at the beginning of May has been completely absorbed and the well is almost dry.

High temperatures notwithstanding I have been outside gardening;  early morning and late afternoon, although I was outside yesterday with the mad dogs and English men trying to get the last of my peas transplanted before getting sunstroke.

This weekend was also a bank holiday here in France, so although today feels very much like a Sunday it is actually Monday.  My poor brain is very confused and I know that tomorrow it will be hard to keep track of my clients, thinking it is Monday and not Tuesday.

On to the last few gardening projects of this weekend...

Sunday - final lot of peas transplanted, globe artichokes planted out, final lot of french beans sown, white onion seedlings planted out, general weeding done, small flower bed in front of the studio weeded, succesional salad leaves sown.

Then I had a call from a friend and we ended up getting together for a BBQ, scrounging the last burgers, lamb ribs and bits of pork together with some quick and easy cold pasta and rice salads.

This morning before it got too hot I got my last borlotti beans sown, as well as stringing up all my defunct CDs as bird scarers - I am not sure how well they work at scaring birds, but they are very good for marking which beans are where - just write on the shiny side with a permanent marker and there you are, one plant marker.

Once I was in the swing of things, I banked up my spuds, then had a go at cleaning out the greenhouse when it dropped into some shade.  I have been dumping stuff just inside the door and then wading over empty seedling trays, pairs of gloves and other bits of clutter to get to the table at the back where my seedlings need watering so it was about time I restored some order to my chaos.

I removed the two tier shelving unit, having planted out most of my seedlings now, the last few can stay in pots on the floor.  Then rearranged the floor covering/weed suppressant - when I moved it I found another couple of stray tomato seedlings that were growing up the side of the greenhouse, so I rescued them and planted them out into tubs, the wooden compost bin was moved ready for the rabbit litter and I moved my cold frames from where they were against the wall of the studio to next to the greenhouse.  I should have put them there in the first place for ease of planting and watering, but I was more concerned with finding a sheltered spot than thinking through the logistics of trekking back and forth across the garden between seedlings.
Oh well you live and learn.

It is still 30 degrees in the shade at nearly 7 oclock, and I have had a very good days gardening -the back of my neck is a little bit red now and I have certainly managed to put away double my daily water requirements - time for a rest now.