A bit of a cog in the works...

We learnt something important today: you can indeed use too much slug repellent.  For once, more is not better [sigh.]

We got to Doug today to find that we had lost our entire selection of tomato and french bean plants as well as our second attempt at growing a pumpkin and another complete row of marigolds! The two rows of carrots have just never materialised and the beetroot is looking suspiciously sparse...

We are, however, undeterred.  More of the potatoes are beginning to peek out above the soil and manure, the purple sprouting broccoli gave us another fine harvest and the broad beans are already showing signs of producing some good pods.

We took the time to give the areas of failed planting a good dig-over and most of the rest of the plot a thorough weeding.  The grass edges of the path have been neatened and the peas propped up again.  
We've planted a third batch of marigolds, a few of the ecinacea plugs and a patch of wildflowers to help encourage the vital insect life.  

The herb patch is continuing to thrive - we just need some recipes for lemon balm as this is clearly growing much more quickly than we expected.  The garlic and onions are all still looking excellent.  The fruit bushes appear to be flourishing and we had a new fruit - a jostaberry - recommended to us (another purple/black fruit so bound to be a winner!)

Once we got home, I planted another batch of both types of tomato and will do the same with the french beans.  All is not lost, we'll just be a couple of weeks behind but that's not such a big deal since the weather has been so cold recently there wouldn't have been as much growth as there was earlier in the year.  I'm sure our next post will be even more positive :)