After eight weeks of seedlings, baby plants, propagators and hardening off, the plants that I have raised from seed are pretty much all in their final growing space now. The soil feels warm to the touch and the cold winds have dropped and it's now a case of nurturing my green army into adulthood and hopefully onto lots of colour and tasty organic grub.

It's a major operation for me as I have both a full-size allotment to plant and a large balcony, this is also at the busiest time of year for my work schedule. It is, however, incredibly rewarding and I cannot help feeling a touch of pride as I look at both these growing spaces now June is here. Of course, seed sowing will continue as I look to succession plant and even toward the end of the summer, but it will be leisurely in comparison.

Other challenges now take over and the biggest of these is watering, I am unsure how the rest of the country is getting on but, it’s been incredibly dry here in London. This has meant very early starts in the morning as I look to get a decent drink to all my plants before I head of to work. Unfortunately, sometimes my work takes me away from home and so jeopardy creeps in. Luckily if I get a touch panicky my very helpful allotment neighbour will help me out; allotment comradery is an important part of successful growing and so my message is always be kind to the gardeners around you.

Of course, one set of plants that are not slightly bothered about a lack of rain are those that get classed as weeds. I won’t bore you with my tail of Horsetail woe anymore, as I’ve talked about it enough, but you can guess what I’m currently pulling out daily. I do my best not to disturb the soil as much as possible as this tends to trigger a lot of germination of annual weed seeds. It’s an intense period for weeding as I wait for the allotment plants to put on decent growth and cover any exposed, somewhat inviting, soil.

One place I don't have any problem with weeds is my balcony and this is now starting to make good headway in the growing stakes. A big mix of colourful bedding plants, roses, herbs, and a selection of peppers, chillies, aubergine and Tomatoes are now all putting on growth and filling out their containers and baskets. Regular applications of Seaweed extract really help establish them and I apply it little and often at a heavy dilution rate, normally around twenty to one, helping to give my plants robust strong characteristics, more capable of withstanding the trials that nature and the elements may throw their way.

So, all in all, I welcome the month of June and look forward to the progress of my growing spaces, I look forward to sunny days but also pray for some decent rain, but whatever the elements, I wish you all...

Happy Gardening!