We are getting greener!

Yesterdays rain has brought about a big transformation in the garden at home and on the allotment. It was badly needed and even though we were supposed to have showers today we just had one heavy shower this morning and the sun has been shining all afternoon.
According to the moon planting guide today was the last day for flowering plants for nearly a week so I took the cauliflower, broccoli and marigolds out to the plot, I can only hope I am reading it right! The cauliflower and calabrese (Broccoli) are in the brassica bed netted from pigeons and rabbits.I firmed down the soil first by doing a bit of 'surfing' with a board to compact the soil as brassicas like a firm soil.They are planted up to the bottom set of leaves but I was careful not to bury any of the leaves in the soil, no point in giving the slugs a taste!I will put collars around them during the week also, another rainy day job cutting out the circles from some old black plastic like weed membrane.I held back some of the broccoli which I will pot on just in case there are any casualties.
The marigolds lining the pea and french bean beds, marigolds are a good companion plant and are often seen in allotments to attract bees and tempt whitefly to leave the legumes alone!
The rainfall has brought the potatoes up almost overnight and I earthed them up again, frost is not forecast but better safe than sorry.
All of the strawberry plants are covered in blossom!In answer to a query on a previous post from Foxylox about the strawberries, I did buy 6 plants last year in Aldi 2 of which were early varieties.These plants have all been relocated so they cannot all be an early variety.I think we will cover them with polythene in case of frost or temps dropping again, it would be a shame to damage them now when they are doing so well.
I tipped the raspberry canes. I cut the tops off of the canes, just about 3 ins from each. This is to make the old growth easier to find when we are cutting back the canes in autumn.They are slow to put out growth this year due to the cold winter and frosts.It is a job I have meant to do each year and then forget until we are trying to sort out the old and new canes when cutting back later on.
I cut some baby leaves from the spinach in the greenhouse, about 25 in total not a lot but this year we will cut them young to try and prevent the plants from bolting.
Now for something a little different,a few weeks ago I did a guest post for Anna and she sent me some of her handmade soap in return. I have been using the Gardeners Soap which is terrific,it raises a lovely lather and feels creamy on the hands.It removes the garden grit and leaves my hands lovely and soft.I always put on gloves but have a habit of removing them to get to grips with some small job and never remember to put them back on!I am not sure if Anna sells this soap but I would highly recommend it to any gardener!
In the greenhouse which was almost neglected for a few days the sweetcorn, courgettes and cucumbers are up, these were planted according to the moon planting chart on 16th April.The yard long beans are forging ahead, only 3 of the Cantare bean are up and all of the peas are peeping through.
Cabbage and Brussel sprouts are outside with the spring onions, it is getting a bit like musical chairs out there now moving things around to gain space.