Ups and downs and spuds in!

A jaunt up to the plot yesterday to dig more and to check things over. I also decided that I'd put some of the potatoes in (some from the potato mountain in the shed at home!)
I have a small journal type book for the allotment to keep a check on things and I'd written down in it how far apart the pots needed planting and how deep etc, so there I was hunched over one of the beds with a book in one hand and a spade in the other, refering to the book as I'm planting the pots, like a novice cook refering to a recipe book "....now plant your potatoes 4" deep, cover with soil and leave to grow for 3 months"

Pic...Duke of York spuds & a GIANT silhouette

I do feel like such a novice, I keep wanting to feel much more at ease and not so pent up about it all, I mean for God's sake it's only growing veg! Things happen though that you don't expect and it leaves me wondering what I did wrong. The one thing that has puzzled me are the broad beans. When I planted the first rows I covered them in lemonade bottle cloches (apart from one plant) I removed the cloches last week as they'd reached the top and I left them to it. When I arrived yesterday all the 'cloched' beans had gone black on the edges of the leaves and bits of the stems, they also look a bit leggy and floppy. I think I know the answer, I think they should have been left without cloches in the first place, I've made them too tender and with the cold snap we just had I hadn't hardened them off properly. The one that hadn't ever been in a cloche is fine. Of course if anyone has any other thoughts on this please let me know!

I attempted to dig another new bed, previously we have had to de-turf each bed first and then dig the soil over but as the plastic has been down for a fair time now it is not necessary to do the de-turfing, the grass layer has broken down more so I am just digging through it all with a fork but it's still BLOODY hard work. I hate this bit, I wish the beds were all dug over so that I could get on with the growing bit! Just reading back over this entry I sound very 'down' this week, I do feel it and I'm not going to delete this, much as the temptation is to do that! I think there will be lots of ups and downs with the allotment...I prefer the ups!! :)