Hoe Hoe Hoe

OK, possibly a new low in titles (probably has been used in loads of other garden/allotment/ steetwise gangsta drug-dealer type blogs) - but it does mark my purchase of a hoe...which pretty much completes the set of basic tools needed for veggie growing: A shovel for shoveling, a fork for forking, a rake for raking, and now a hoe for getting rid of weeds and earthing up around the spuds. Never used a hoe before, it is a dutch version...so you can push under the weeds, or pull back against them, or do an angled pull to earth-up.
Forgot my mattock, which has done a huge amount of work in clearing off the top layer of grass/turf/weeds across the plot. You can't really do a job of digging if you've got to get through a layer of vegetation first. Think I'd rate that as some of the hardest work...maybe I'm not doing it right!!
Also got a 1.5litre pressure sprayer today...you pump air in to build up the pressure and away you go. I've sprayed my broad beans with soapy water to try and get rid of the black fly infestation on the broad bean plants, apparently black fly and some other insects die if they get water in them (drowning?). The soap in the water, reduces the surface tension so the bug get soaked...or something like that. We'll see soon how the black fly get on, and also if the plants mind being washed.
Other reports; fish seem to be settling in, seeing more of them...but was a lot warmer day today, which should mean more surface activity. Onions are get big quickly now, strabs have the start of fruits...have pics of all this but the bluetooth technology on my phone, or the laptop has let me down. I'll try and get this sorted, or work round it, and get more photos soon. French beans on the window sill are well on the way, possibly ready for planting next weekend.