by Neil Wilkinson | Nov 30, 2009 | Allotment
We are proud to announce that we are prize-winners for our efforts on Plot 97! There is an annual allotment competition run by Manchester City Council in which a judge comes to visit the site unannounced in a window of a few weeks towards the end of the summer and scores everyones plots. We are not sure of all of the scoring categories but they rate the amount of produce and the number of different varieties being grown and the overall appearance of the plot. We were awarded the highest number of points on site three and this warranted a Certificate of Special Merit! We were also awarded a cup for Best Newcomers on site three by the Society. We came joint top with Simon and Sarah on Plot 111 who were also awarded a cup so we can both proudly display them on the mantlepiece! It is really nice to have our efforts rewarded and we hope that we can continue the success next year with both plots – no pressure then!
It was a brief visit to the allotment today, partly due to other commitments but also due to the appalling weather that we have had lately. The amount of rain that has fallen is quite astounding and certainly does not provide the best conditions to be digging in. Nevertheless Neil got to work on another bed that was full of twitch grass and almost cleared it before we had to head off. It probably needs another dig through before we cover it with manure next week.
We did manage to find time for a visit from Tammy the cat. It is really sad but she is now almost fully blind. It was only a few weeks ago that she was regularly pottering around watching us work and having lots of cuddles but we then noticed that she had a bloodshot eye. It didn’t improve and we then did not see her for a little while which of course had us fearing the worst. However, we were pleased to hear that Vicky, who lives next to the allotments and has always ensured the various cats are taken to the vets, has taken her into her home. She has seen the vet who thinks she has lost most, if not all, of her sight, but she is still in fine form. Vicky brought her onto the site this morning for a reunion and happily Tammy looked really well and seemed content. She had a good old fuss from us two who she remembered and Vicky will be popping over with her every now and then, so fear not everyone who enjoys the Tammy updates!
Hopefully more work to report soon – as long as the rain eases off!
by Philippa | Nov 23, 2009 | Allotment
So here is the exciting news! When we were signing up for the plot for the next twelve months there are a few people who have decided to give their plots back. One such plot is number 118 – right next to our friend Bob and it is a full size one of about 300 square yards. We decided to snap it up meaning that we now have two plots to occupy us! It does need some work but nowhere near as much as 97 did and a lot of the plot has been dug over and covered with membrane to prevent weeds so we will be getting things planted this spring.
Most of the time we spent at the allotment this week was on the new plot. We had to do some measuring so that we could make a graph paper plan (like the good old days when we were newbies!) and we also made a list of jobs that need doing. We took some photos too so that we can do a before and after comparison along the way. Neil’s main job was tackling the shed/greenhouse contruction. It is pretty rickety and is a combination of wood (some rotted!), glass and perspex. It seemed like the weeds that were in there had almost become part of the structure! There will be much more work to do, but he made a good start.
I used my new spade that Neil got me for my birthday to dig over one of the beds. It seems like we have inherited lots of slugs as well as the usual weeds! Once I was done, I gave it a liberal layer of manure to keep things tidy till the spring.
We also managed to get lots done on the old plot thanks to a day off on Friday. Things were looking a bit forlorn due to the time of year, the leaves seem to get everywhere and with things dying back it looks much less lively than at the height of summer. But it is exciting to be planning for the new growing season and now that we have placed our seed order it is easy to imagine what things will look like in a few short months. We cleared the munty frame of the last of the runner beans and another couple of beds that had passed their best. Our manure (not literally ‘ours’!) has well rotted and is lovely and uniform in colour and texture. We used a fair bit of it covering the cleared beds and before long the plot was looking tidy and ready for action.
And for some of our avid readers who were keen to know if we were employing the recently lauded technique of urinating on the compost heap, the answer is no and there certainly won’t be any pictures!
by Neil Wilkinson | Nov 15, 2009 | Allotment
It’s been a little while since we updated the site – mostly because it’s been a little while since we could spend any time at the allotment as we have been busy with stag do’s, trail runs and allotment treasurer admin work for the last few weekends. We had another couple of hours of work to do this morning signing people up for the year but we then managed to spend a few hours tidying up the plot.
Pilla cleared up the last of the plants in the greenhouse, the only thing left in there now is a solitary fuschia plant although it is trying it’s best to look colourful. I tackled the beds at the end of the plot, removing the sprouting broccoli (bolted before we could eat it) and the red cabbage (ravaged by slugs – we did manage to take a couple of tiny heads today though).
We also removed the runner beans, they have been consisently producing tons of beans since June but there is a limit to how many you can eat or store in the freezer (Shhh… especially as one of us doesn’t really like them), so we decided to chop them down today. Also on the job list was adding last years leaf mould to the compost heap and adding this years leaves the leaf compost maker.
The last job was very exciting, i’m not going to say any more today but we’ll have some picutres and news soon.
by Neil Wilkinson | Oct 25, 2009 | Allotment
More general tidying up to do today as there are more plants coming to the end of their life. Neil cleared the last of our tomato plants from the greenhouse, which suddenly looks very spacious! One of the pepper plants was now bare and a couple of the chilli plants were limp and so they went on the compost heap too. However, this was only after another bumper harvest – 15 habaneros and 47 chillies to join the bulging bag in the freezer and the ever lengthening string of dried chillies!
A bit of digging for some accompaniments for the Sunday roast followed. The leaves on our parsnips had grown considerably over the last couple of weeks and so we expected that the roots would have done their fair share of growing too and indeed they had. They were very tasty and sweet and were joined by a mixture of beetroot alongside our chicken. We also picked some kale for a chorizo and bean stew later in the week.
Our biggest job this week will come over the next few days when we have to address our minds to our seed order. We learnt from last year that it is easy to get carried away with your order as the names of fancy fruits and vegetables catch your eye! Also, some seed packets come with 12 seeds in them and others have 1200! As a result, we have some things that we will definitely have to order for next year and others that will last us for another two or three years. We have already decided a few new things that we want to try out, including swedes and broccoli and I am sure we will find other things to tempt us, so stay tuned.
by Neil Wilkinson | Oct 11, 2009 | Allotment
Our visit to the allotment this morning coincided with some typical Manchester weather – a good bit of drizzle. Thankfully we had a whole lot of tidying up to do inside the greenhouse – it’s been two weeks since we spent some serious time there and lots more of our plants have now given up for the year, so we could hide from the worst of the rain and hack down half of the tomato plants.
The greenhouse now looks incredibly tidy and spacious! Whilst we were in there we had a visitor we hadn’t seen for a while, Tammy has been camping out with another plot holder for a while but must have fancied a break from the rain. She managed to find her way into quite a few pictures 🙂
We did some more serious harvesting today – we took home our pumpkin, two squashes and a whole trug of assorted chillies, habeneros, sweet peppers, courgettes, aubergines, onions and herbs. The chilli plants have really been the stars of autumn, they are absolutely covered in fruit and we harvest loads more each time we go. We counted 48 chillies today and this was after taking lots last week. Thankfully they freeze and dry very well so we should be eating our own chillies well into next year.
by Neil Wilkinson | Sep 28, 2009 | Allotment
Only a short visit again today. We had the day off (in part to recover from my triathlon. I do like to think if you were to draw a Venn diagram of twenty something, marathon running, allotment owning triathletes that I might be the sole person in the middle!) so it was nice to spend a few hours tending to the allotment when it felt like we should have been at work.
Top of the list of jobs was to harvest more of our produce – it might be almost October but we are still getting really good amounts of tomatoes, peppers, chillis, runner beans, coutgettes and aubergines. We also took our first sweetcorn home (Pilla is proudly displaying her ears in one of the pictures). The sweetcorn was absolutely delicous for lunch!
We’ve got our first little figs forming. Figs are funny things – they set their fruits late in the year, you over winter them inside so they don’t get hit by frost and they then grow on to be ready the next summer. We currently only have about three of them so we are not expecting a bumer harvest next year!
We started clearing out some of the spent plants in the greenhouse. We’ve cut down one of the tomato plants that had no fruit and also composted the disappointing melon plants. The melon plants had taken great delight in spreading leaves everywhere but had been very reluctant to produce anything remotely melon-like. We then added some manure to the front bed and planted some crocuses and snow drops – they should add a bit of colour to the plot late in the winter.
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