by Philippa | Apr 28, 2013 | Allotment
We only popped down for a couple of hours today, which after sorting some admin things became only about an hour and a half! But we did get some good jobs done. Our shallots arrived mid week, which is pretty late compared to previous years when we’ve had them planted for several weeks already. Usually we put them in at the same time as the onions so they are probably a month behind those. Oh well! We tried a new variety this year, Longor, which is a longer, more banana type of shallot so we’re interested to see how they get on.
While I planted Neil was giving the compost heap some attention. It’s had quite a lot of brown matter in over the winter months and not much green matter so we are hoping to redress the balance in coming weeks. Neil chopped some larger pieces down to make it a bit finer and after a few turns there was some decent looking compost coming out from the bottom layers. Neil spread some on plot 118 and hopefully there will be more before too long.
Lots had sprouted or grown since last week. The sunflowers have germinated, as have some of the peas and the Brussels sprouts. No sign of the broad beans coming through yet which are what I’m keenly waiting for! The redcurrant bushes have started to bud and already it looks like there will be a bumper crop. Although next year we will really have to do some pruning as they are looking a bit wild and bent over in places which will only increase once they are weighed down with fruit!
The rhubarb looks fantastic, in fact it was too good to resist so we pulled a few stalks! Great to be taking something off at last!
by Philippa | Apr 2, 2013 | Allotment
The unpredictable weather certainly lasted longer than we anticipated! A few weeks of snow, ice and high winds have meant that we have not been able to get down to the plots much at all. We would normally have started sowing our tomatoes and chillies in our heated propagator at home but once they germinate they need to be potted on quite soon afterwards and the greenhouses just aren’t warm enough yet. With the forecasts only now getting to be more appropriate for the time of the year we are starting them this week.
The onions are still in the greenhouse. Some have sprouted quite tall, others haven’t, but all of them have made really good root systems. An added bonus will be that when we plant them out in the next week or two the chances of pesky birds or squirrels lifting them will be reduced if they already have roots. This is also good for those gardeners who like neat rows uninterrupted by random gaps!
The Easter weekend and its bank holidays gave us a good block of time to do some more soil preparation. All of the beds on plot 97 now have multiple trugs of well rotted manure dug into them. We had added some manure to plot 118 a couple of weeks ago on top of the compost layer and so we did a fair bit of digging it over. The difference in the soil quality on the left side of plot 118 is really noticeable compared to a few years ago. Even the patch of clay we have in one area is much lighter and finer, all through what’s been added over the last couple of years. It feels like a good achievement, albeit a bit of a geeky one!
There are quite a few signs of Spring finally visible. The raspberry canes, gooseberry and currant bushes are budding. The garlic we planted a few weeks ago has sprouted, seemingly having enjoyed the cold snap! The rhubarb has gone crazy, particularly on plot 118. It looks like it’s sprouting up all over the place! Hopefully now the weather is milder we are looking forward to getting caught up with sowing things in the next couple of weeks, but we wouldn’t be surprised if we end up working about a month behind schedule due to the weather. Surely we must be due some normal weather next year?!
by Philippa | Jul 14, 2011 | Allotment
I have decided that I am not going to bow, or call him Chairman or Mr President, no matter how often he asks. Following the AGM today Neil was elected as Chair of the Society. This was mainly due to the lack of willing volunteers when it came time to re-elect, but he does have plenty of enthusiasm!
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The AGM did not take very long, nothing very controversial. We then had a Sow and Grow event, with planters of compost to plant up with seedlings of lettuce, cucumber, tomato and radish, so that people could learn how to plant them and take something away to nurture at home.
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The weather was a bit hit and miss for most of the day, but it didn’t get in the way too much as most of the jobs we were doing were tidying, plot admin sort of tasks. We made two visits to the tip with all the bags of rubbish, glass and other general junk that had been cluttering the place up since we got the new plot. This alone made a huge difference. We also tidied our spare plant pots that had been hanging around on the old plot and gave the shed a good tidy, it really looks like we are on top of things. Perfect timing as the allotment competition judge will be doing the rounds in the next couple of weeks, fingers crossed this will get us extra points!
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Both sets of rhubarb needed all the dead leaves removing, as it made them look like they were on their last legs, so they look a bit perkier now and can concentrate on growing for next year. The broad beans that were in over winter had finished producing pods so Neil dug them up and covered the cleared area with some of our compost. I think he used three wheelbarrows full and it all looked really good quality and had a fine, crumbly consistency. I think it’s fair to say we are pretty proud of our compost (geeks!). The second lot of broad beans we put out as a bit of a punt have started to produce pods, so we may actually have successfully extended the season pretty well.
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I potted on the melon plants that were in the old greenhouse and put the watermelon plants into the cold frame. Next time I’ll plant them outside, which surprised me as I imagined they would need to stay in a greenhouse, and they like having a ridge to grow up so a bit of digging will be required. I also planted some more savoy cabbage seeds. It may well end up being far too late but the plants that we have so far have spent too long in the greenhouse while we were away on honeymoon etc and so I don’t think they will be great, so I’ll try to catch some up and put them out as soon as possible and see what happens.
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Next week we will be looking at planting any of the late sowing varieties we have, such as peas and beans.
by Neil Wilkinson | Apr 13, 2010 | Allotment
After a slow start to the big seed sowing months we tried to seriously redress the balance this weekend. We took advantage of the sunny weather and managed to get loads planted on Saturday afternoon in the greenhouse and even a few directly outside. We now have growing at the allotment at least:
– purple sprouting broccoli
– spinach
– red and green lettuces
– Brussel sprouts
– sunflowers
– marjoram
– globe carrots
– marigolds
– petunias
– dahlias
– lavender
– more sweetpeas
The lavender is exciting because we have a rough plan to grow it and perhaps use it as part of the table decorations at the wedding. We also planted a fair few things at home to give them a head start in the propogater.
Whilst Pilla was busy sowing I got to work increasing the staging in the greenhouse, eventually it should be about twice the size of last year, which was pretty warm work in the sunshine.
After missing out on an apparently interesting monthly meeting on Sunday we got to work on the new plot which is still quite weedy in places. We tackled a small corner around the rhubarb and in the same area planted 4 rows of potatoes – this space must be about twice the size of the area we gave them last year. We covered the freshly weeded area with some spent hops to try and stop some of the weeds growing back.
The goods news is we took our first crop home this week, our rhubarb has taken off on plot 97 this week with the warm weather so we managed to pick a few stems.
Sorry for the lack of picures – we left the camera at home again 🙁
by Neil Wilkinson | Feb 23, 2010 | Allotment
Once again we could do no work at the allotment this weekend due to the snow. There was maybe 2″ – 3″ and well, digging would not have been fun in that. Our hardy little rhubarb was almost the only thing poking through the snow, every week it tries to grow only to knocked back by some severe cold. It’s almost a little sad that once it does finally grow it’s destined to be eaten!
Despite the snow on Sunday, it was a really bright spring day on Saturday. This sent our chickens into overdrive and our nine birds produced seven eggs, including one white one from the new Campines. We also had a quick chat to Bob D and it seems we might be getting a few more of the little Campines soon.
The cold weather means we’ve been getting to see a lot of Tommy/Smudgie (we’re not really sure) in our greenhouse. She’s a cute podgy little thing with a very grumpy face!
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