by Neil Wilkinson | May 2, 2010 | Allotment
A mammoth couple of visits over Saturday and Sunday meant that we have ticked quite a few jobs off the ‘things to do’ list. While we didn’t have much sunshine (not totally unexpected for a British bank holiday weekend!) it was great weather for getting lots done and plot 118 was our focus. On Saturday, Neil planted out the last of our chitted potatoes, Charlotte this time, whilst I weeded the onion bed. The weather last week has been the perfect combination of warm and wet so there were weeds absolutely everywhere you looked. It’s difficult to know where to start but the priority had to be those beds with produce in them. So next for a blitz was the raspberry bed. They really need to be weed free as they are so shallow rooted so to try and keep on top of it we covered the cleared bed with a few sheets of dampened newspaper and then plenty of hops to form a barrier, which will hopefully last a couple of months. In a lucky twist of timing, Simon was wanting rid of several heavy sheets of tarpaulin so we relieved him of them to lay at the back of the plot where weeds and grass carpet the area. They should provide enough coverage to prevent further growth until we clear that fully, which might not be until next year.
On Sunday we planted out some flowers and evergreen plants that we had bought from the garden centre on Friday, after some more weeding of course! We have some echinops, lupins, tulips, iris and a lovely rhododendron (had to check the spelling on that one!) and Bob very kindly gave us some plants he had grown extra of which should give us plenty of coverage throughout more than just the summer months. Neil completed the front fence in almost record breaking time, but sod’s law meant that as soon as he took the lid off the woodstain to finish the job we had our first shower of rain.
To complete the general tidying up, Neil worked wonders with the area just behind the fence where there were a fair few neglected strawberry plants hidden amongst a mass of weeds. We know from experience that they are hardy little blighters so as he cleared the weeds he replanted the strawberries into their own raised rows. Fingers crossed that they take to their new location as it will mean many more strawbs this year than we first thought!
I managed to get out of any more weeding and set to planting out those seeds that can go straight outside at this time of year. So we now have neat (although not as neat as Bob’s) rows of parsnips (Countess and Imperial Crown), a half row of turnips (Purple Top) which will be successionally sown again later on and three rows of beetroot (Bolthardy, Chioggia and Golden). Lines of string mark them out until we can differentiate the seedlings from the ever appearing weeds. On plot 97 I also planted some 60 day broccoli (Raab) and two types of spinach (Medania and Perpetual).
Having seen everyone elses broad beans popping up outside over the last few weeks it was time to move ours from the coldframe to a bed on plot 118. I planted them out in a block but also included a further block of seeds which should mean a longer crop and greater chance of many more delicious broad beans than last year! Just seen the weather report after the news and there is a risk of frost tonight but hopefully this will be another example of them getting the forecast wrong otherwise some of our good jobs today may be scuppered!
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 | 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 | May 17, 2009 | Allotment
Well it had to happen. For the first time since we got the allotment we left early today because it was raining. Well I blame the rain, but us both being a bit tired and grumpy didn’t help either. I won’t say who was worse, we both know who it was and we try and operate a no blame culture on the allotment. The tiredness was caused by us both taking part in the Manchester 10km Run today so it was handily timed that we didn’t have a massive amount to do on the plot this weekend.
First up yesterday was the Saturday morning chicken feed and a brief stop to see what needed to be done on the allotment. We really should have learnt by now that ‘brief’ and ‘allotment’ don’t really fit in the same sentence. We popped back after lunch and planted out the red cabbages and in the same bed propped up some of the weaker purple sprouting broccoli we planted out last weekend. I tied up some of the sweet peas that hadn’t quite attached themselves to the strings we are growing them up and set about drilling holes in the bins we are going to put the tomatoes in. These are old bins from Pearson and with half a grow bag in each and good drainage holes they should make fairly decent homes for the toms. We grew way too many of each variety and so have been looking to give a few away, which we managed, but not without taking a few different varieties back. It’s one of the many nice things about allotment life that people are very generous about what they grow. So now we have 9 (that’s nine) varieties of tomatoes. I’m fairly sure that come the summer we’ll be able to keep half of Manchester in tomatoes and still have buckets full for ketchup. Sharon from the plot next door (that’s 3 mentions in two weeks!) very kindly gave us some marigolds which we should try and plant out next week – and Bob gave us a gooseberry bush, which despite a warning from him, still managed to attack Pilla with it’s thorns.
We spent Sunday afternoon planting lots of our tomatoes into the large pots and putting a cane in each, ready for their final positions in the greenhouse. We had a bit of a lesson in tomato growing from Bob on Saturday, so we picked out the side shoots as we potted them on. Pilla planted out the remaining beetroot – we found a forgotten seed packet last weekend, and I started planting out some of the sugarsnap peas we had growing in the greenhouse. I’m not convinced that they will be particularly successful (they were a bit leggy and we didn’t harden them off) so we planted some extra peas in with the plants just in case. I only got 4 done before the heavens opened and we hastily retreated to the greenhouse.
Unfortunately the rain meant that we couldn’t take any pictures which is a shame as we seem to have had lots successfully growing this week – in the greenhouse our courgettes, sweetcorn and lettuces have all sprouted, and our cucumbers, peppers, aubergines and dahlia’s are all looking good. With a bit of luck they will be doing just as well next week.
And finally, after months of hard graft, countless hours, and many many dirty fingernails, some produce from the plot finally landed on our plates! Step forward some spare Mizuna plants, whose leaves added a home grown touch to some salad we had on Saturday night. Ok, it’s not much but hopefully it’s a sign of things to come!
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