by Philippa | May 25, 2014 | Allotment
We really are being spoiled with the run of three day weekends we have had since Easter, it’s a shame we have to wait until August now for the next one!
After coming back from Spain on Thursday we knew that while there had been some warm days, there had been mostly cooler temperatures and quite a bit of rain. This was to bode well for how things had got on in our absence! However, as predicted last week the tray of calabrese that had suffered in the heat had not had a miraculous recovery and so I had to sow some more calabrese green sprouting, purple sprouting and summer purple sprouting broccolis. But at least the old dried out tray did not go to waste, as we discovered the culprit in ‘cat bum gate’!
We had a lovely lunch with friends today so we only got to the plot after 4pm. We had a long list of things we wanted to get done and managed to check off quite a few items despite the late hour. The tomatoes have come on well and suddenly looked tall and full of side shoots, so Neil removed them and tied them up.
We potted on the aubergines (jackpot and long purple) and most of the courgettes. Although, oddly, the zucchini variety hadn’t germinated at all so I popped another few seeds while we potted on the rest. We also potted on the chillies (which I think we were on the third or fourth sowing of after a strange run of issues with them!) and as a result of all of these jobs, Neil had to take down one side of the staging to make extra room.
On a slightly smaller scale I sowed some more Savoy cabbages as they had some patchy germination and I pricked out some leeks (almera) into larger pots to get them a bit stronger while also sowing a large pot of the jolant variety.
In the greenhouse on 118 Neil hacked back some of the grapevine, and I do mean hacked back. It grows with abandon and I’m convinced that the harsher you treat it, the more it likes it! We try and train a central line along the apex of the greenhouse roof so that it doesn’t get too much in the way of the other produce in there but it still persists in trying to, literally, branch out!
As for outside jobs, there was lots of re-jigging of the coldframe to be done to fit in the cauliflower (snowball), zinnia, aster (milady), chrysanthemum (mixed) and celeriac (prinz) that were ready for some cooler conditions. I also gave the shallots a water, as while they didn’t need the moisture after a lot of rain in the last day or so, they did need some organic feed as they had some yellowing tips and generally looked in need of a bit of a boost.
We dug up the spinach that had most definitely gone to seed! In fact I was joking that we had been keeping it in until it grew as tall (yes I said tall!) as me. Well it had exceeded that height, so it was most definitely time for it to come out. We’ll add some manure and feed to the bed once we dig it over to get it ready for whatever is next to come.
There are still jobs left on the list for tomorrow’s bonus weekend day but we are hoping for drier conditions to get more done outside, fingers crossed.
by Philippa | May 12, 2014 | Allotment
We knew we were in for a wet weekend this weekend. We also knew that Saturday was a working party day at the site. Always seems to be the way! Thankfully it didn’t put everyone off and despite having to periodically hide from the heavy downpours, there were up to 17 members helping out! The plan was to clear some of the back of site 3 so that a poly tunnel could be dismantled and brought across from the bottom end of site 2.
We made good progress, clearing a large area, laying membrane, taking the poly tunnel apart and bringing the parts over. Unexpectedly, there was also the offer of about 60 flagstones from a local house, which are going to be used around the tunnel. Given the number of helpers and the fact that Steve had his van, it was too good an opportunity to miss, so after two trips and endless carrying of flags, they too were shifted onto the cleared site.
After all the work on the site, we didn’t manage a great deal of time on our own plots, but then again we didn’t have a very long list of things to achieve. Last weekend, after the monthly meeting we did manage a short burst in the greenhouse before we set off to Milton Keynes for Neil’s race. I planted a selection of brassicas and by this week they were all sprouted-borecole (scarlet), calabrese (minicole and green sprouting), sprouting broccoli (purple and red arrow), cabbage (tundra) and broccoli (summer purple).
All the things going on in the greenhouse meant it was time to start moving some more stuff out to the coldframe. We took the dahlias, lupins and marigolds out of the coldframe and to take their place transferred some of the brassicas and all the broad beans, climbing French beans and peas in.
We then potted on all of the tomato varieties into both greenhouses, digging the pots into the greenhouse beds in the 118 greenhouse. We put a handful of organic feed pellets into the tubs before transplanting.
Then on to slightly more delicate transplanting, pricking out the zinnia and chrysanthemum into separate cells. One thing is for sure, I think we will have plenty of flowers this year! A slightly amusing bit of innovation from Neil while in the greenhouse. It became obvious that our tray of pak choi was providing a comfy warm seat for one of the resident allotment cats. So Neil fashioned an anti cat bum device. Here’s hoping it works!
We know we don’t have a lot of time next weekend and so it was good to get these jobs done as while they weren’t urgent, by the time another week had passed they really would be! Now all we need is some sunshine to dry off!
by Philippa | Apr 20, 2014 | Allotment
The weather was much cooler today and it was very very windy so I took refuge in the greenhouse with a mammoth planting session. Neil loves sunflowers so there are several trays of them (Pacino, earthwalker and ring of fire). I also did cabbage (savoy vertus, pointed red kalibos and red drumhead), pak choi (joi choi and rubi), leek (almera), celeriac (prinz), cucumber (cucino), squash (honey bear), climbing French bean (cobra), peas (early onward, purple podded, sugarsnap and Oregon sugar pod) and watermelon (charleston grey). The staging is now heaving and it is pleasing to see all the trays in various stages of sprouting.
I also planted some flowers as well and discovered my new favourite seed! They are for the acroclinium and they are like little dots of cotton wool, all fluffy and white. Although I had to be a bit careful with it being so windy that they didn’t get blown away!
Along with the acroclinium (double mixed) we now have aster (milady), zinnia (Oklahoma), chrysanthemum (rainbow) and ipomoea (grandpa ott). The dahlia and marigolds we sowed a couple of weeks ago have all germinated really well and so we pricked out the marigolds to individual cells of the seed trays. We haven’t been great at doing this in the past with our flowers and so we are trying to do better this season. So we now have nearly 100 marigolds! Oh well, if there are spare we can put them in some planters and I’m sure they will be appreciated in the gardens of friends and family.
While I was in the greenhouse Neil was on to his second DIY job of the weekend, building a coldframe. It certainly kept him quiet for a good while as there were lots of angles to cut. In the end he had to move on to another job as he needs to buy some longer screws (in all the boxes of screws we have there aren’t any long enough, which seems unlikely but true!) so he cleared the couch grass from the rear of plot 118.
We both then tackled the digging over at the front that Neil started on Friday. It is so much quicker with two of you on the job and satisfying how much progress you can make. So much so we were able to plant the potatoes that we have chitted, only one variety this year, Charlotte, in three rows.
We think we have passed the milestone of digging over half of plot 118, woohoo!
Another exciting milestone, we spotted the first signs of the asparagus! I’m sure that it has usually arrived by this time of the year and so I had thought that maybe it had died so I’m pleased to see it again, fingers crossed we might get a crop of it this year (only about four years after we planted it ha!).
We took home the last of the leeks-I think it is a record as this year we have eaten every single leek we grew! Also a bundle of rhubarb and a tray of purple sprouting broccoli that would not look out of place in the supermarket! The leeks and most of the broccoli made a tasty tea for two. Recipe to follow…
by Philippa | Jun 9, 2013 | Allotment
A lovely weekend at the allotment in the sunshine, several hours flew by on Saturday but that may have been in large part to lots of chatting with Bob! Neil managed a couple of hours with me on Sunday after getting his almost 3hr run out of the way.
You really cannot miss too many visits at this time of year, the weeds have gone bonkers! The high temperatures all this week have had a noticeable effect. I popped along this Tuesday and gave things a good water and weed but even despite that there were plenty of new weeds to tackle by the weekend. Neil did a mammoth weeding of the onions, which seemed to have attracted more weeds than anywhere else on plot 118.
The heat has contributed to most other things growing great guns this week. All the tomatoes needed sideshooting already. The parsnips were ready to be thinned and the beetroot also, which incidentally seems to have had a really good germination rate. You could practically watch some of the greenhouse sowings grow. I planted some pak choi (joi choi) on Tuesday and yet by Saturday they had germinated well. The climbing beans were all sprouted and so I moved them to the coldframe to go out next week. I suspect the Brussels and cauliflowers already in there will be ready to go out too, but will need netting.
All of the cucurbits have done well and will be outgrowing their 7cm pots soon so it will probably be time to get them outside in the next week or two. I potted on all of the cucumber/gherkin varieties and also all the chillies and peppers. We always pot on more than we will end up using as chillies are really nice to give to friends and families and are generally well received!
Outside, the strawberries on both plots look decidedly perky and you can see that they are going to crop well, as long as we beat the slugs! I gave the shallots and garlic some water and added some organic general feed to the watering can.
Neil put in some ‘cross training’ by digging over some more of plot 118 and getting a few barrows of manure. I sowed some flower seeds, much less tiring work! We say every year that we want to plant more flowers and while we have started quite a few off, I’m not sure we’ll have many due to patchy germination. Even our marigolds, usually a winner, have been a bit off. Bob clearly took pity and generously donated some of his spares which we can be transplanting or planting out in the next few weeks. There were some marigolds, lobelia, lupins and petunias. I did have two small buddleia and a hydrangea plant I’d bought last week, so I planted these out at the rear of the left side of plot 118 along the fence. Hopefully these will add some interesting colour and height when they establish. I sowed some pansies (forerunner), Michaelmas daisy, aster (milady), chrysanthemum (mixed), ipomoea (grandpa ott) and zinnia (Oklahoma) in the greenhouse and coldframe. I also sowed some poppies outside (Shirley double mixed). The packet rather poetically suggested sowing these in drifts for a majestic display, so I did my best to cast them in majestic drifts!
We are all up to date with seed sowing now, save for lettuce varieties. I think it’s because they grow so quickly that I have a tendency to leave them until we’ve caught up with other veg, which is a bit daft really as they are a tasty and value for money crop. Anyhow, I’ll get them in sometime over the coming week!
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