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 | Apr 26, 2009 | Allotment
First, a warning – after forgetting the camera last week I think I got a bit carried away today. I could have put about 50 pictures up here today.
We had another two-day allotment weekend. Although we only have a small plot there is always a hundred things to do and not enough time to do half of them. We are seriously considering writing a to-do list and then prioritising our jobs but perhaps this might be taking things a step too far! April is a very very busy allotment month – I very much doubt we can ever go away anywhere in April again!
We only spent an hour or two at the site on Saturday. After doing our now traditional reccy of the site to see what new has grown (this week we have leaf beet, thyme, the horseradish has lots of green on it, some of our green manure has grown and we have our first potato leaves) we set about some serious planting. We planted out quite a bit of coriander and a couple of lines of radishes in our herb bed. Yes, I know radish is not a herb but we have bumped quite a few things around as we figure out how to best use our space. We seem to have a slight issue with our garlic and shallots – after a great start to their lives they are now going a bit yellow on the tips of their leaves. A quick google search suggested this might be a lack of nitrogen, a quick conversation with Bob suggested it could be one of a few things. We’ve tried putting on a few handfuls of some organic fertiliser and plenty of water and we will see what happens.
We got off to a slow start on Sunday, partly down to me watching the marathon, partly because we had to go photocopy some chicken articles from GYO and partly because Pilla is fighting off a cold. We arrived down on the site at about 12 noon, just as the communal chickens were arriving. We are now proud co-parents of 6 hens (we think they are Warrens which are supposed to be great layers and super friendly). One quick meeting later and we have secured contact visits & feedings on weekends. For now they are safely in their coop for a day or two while they get used to their surroundings.
High up on our list of priorities today was planting out the broad beans and sweet peas we have had in the cold frame for the last week. The broad beans were fairly straightforward but the sweet peas need a frame to grow up. After much cutting of cane and tying of string we had built a frame across two beds.
We also planted some dhalia tubers in the front bed and spent a huge amount of time potting and and thinning down our seedlings in the greenhouse. It’s pretty amazing one tiny plant (I’m looking at you parsley and you too sweet marjoram, mizuna you’re not too far behind) can have such a long, deep and intertwined root system. Next year we should learn a lesson from this and plant thinner in seed trays perhaps.
And despite all of that, we still had to leave before we had completed our ‘things to do list’. So it looks like it will be another busy weekend next time.
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