by Philippa | Aug 3, 2014 | Allotment
This visit this weekend was relatively short, firstly due to their not being that much that needed doing (ssssh before we find jobs to do!) and secondly due to being busy with other things.
As such the main jobs were picking things to take home. We had quite a treasure trove which included that last of the potatoes which Neil dug up, broad beans, French beans, courgettes, tomatoes, cavolo nero, cucumbers, herbs and flowers. We also had a bonus of a good bunch of salad leaves, all in miniature as they were actually those leaves that we had thinned out from the beds and were too good to go to waste!
There are plenty of things that are being closely watched, with growing impatience for when they will be ready to pick. Almost immediately on arriving at the plot each time I go to check on the progress!
We got another haul of goodies to bring home and some beautiful flowers including the first of the dahlias. But we left this one for the bee!
by Philippa | Jun 2, 2014 | Allotment
We knew that Neil’s ironman next weekend would mean that our visit would likely be limited to watering, so Bank Holiday Monday was a whopper of a day and fortunately it was dry and sunny all day. We had loads of planting out to do and suddenly we realised we didn’t have much space left other than areas which still needed digging over. It’s funny how you soon fill everywhere up! So Neil was a digging hero and just kept on going, which meant we had room for the dahlias, sunflowers and lupins. Some of the taller sunflower varieties needed stakes next to them so we can tie them up as they grow.
We also tied up the climbing beans which are starting to wind their way up their cane wigwam. The potatoes had gone from just peeking through the top of the soil at the end of last week to growing fully above the soil so Neil earthed them up.
We always try to avoid the brassicas getting too leggy, which can be a challenge at this time of year when the weather varies from hot to cool and back again and greenhouses are not the best place for them for very long. But put them out too soon and they are vulnerable to slugs, caterpillars and other pests. Some were ready to be potted on and to be kept outside of the coldframe, so we potted on the cabbage (candissa, red drumhead and pointed red kalibos), cauliflower (snowball) and the Brussel sprouts. The hastings variety of sprout had done much better than the Wellington variety we have previously used and so I only actually potted those on, consigning the others to the compost pile. There are only so many sprouts a two person household needs, even with Neil’s love of them!
There was some sowing to be done in the greenhouse as all of the remaining squash were ready to be sown before the end of May. We have autumn crown, metro pmr f1, little gem rolet, bon bon, buttercup and crown prince f1. I also had to do some re-sowing. Only one or two Savoy cabbages survived the hot greenhouse a couple of weeks ago so I sowed some more. The cucumbers that we put into the greenhouse beds on plot 118 were ready to go into their final spots. Outside, either a hot burst of weather or a gang of slugs had meant that the germination of beetroot and parsnip had been pretty patchy so I sowed more of these also. The new sowings outside included turnips (snowball and Milan purple top) and carrots (early market, flyaway f1 and autumn king 2).
There were two remaining beds on plot 97 that we had yet to dig over and add manure to and given it will only be a couple of weeks until they have to have plants in, now was to time to do this job so that the soil isn’t too acidic with manure when plants go in. One of the beds was where we had taken the strawberries out from a few weeks ago. They had probably been in for three or more years and once the plants were removed you could really see the difference between that bed and the others which have had manure and compost added to them a couple of times each year. So we added much more matter to it than we usually would, just to get it up to the same depth as the rest.
We also planted out the pak choi which look super healthy at the moment and will hopefully benefit from being in a partially shaded bed so that they don’t bolt. We even managed some comprehensive weeding, meaning that both plots were in a great state to be left for a further week or two before our next visit. This year seems to be the year of the mare’s tail, I’m waiting for it to be declared a delicacy in the finest restaurants so that we can feast like kings as we are certainly experts at growing it! Fingers crossed there won’t be much more of it when we get back this weekend!
by Philippa | Apr 20, 2014 | Allotment
The long weekend started off uncharacteristically sunny and Neil managed a full afternoon down at the plots on Friday. He had a plan to do some DIY and build a new gate for the back of plot 118, as our ‘temporary’ one has been in use for about two years! He finished the gate in record time but didn’t quite manage a full coat of woodstain as it takes longer than you think to do a good job of it.
We both returned on Saturday. Lots of signs of Spring, blossom open on all the fruit trees which looks beautiful. Also, the tulips at the front have opened and added some colour. The daffodils that we unceremoniously shoved in far too late after we found them starting to sprout in the shed have even made an attempt at flowering! Very full blooms but only about 3 inches tall!
However, it is that time of year where it seems all you need do is turn your back for a moment and the weeds are abound. It gives you itchy fingers to just get blitzing everywhere and so for the first hour or so that is what we did. I weeded all of plot 97 and down the outside of the fence by the path as there were a lot of flowering dandelions that will soon be sending their seed out so heavily it looks like it is snowing! Neil cleared all along the back of plot 118 and I then cleared in front of the greenhouse where the weeds were coming through the membrane. After a bit of hard work it looked much neater all round.
Neil completed painting the new gate which I am very impressed with! He then started to dig over the front left side of the plot ready for planting the chitted potatoes sometime later over the weekend. As soon as you start digging, the robin who hangs around our side of the site pays a visit. He is so tame it’s almost like having a pet, he will come right up to you while you work and you sometimes catch him with a worm in his mouth! It’s easy pickings when you’re turning up hundreds of them at a time!
While Neil was digging I did some planting as I had a bit of a panic when I realised it seemed like we were a bit behind with sowing. I’m sure it’s all in your head at this time of year, all it takes is a couple of sunny days and it suddenly feels like you are running out of time to get things done! So I planted cauliflower (snowball), cabbage (candissa), broad beans (masterpiece green longpod), Brussel sprouts (hastings and Evesham special) and Spring onions (white Lisbon and lillia). So we felt quite smug on leaving on Saturday with how much we had achieved and there looked to be quite a difference between when we arrived and when we left!
by Philippa | Mar 7, 2014 | Allotment
Well, it isn’t long before you suddenly feel that Spring is upon you and that you don’t have much time left!
After some quiet weeks following the new year we visited the plots to see what needed doing. I pruned the currant bushes while Neil tackled the blackberry plants and the raspberry canes. Neil must have been feeling creative because after wondering why he had been so quiet for a while I found him by the shed with this little beauty! For growing peas up apparently!
All the seeds ordered for us from Kings by the society had arrived and so I sorted them into bundles of when they need to be planted, which seems like only a matter of weeks away! We also received the garlic bulbs ordered. After the best in show success of the summer we decided to just plant one variety this year, the Lautrec Wight. We did this about three weeks ago and no sign of life yet. In the following week we planted our onions (Sturon and Red Baron) in seed trays in the greenhouse to give them a good start as this really helped last year, particularly with the red onions.
The February storms brought chaos with them for the whole site. While other plot holders found sheds on the other side of fences and bits and pieces all over the place, we weren’t sure what to expect. We knew that we had a piece of glass missing from our greenhouse on plot 118 prior to the high winds and were dreading how vulnerable this would have made it. We were right to be anxious as the greenhouse had lifted up and shifted across the base considerably. Bob next door was lucky not to see it flying his way I think!
As a result of the wind most of the glass on one side was broken and all over the place and some of the frame is twisted and damaged. It prompted a big clear up in general really. It took two tip runs to clear all of the broken glass, buckets of debris dug out of the soil and other rubbish. We swept up all the small branches and leaves that had blown about and dug over most of the beds on plot 97, adding manure and organic chicken pellets to them.
We have moved a massive amount of manure onto both plots over the last few weeks but not really dug much over just yet as it has been so wet it becomes too much of a chore! That will be a job for the next few weeks as the weather picks up.
This last week we have bought our potatoes (Charlotte) and put them in trays to chit. We have also planted all of our tomato, chilli and aubergine varieties in the heated windowsill propagator at home and have already had most of them germinate after a couple of sunny days. We did some of our oddest planting yet. We have studiously followed the packet instructions for the bluebells which apparently need a forced 4-6 week period of cold and so we now have a bag of damp compost and bluebell seeds stashed at the back of the fridge! There is a reminder on the calendar to get them out in several weeks for the next step. That is, if they haven’t accidentally been eaten in the meantime!!!
by Philippa | Jul 28, 2013 | Allotment
We had trugs full of broad bean, blackcurrants, blueberries and blackberries. It also included our first cherries, courgettes, tomatoes and potatoes (but didn’t want that to spoil our title!). We are now consistently taking large amounts of produce home so it really feels like we are in the swing of things!
We spent a good few hours there this weekend and seemed to get quite a lot done. Most things are looking green and perky thanks to the heat wave breaking with a few rainstorms. The last of the brassicas that had yet to be planted out had come on leaps and bounds as a result so they really needed to go out. After unsuccessfully trying to buy some more netting from the local garden centre and B&Q, Mickey came to our rescue (thanks Mickey!) with some spare. That end of plot 118 still hadn’t been turned over since we put some barrows of manure on it weeks ago so we first had to dig it over which was no mean feat in the humid, sticky weather! We then planted the brassicas out in three more tunnels. This means we have Brussel sprouts, igloo cauliflowers, candissa cabbage, kalibos pointed red cabbage and Savoy cabbage in one block. In the second block we have minicole and tundra green cabbages, scarlet borecole, cavolo nero, dwarf curly kale, red arrow sprouting broccoli, calabrese green sprouting broccoli, summer purple sprouting broccoli and regular purple sprouting broccoli. Phew!
Neil planted a couple of rows of green manures between the tunnels, because he sure does love the green manures. I think he used phacelia, trefoil and some crimson clover.
It was a week of season firsts on both plots. We harvested a handful of perfectly sized courgettes, both green and yellow. Neil also dug up our first crop of Charlotte new potatoes which looked great, really good sized and consistent quality and probably our best for the last couple of years. In the greenhouses we have our first aubergines, chillies and peppers growing. We also managed a handful of the first tomatoes to turn red. Things in the greenhouses have grown quite a bit so I needed to tie some stems up to support canes, which was good timing as I had to hide from a pretty heavy downpour! Other maintenance jobs included weeding the front of plot 97 (again! It never stops!) and tying up some of the larger plants as they were starting to droop into the pathway.
There had been a manure delivery which was quite good quality, not too much sawdust or hay, so Neil collected about 8 barrows worth! I think he’s replaced Ironman training with wheelbarrowing, he kept getting some saying it would be the last then going for another until he’d finished one whole section of plot 118! We can properly dig this in once some of the produce comes out as that side could do with quite a bit of matter added, as it’s lagging behind the left side that we’ve given more attention to.
We’ve been seeing lots of wildlife on the plots lately. We had a new season little robin come and scavenge some worms when we were digging the soil over, lots of bees and butterflies are enjoying the lavender and sunflowers and we’ve lost count of the number of colourful cinnabar moth caterpillars we’ve found. Is lovely being down there when it is full of life!
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