by Philippa | Sep 22, 2014 | Allotment
We hadn’t spent much time at the plot in the last fortnight so we had an awful lot of things to pick, almost too many flowers for appropriate vases, in fact I think some might have ended up in jam jars!
We had some good peppers but I don’t think that there were going to turn red left on the plant and we usually like a mix of colours. But once we picked them and took them home it was only a couple of days before most of turned fully red.
We cleared some flowers and plants that were past their best and also dig in the phacelia green manure we had planted when we dug up the garlic earlier in the season.
We had been growing our wallflowers and sweet Williams in the greenhouse and kept them there initially after we had pricked them out to individual pots. But now we had some space we planted them outside. The wallflowers seem to have fared much better but we hope the sweet Williams will catch them up!
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 | Jul 23, 2014 | Allotment
I am always amazed at this time of year when the crops start coming in weighty armfuls just how colourful the allotment is. So vibrant and there is a lovely mix of hues. It almost looks photoshopped, especially the bright blue cornflowers. Perfect for picking and putting in vases to brighten up the living room.
I went to the allotment this evening to do some mid week watering, essential in this heatwave we are having and it was nice to spend a warm evening pottering. As well as watering there were some pickings that couldn’t wait till the weekend. I took a punnet full of blackberries with a few strawberries which will probably be the last for this year. It was a visit of ‘firsts’ too. I picked our first courgettes, 2 yellow, one green and one round, from plot 97 which are always ready before those on plot 118 as they have the advantage of being in beds. The raspberries on plot 118 seem to be ripening an bit earlier with the heat we’ve had so I picked a princely amount of three that were ready! Most of the plums were also ripe, not a huge number but we weren’t expecting there to be after the bumper crop last year. The blueberries are not far behind and judging from the flowers, I better start looking up plenty of blueberry recipes!
by Philippa | Jul 12, 2014 | Allotment
We have had notice that the judge will be visiting the plots on 22nd July and we had a few things we wanted to do beforehand to try and get as many extra points as possible compared to last year’s results.
The weather has been lovely lately and really quite dry so a water butt was the last thing on our mind but it is one of the things you can get extra points for and we have always had butts on plot 97, we just hadn’t got round to it on 118. When Neil was doing a run to B&Q (reasons for that below!) he came back with a slimline water butt perfect for the space we had by the greenhouse. With some guttering and some crafty joins it looks a treat!
Neil’s big project that required plenty of wood was a double compost bay. Again it was something we hadn’t got points for in the 2013 judging for plot 118 as we compost all our things on plot 97 and just bring manure over by the barrow without storing it on the plot first. The space at the back of the plot wasn’t used to its best and so it was the perfect spot for a compost bay and what a beauty! Although when you then start filling it up you realise just how big they are!
The sunny weather has meant we have had our first ripe tomatoes, just a few rather than enough for a meal just yet, our first climbing beans and a lot of the flowers are really coming into bloom.
We finally got round to planting some lettuces, a combination of loose leaves and headed varieties. I’m hoping that the heat is not too much to prevent them germinating or thriving. I’ve planted lollo rosso and lollo biondi, radicchio (palla rossa) rocket, little gem, endive (pancalieri) and Paris White. Fingers crossed! I also planted some viola (symphonia) and antirrhinum (snap happy mixed) which a bit like the wallflowers get started now for flowering next year.
Our cherry tree had a paltry year last year and looked like it was dying off so we weren’t expecting any cherries this time around. Now it only produced in single figures so it’s nothing to get giddy about but they were pretty perfect looking and the tree in general looks really healthy which should mean better years to come.
There will still be more weeding and tidying before the judge’s visit but we made real progress today and the plots look great.
by Philippa | Jun 12, 2014 | Allotment
Oh well. With all the rain we’ve had I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised. This last week seems to have been more about feeding the local pest population than growing produce for our plates! The flowers we had planted out last week were the favourite targets, some sunflowers had been totally decimated. We had bought some more organic pellets during the week and within about five minutes of arriving at the plots we had used almost a full bottle! To fill the bare spaces we planted out some chrysanthemums as they were bursting out of their tray.
We also planted out the ipomoea. We had grown some last year but left them and left them and they were never put out but even then they grew some beautiful deep purple flowers shaped like trumpets. This year I was determined to do them justice. Having wanted some more information about where they are suited to and how they grow I did some googling and discovered they can grow up to 5 metres tall! Not sure I realised that when I bought the seeds! Or that they are the same family as bindweed. They grow in the same climbing fashion, twisting round things. As soon as I told Neil that, he wasn’t keen on planting them out in case they run riot with their roots! As a compromise I planted them along the back fence of plot 118 as this gives them something to grow up without risking them spreading further.
We did a lot of watering, the tomatoes were ready for tying up and needed side shooting again. I also gave them some feed for the first time this season. They’ve grown so big in the last week they needed moving to their final spacing which meant Neil had to dismantle the side staging to make room. We potted on the peppers (new ace) and the chillies (jalapeño) and everything looks quite tidy in plot 97 greenhouse.
Outside things were looking quite good. The beetroot and carrots I sowed (or in the case of the beetroot replanted!) had germinated really well, as had the turnips which I thinned out as they were already a good size. The chard and parsnips were fairing slightly less well, so I’ll check their progress next week and see if any more sowings are required!
Despite the warm weather Neil did a mountain of digging! He cleared enough space for the hoops and canes that will cover the brassicas in the next week or two.
The sun also meant we have signs of ripening, the redcurrants are turning blush pink and there were quite a few strawberries tantalisingly close to being ready. Am just hoping the liberal scattering of pellets means the slugs will have left some for us!
And a sunny note for the end, thanks to Bob for a lovely bunch of beautiful sweet williams to brighten up the living room!
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