by Neil Wilkinson | Mar 30, 2009 | Allotment
I have to be careful writing this post. Sunday was a lovely day down on the plot – bright sunshine, warm, good banter, cold beer – really the sort of afternoons specifically designed for being on the allotment. Unfortunately, Pilla didn’t get to enjoy any of it as she spent about 12 hours stuck inside working. So I’m going to try and downplay how nice it was…
I got there before lunch and had a couple of good jobs to get on with. The big one to tick off the list was to create some new little flower beds around the far corner of the plot and up near the apple tree. The far corner of the plot is an odd little spot, we had thought about putting a pond there (and still might put a small one in at some point in the future) but because it’s open to the space outside the site we get a bit of litter blown in and it had become a bit messy. We want to attract some wildlife too and it really wasn’t going to in the state it was in. We have a few old floorboards behind the shed, they have been on the plot since we took it over – the longer pieces got transformed into the fence but we still have some left. It took me a while – lots of cups of tea and thinking time was required. There was also a lot to see today – something must have been in the water in Abbey Hey recently because there has been a fence building spree on Site 3 – so I had to go have a nosey. As much as I like my pallet fence gate, I am definitely a bit jealous of Debbie’s new home made gate. It is faaancy! So here are our new beds, hopefully I’m going to add a few logs to the log pile to make it a bit more wild.
The beds also took a while because Chris brought me out a cold beer when I’d almost finished. This is exactly what you need when you’ve been building things in the allotment all day. He’s also given me a latch for the cold frame so we can prop it open properly. Legend :).
After they were done I had a few smaller jobs to do. We’d been to the plot on Saturday afternoon to plant some horseradish roots (in bins – they are virulent growers) which needed to be distributed around the plot. I then cleaned out the Pearson bins and filled up the manure bay. It’s taken a good amount of manure to get it two thirds full – this will hopefully provide us with enough rotted manure in the autumn for the whole plot.
I also planted some more seedlings. Some of the seedlings have finally appeared – maybe they heard me moaning about them last week. I forgot to take any pictures so you’ll just have to take my word for it. So far there seems to be little difference between peat and no-peat but it’s early days (thanks for the GW info mum!).
Our shallots have really come on leaps and bounds and the rhubarb is growing at a quite frankly frightening pace. It has become a monster. It’s looking pretty tasty already!
Tammy was spotted throughout the day enjoying the warmth of our greenhouse and the nice bed that Pilla created in the dark depths of winter. She alternated between sleeping in her bed and stretching out across the pallet we still have in there. She was incredibly warm!
We have a busy weekend next weekend with Paris and all – however we have both booked Monday off work which should be for me to recover, but I’m sure I can do that at the allotment, right?
by Philippa | Feb 22, 2009 | Allotment
Well this weekend (plus the bonus afternoon on Friday) has been jam packed and full of generous gestures. After moving the soil on Friday we wanted to make a start on a few little jobs that have been on the list of things to do for quite a while.
First on the list was planting the trees that were such a bargain from Aldi. Yesterday we realised that we were still in need of a few containers for our trees and also some to use as water butts. For some time we have been asking around friends and family and it just kept getting pushed further down the list. But having bought a plum and a cherry tree which needed planting asap this suddenly became a lot more pressing. We took a walk around the site to ask people where they got their containers from and we ended up with some very useful gifts! We got a big grey barrel for a water butt from Chris which had apparently enjoyed a previous life at the Robertson’s jam factory! He also donated a metal bin to match one that Bob kindly offered us which are perfect for the trees:
It took a surprising amount of time to fill two of them deep enough for planting! In fact, so much time that Neil was very productive in building some greenhouse staging. Neil’s dad provided lots of metal shelving which we adapted for the base and we bought 2m wooden batons to lay across the top.
Neil completed two sides and now only has one more to finish. We think that this will be sufficient for this year’s seedlings and one advantage of DIY staging is that we can take some or all of it down if we find we need more floor space for pots and growbags. We also added an old set of Ikea shelves that had been hanging around at Neil’s dad’s house since they were used in various university flats. I was a bit worried that all this activity in the greenhouse might have frightened Tammy off but she was around for most of the day and getting very friendly at times!
In order to catch up with Neil’s productivity I set about planting our garlic that arrived a couple of weeks ago. It comes in large bulbs which you have to break apart into cloves to plant just under the surface of the soil. Unfortunately for me whilst this again took some time to complete, all my efforts are now under 3-5cm of soil so not very visible-you will just have to trust me that there are now 30 cloves lined up between the canes waiting to grow into big juicy bulbs! Neil did some planting of his own on Friday as during our soil shovelling he found a lonely little unidentified bulb that is just sprouting a green tip. He rescued it and put it in our front border. We have a bet on as to what it might grow into. My money is on it being a crocus while Neil thinks it is a daffodil (as if!). We also put in a tangled cluster of strawberries that Debbie gave us-thanks Debs!
Finally, we popped to the store to buy some seed trays and some Jeyes fluid which we plan to disinfect the greenhouse with before sowing and Neil connected some spare drainpipe to the gifted water butt so after a few rainy Manchester days we will be able to water our fledgling plants without using the tap. All in all a good three days which has made it very hard to summon up sufficient enthusiasm for work on Monday morning!
Neil would like a special mention for the newly hung plot number which now adorns the gate. This was made out of a broken piece of pallet which Neil chiselled and scorched the number into. Very homely 🙂
by Neil Wilkinson | Feb 15, 2009 | Allotment
Some days at the allotment you can toil for hours and leave with the site looking much the same as when you started (see the greenhouse days) and others you can leave feeling like you have made some real progress. Today was definitely the latter. After a week off for a trip to London we returned with a spring in our step (and a fancy new watering can in our hand) to try and finish some jobs off.
First up we had to dig the front of the plot over- this was the bit we liberated from beneath the gravel last week. Pilla was digging away pulling all sorts of rubbish out of the ground and now it’s looking ready to plant some flowers in. Whilst doing this I carried on digging the top trek out of the last three beds. It’s a long & slow process, but it’s finally done. We just need some soil to fill them in and they will be ready. I also dug through the membrane in the corner spot where the apple tree will be and dug over the soil underneath. This was also filled with a bucket full of things you wouldn’t expect to find in the soil.
We took a break from digging to stroke Tammy and then go and see Bob at the allotment store. This is in a spot at the other side of the site so we don’t get over there very much, pretty much just for allotment meetings and when we need something from the society. This was the first time we’d been in the store, and it’s a little haven of all things allotmenty. From compost & grow bags, to seed trays (which is what we were after), bee & ladybird houses, cleaning fluid, fleece, organic seaweed solution, if you need it on the site it seems that Bob will sell it, all at very reasonable prices. We are going back next week with cash in hand to get some goodies.
I then put up some very simple shelves in the greenhouse and finished the compost box. I’ve made it so all the front panels can be lifted out, hopefully this will make it easier to get to the good stuff at the bottom once it’s getting filled up which Pilla started with some horse manure at the bottom. We also got given some more raspberry canes and a solitary rhubarb crown from Debbie – we had some raspberry canes already, so the new ones are going to fashion a kind of raspberry hedge against the fence at one side. The rhubarb was one which she freely admitted may not take but it’s worth a go. It doesn’t really matter if it doesn’t survive as Bob has already promised us some of his rhubarb plants.
Once we’d planted that lot we had a bit of a tidy up – we have a big pile of wood at one end of the plot some of which had paint on it which is gradually flaking off, it was all getting very messy. I tidied about a third of it up and put it out of site behind the shed. I don’t know if we’ll ever need this wood, but once you have something on the site you are loathe to get rid of it.
We’ll maybe get some soil sorted this week, next week we have plans for building staging in the greenhouse and buying some goodies from the store to start growing in the greenhouse – it’s all getting quite exciting – in an allotment sort of way!
On a further note, my running is taking me past lots of houses being renovated which have skips. The slow speed I go at means I can have a good nosey so I’m always on the lookout for allotment things. I think I have finally found something useful – an old curved shower door. With a bit of a wooden frame and some hinges, it’ll make a really good cold frame. I tried to go and get it today but the owners weren’t in and I felt a bit weird taking it without asking so it’ll have to wait for now, but it will be mine. Oh yes, it will be mine 🙂
by Neil Wilkinson | Jan 25, 2009 | Allotment
Phew. After what has probably been about four or five weeks the greenhouse is finally done. Today was the last push to get the remainder completed. Neil’s OCD and greenhouse related insomnia meant that he ended up changing a few panes around yesterday so that they were in the ‘right order’ and I have to admit that it does look better for it. When we arrived today the first job was to make some extra pieces out of some thin hardboard to cover those areas that had broken glass or we had run out of panes for. In the event we were only short two small rectangular pieces and Chris from the allotment opposite gave us some polycarbonate sheeting that we cut to fit. We then patched two very small areas of broken glass with some hardboard cut to fit. This is just a temporary job as we have kept a few sheets of glass that are a bit broken but still about 3/4 original size so pieces can be cut out of these at a later date. Neil had a go using a glass cutter but needs a bit more practice so we might ask Bob from the other side of the site to cut them for us as apparently he is a bit of an expert.
We have deliberately left a small opening at the back of the greenhouse as it is just the right size for Tammy to get through. In fact Neil found her asleep in our greenhouse when he arrived yesterday. She seems to be making herself at home.
Another job we made progress with is the building of the remaining beds. We had two left to build which are smaller than our standard beds so we have room by the gate to get things in and out. Neil did some nifty angled cutting and recycled some nails to build them. Next week we will build the last smaller bed to go round the base of the fruit tree we are planting and we will have to do some more digging through the gravel surface so they are ready to fill with soil once it has been ordered.
So it really feels like we are ticking some major jobs off the list now. Once these last beds are filled with soil we will tidy up the ground in front of the fencing so we can have some tubs of flowers out there and then sort out some staging for inside the greenhouse. Then it will be planting, planting, planting!
by Neil Wilkinson | Jan 4, 2009 | Allotment
Another cold day, another few hours at the allotment. In fact, it was so cold the camera batteries ran out of juice so the only pictures we have are from a few days ago. Here is what we had done to the greenhouse:
Exciting, glass! We’ve actually done more than that now, we have finished the roof on one side and done two-thirds of the other. Thats 20 panes of glass in so far, about another million to go and we still don’t have any idea if we have either enough, or the right shapes. Philippa was doing the cleaning (it is amazing how full of gunk greenhouse glass gets if you just let it sit) and I was wobbling about on a ladder and pallet combination to get the glass in.
This is a picture of the bed that Pilla made for Tammy the other day, and also the compost bin I made:
Hopefully with the week off Pilla has now and another weekend we’ll get a lot more of the greenhouse done by next week.
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