Update on allotment

Update on allotment

Here is an update (of sorts) to Gerry’s allotment plot 58 during the 2016 growing season which is drawing to a close now that we are in September & the start of autumn is only a couple of weeks away now.

I’ve actually spent very little time on the allotment this year owing to a number of different reasons chief amongst them being a 3 week stay in Spain. No, not a holiday unfortunately, my wife’s family lives over there & her mother is very ill & may soon pass away. My wife’s sister is normally her carer but she had urgent business that couldn’t be put of for any longer so we agreed to take her place caring for their mother for a few weeks. This was during July, the middle of the growing season in the UK.

Just before going off to Spain I sowed 3 rows of Beetroot Mixture seeds in the raised bed in front of the greenhouse. In fact that day I sowed many more seeds than I have ever done before thinking that I could thin them out once we get back from Spain. Unfortunately when I was able to get down to the plot, a few days later after our return, I found that none of the seeds had germinated! Of course I was upset about that as the previous crop of Beetroot had bolted & Gerry had pulled them out. It was beginning to look like I wouldn’t get any Beetroot this year!

Bolting Beetroot:

The crop that had bolted was from the same packet of seeds that I sowed in the greenhouse earlier in the year. I know some people say you should sow them in situ but I’ve been sowing a few crops of beetroot in the greenhouse & then transplanting them to the allotment for some years now & have had better results that way than sowing direct.

The other half of the raised bed had onions from sets that I’d planted out earlier in the year. These were doing very well. There were few weeds amongst them & these were dealt with quickly.

Onions just planted out in raised bed:

Onions growing very well in June:

Onions just harvested:

Last year I had grown potatoes in the raised bed, (once they were finished & had been dug up I put in horse manure & compost in the half where the onions grew), I was sure I’d dug them all out but no, I obviously missed quite a few as there were lots of potato plants, in rows, growing amongst the beetroots & onions!

Beetroot Mixture just harvested:

I had to let them grow as it would have meant disturbing the onions & beetroots.

When I lifted the onions I found about 1/3 of them had a fungus disease, possibly White Rot, as the basal plate showed a rotting mass of white “fluff”. If that was the cause it will mean the bed can’t be used for any of the Allium family for at least 10 years! Which means Garlic, Leeks, Spring onions & of course onions themselves can’t be sown in it any more! I mentioned this to Gerry & he said a few of his onions, that he had sown before Christmas 2015, had had the same problem. I said we will have to put some kind of permanent marker on the beds to remind us about this as we are bound to forget at some time during the next 10 years that we shouldn’t put any crops from the Allium family in these beds.

Potatoes:

I didn’t sow any potatoes this year but Gerry sowed several beds of them in different places on the plot.

He has since harvested some but others he has left in the ground so as to harvest when he needs them. He told me the results hadn’t been too bad as I’ve not seen them.

Runner beans:

His runner beans at the very top of the plot don’t seem to have done nearly as well as other years when he has had far more than he could use.

Beetroot:

He sowed a row of Beetroot seeds rather thickly but has never thinned the seedlings out with the result being that they are a long thick clump of leaves &, I imagine, little root! At least his germinated & grew!

Cabbages:

He planted out some cabbages seedlings he had started off at home while I was away.

Cabbages at top of plot:

Brussels Sprouts near greenhouse:

Unfortunately the plants have been stripped bare of leaves by the Great White’s caterpillars! The same has happened to his Sprouts, planted in the bed in front of the greenhouse! These he had covered with netting but still they managed to get in & he has been left with skeleton-like leaves.

Dwarf French beans:

He planted out Dwarf French beans also while I was away but I don’t think they did very well.

Broadbeans:

Butternut Squashes:

Gerry has decided to get rid of the bed of Raspberry canes alongside the greenhouse but he doesn’t seem to have decided yet just what he will put in their place next year. So this year there will be no Raspberries just as there have not been any Strawberries either. The bed at the bottom of the plot that I made up a few years ago had become so overrun with Bindweed it was practically impossible to get any fruit from it last year & this year I removed the black plastic sheeting I put down when I planted out the rooted runners later Gerry applied weedkiller to the whole bed. Next year he wants to plant something different there.

Gooseberry bushes behind shed:

He has also cut back, quite severely, the overgrown Gooseberry bushes behind the shed which obviously means that there will be no Gooseberries from the 6 bushes next year.

Yet the other 6 bushes near the top of the plot he hasn’t touched though they are probably in a worse condition. Perhaps he didn’t want to lose ALL his Gooseberries next year!

The Black & White Currant bushes near these Gooseberry bushes are also very overgrown & are in need of some TLC!

Asparagus:

Gerry has several Asparagus beds on his allotment but he has one plant that is bigger than any of the others & that is located at the very bottom of his plot.

Plums:

There have been next to no plums at all this year. The Yellow Plum tree, (he now only has the one having given up his half plot where there were several trees), has had very few plums this year the same as his two Victoria Plum trees at the top of his plot. Last year they had the best crop I’d seen on them since I started helping him about 8 years ago. He also has a black plum tree he thinks is called ‘Black Czar‘. It had masses of flower in the spring but has produced just ONE plum this year! Like the other fruit trees last year it had a tremendous crop of plums! There must have been a late frost as all the fruit trees had a very bad production this year unlike last year’s which was record breaking!

Apple tree:

Yet the apple tree over the shed, a cooker, possibly Brambly Seedling, has done much better again this year!

Last year the crop was the worst I’d ever seen since I’ve worked on the plot. Again I imagine it is the fault of the weather. Last year March, & April, especially, were fantastic months for fruit tree pollination whereas May was a poor month with lots of very cold weather. Just the opposite of this year’s weather.

Well that about sums up the allotment plot this year. As you all know I gave up my own allotment plot (Plot 12A) last year, in September, as I couldn’t manage it & help Gerry & attend to all the other demands on my time. As you can see I’ve done very little work on Gerry’s plot this year but fortunately his health has been much better & he has been able to do a lot more than for some years. Giving up his other, half allotment plot, has also freed him up more time to concentrate his attention on his main plot.

Well that’s all for now I don’t know if I will write another account on the plot this year, it seems unlikely as the season is drawing to a close.

 

Allotment 2015

Allotment 2015

There not having been much to write about the allotments during the winter/early spring I have only now gathered a few photos & something to write about.

Like previous years I plan on writing – at least once a month – a blog on the progress of things on the allotments I’m sharing with my friend Gerry from church. I’m back to sharing with him after having to give up my plot (12A) last September due to time constraints & the demands made on me. 

As April has been a an unseasonably warm & dry month I’ve been able to get down to Gerry’s allotments a little more often.

View from the top of Plot 58 on 1st April 2015:

Lets start with some colour from March:

Crocuses flowering under dwarf apple tree in front of the greenhouse:

Some Daffodils flowering in front of our shed:

In April lots of lovely red Tulips in the bed in front of the shed:

I’ve been able to do some sowings & some work on the ground. Gerry has done the “Lion’s share” of the digging & has planted lots of potatoes.

Potatoes recently sown:

At the time of taking the photo I didn’t know Gerry had planted his seed potatoes in these couple of beds that’s why the caption reads: Beds recently manured. All that was visible were remains of the horse manure he’d previously dug in!

I haven’t planted any at all though there is still time yet to put in 2nd earlies & maincrop spuds. Not all is lost!

Garlic ‘Marco’:

I planted out a few cloves of Garlic ‘Marco’ back in December in the bed in front of the greenhouse. Now they are growing nicely.

Leeks at the top of the plot with some Lettuces planted alongside them:

The day I went down to the plot with my son I had intended to dig up the last of the Leeks that I had transplanted from my old plot last September but I discovered Gerry had planted these Lettuces right alongside them! Digging up the Leeks would have disturbed the soil around the too much I thought & they might not survive. I therefore left the Leeks where they were. Oh well, perhaps we can save some seed from them to sow next year! At least we will be treated to some great ball shaped flowerheads for a few weeks!

I sowed a packet of Broadbeans in toilet roll tubes:

As well as some Beetroot seed & Lettuces – 2 different varieties in the greenhouse.

Broadbean plants before/after I’d planted them out:

Beetroot ‘Bolthardy’ before/after I finished planting them out:

The Beetroot germinated very well & I’ve since planted it out on the plot. In fact I made two sowings & planted them out with only a few days of difference between them.

Beetroot ‘Bolthardy’ 2nd sowing just planted out:

All these seedlings were planted out in a raised bed I made up on Plot 58 between November 2014 & March 2015.

As the Lettuce hadn’t germinated I had none to plant out! One of the two trays of seeds has produced a very few seedlings which for the present are still in their tray. No more seeds seem to be germinating though.

After planting out the Beetroot I sowed a couple of rows of Lettuces directly into the soil this time of both varieties.

I also sowed a couple of rows of Beetroot seed as I have several packets of seeds still:

(My brother has since given me another packet!)

View from top of Plot 59B:

Mixed runner beans just sown at the base of the netting on the plot division:

Jonathan hoeing red onion bed:

I’ve even “roped in” my son, Jonathan, to give me a hand. He is my youngest son, he’ll be 38 this year. He hasn’t helped me on Gerry’s main plot, 58, so far that’s why the only photo I managed to grab of him was while he was busy hoeing the red onion bed near the end of Plot 59B, Gerry’s half allotment.

The first day he came down with me he helped me get the green netting on the plot division between Gerry’s half plot & his neighbour’s plot set up much better. It’s now stronger & better held up than last year. I don’t have any photos of this work as I didn’t think to get “before & after” photos. Though the after ones I can get any time now, obviously! I could even dig out (excuse the pun!) some photos from last year where the netting is quite clear but I doubt anyone would be interested in seeing “before & after” photos of some netting!!!

He also helped me with the raised bed we have made up on Gerry’s side of the plot division. This is something I’ve wanted to do for several years but had neither the time nor the wood with which to do it. Using some of the planks from my old plot we were able to make it up.

Raised bed beside plot division being made up:

Raised bed beside plot division now finished:

Some months ago we changed the flooring in our flat. We had had vinyl flooring since we moved in in 2001. We put vinyl flooring down instead of carpeting as we had 5 little dogs. A few years ago the last of the dogs died but we didn’t change the flooring. During the last 3 months of 2014 we decided it was time to change the flooring so we started to buy carpets which I, & one of my brothers, put down. We then kept the old vinyl to put down on the allotments. During April I covered most of the paths on Gerry’s half plot with this vinyl making a waterproof access to any of the beds.

Vinyl covered paths on Plot 59B:

Potatoes just planted out:

Here you can see the vinyl flooring on the paths either side of this bed of potatoes. Unfortunately there won’t be enough to cover much of Gerry’s main allotment. All the paths are approximately the width of the rake head +/- 12″. This just gives me enough room to turn face forward across the width of the beds so I can reach the centre from either side without having to step on the soil when it is wet.

Views of the apple tree over shed:

This cooker, perhaps a ‘Brambly Seedling’, is now starting to flower so I took a couple of pictures which will serve to close this the first blog on the allotments I share with Gerry for this year.

The apple flowers are so pretty when seen close up I thought I’d take a really close up photo:

Next month I hope to be back with the goings on down at the plots. Till then “Keep on gardening!”

Now we are nearly through June & harvesting has begun!

Now we are nearly through June & harvesting has begun!

I’ve already harvested the first Potatoes & Strawberries of the year this month, as well as Lettuces & Broadbeans!

I’ve been able to finish off the Lettuces ‘Little Gem’ planted in the greenhouse border as well as those that were left over from that planting at the end of February & were planted outside under a dwarf apple tree in front of the GH.

There are more to be harvested from my allotment, Plot 12A, I planted them between the two rows of bamboo canes that make up my bean frame. They will have been harvested long before the runner/green beans block out much of the light.

Lettuce ‘Little Gem’ inside bean frame:

Lettuce ‘Little Gem’ just harvested & cleaned up at home:

I also sowed some more seed of the same Lettuce, (May). I accidently had 2 packets of seeds as I thought the 1st had been lost & bought a 2nd. The 1st turned up on the GH bench, under a tray of seedlings! As each packet has 1,000s of seeds I won’t need to buy any more this summer!

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Talking about sowing seeds, I sowed some Beetroot ‘Detroit 2’, in the GH, in March, which I planted out on my plot in early May – at the same time as the Lettuces. I also sowed some Beetroot ‘Cylindra’, a few days ago, (June) in the narrow bed alongside the bean frame.

Beetroot ‘Cylindra’ just sown in bed No.3:

Never grown this type before, only the round ones. I’d added spent compost from my balcony in this bed to lighten up the soil while making it more water retaining. I’d sowed the seeds of Lettuce ‘Little Gem’ here a week or so earlier but there was still space to spare for some more seeds. This will be the first time I’ve grown cylindrical Beetroots as till now they have always been the round ones. I’ll report back on the results in a few month’s time.

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In the middle of March I planted out my early Potatoes ‘Rocket’ & ‘Pentland Javelin’ & repeated the same mistake as other years of planting them too close together!

1st Early Potatoes ‘Rocket‘ being sown:

The spacing between plants in the same row isn’t too bad but I plant the rows too close together resulting in a mess once the plants really get going as I can’t get to them properly to earth/hill them up! I put in 3 rows where I now realize I should have only put in two! A mistake I’ve made previous years! Perhaps I ought to put up a sign to remind me next year to only plant two rows of seed potatoes in each bed!

I’d “chitted” (sprouted) a bag of seed potatoes ‘Rocket’ which were planted out at the same time as ‘Pentland Javelin’ which were not “chitted”. In fact I bought them only the day before planting them out!

All the potatoes were sown in the same bed which I’d dug horse manure into a few days earlier. Potatoes being the only rootcrop that doesn’t mind growing in freshly manured ground.

Just 2 weeks ago (10th June) I dug up all the ‘Rocket’ potatoes, there was only one row of them almost the width of the allotment. I ended up with quite a decent crop as well.

Potatoes ‘Rocket’ after harvesting:

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I also sowed some Leeks ‘Musselbourgh’ & ‘Red’ Onion seeds (from my daughter) in Gerry’s GH, to go in my plot, during March. These germinated very well & have since been planted out on my allotment.

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During March I also lifted the Parsnips that had been in the ground all winter as well as lots of Leeks.

Parsnips just harvested, now in greenhouse:

I put them in the GH to dry off a little for a couple of days. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Leeks Musselbourgh just lifted:

I was very pleased with the amount of Leeks I got this winter. I harvested them every couple of weeks.
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Near the end of March I planted up a bed of Onion sets ‘Stuttgarter’ as well as a row of Garlic cloves.

Onion sets ‘Stuttgarter’ just sown:

A month before I’d planted out some Onion sets ‘Setton’:

Garlic cloves just sown:

I planted out a bed of these same Onion sets in Gerry’s 1/2 allotment.
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In early May I sowed a 2nd packet of Broadbeans as the 1st packet sown in February gave me only 3 plants – one of which I hoed away! They are called ‘Sutton’ & are a dwarf variety. Most of these seem to have germinated & are now making nice plants.

Broad beans ‘Sutton’ just germinating:

The 2 plants from the earlier sowing are flowering. This week I’ve picked some of the pods.
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May was a very busy month for me because I also planted out lots of Runner bean seeds on the bean frame, most of these were mixed seeds from last year. Some were black seeds, some speckled, some white & also a packet of ‘Scarlet Emperor’ I’d bought.

Runner bean seeds saved from 2013:

Runner beans germinating:

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Beetroot ‘Detroit 2’ seedlings inside bean frame:

Beetroot ‘Detroit 2’ in Bed No.4 (bean frame):

What a difference 14 days make!

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During May I also planted out 2 beds of Tomato plants; one, ‘Gardener’s Delight’ (a particular favourite of mine!), the other, ‘Sunstream’, a small, plum shaped fruit whose seeds I’d saved from some tomatoes my wife bought during the winter. I liked the taste of them & saved some seeds. These germinated very well in the GH, as did the others.

Tomatoes ‘Gardener’s Delight’ just planted out:

Tomato ‘Sunstream’ just planted out:

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On my plot I also sowed some Carrot ‘Purple Haze’ seed from my daughter. Never grown purple carrots before!:

I also sowed a few Sunflower seeds she gave me as well. These are in the middle of the narrow bed alongside the beanframe.

I didn’t know when I sowed the Sunflowers that they were a dwarf type! Now they are shading out the Purple Haze Carrot seedlings!

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At the far end of this bed I planted out the pots of Pansies, Daffs & Crocuses that had been growing on our balcony railings. The Pansies are doing very well & have flowered a lot. They add a welcome note of colour!

Just this week a light pink Hyacinth has begun to flower!!! I’ve never, ever heard of a Hyacinth flowering in the middle of June before!!!

Well that just about resumes what I’ve done on my allotment, Plot 12A, over the last few months!

Be back next month with more news on Gerry’s plots!

Hot July down at 12A!

Hot July down at 12A!

What a scorcher of a month we had this year! It’s been years since we last had such a hot spell in July! (Since July 2006 in fact!) At first, with the cold spring, it seemed like we were going to have another “fizzer” (Austral slang: A person or thing that disappoints, fails to succeed, etc.) summer, like last year’s, instead of the sizzler we all hope for. Fortunately it turned out to be the latter rather than the former!

Lettuces ‘Little Gem’:

Lettuce ‘Little Gem’ ready to be picked:

Lettuce ‘Little Gem’ inside the runner bean frame:

Lettuce ‘Little Gem’ now bolting! A close up look:

The Lettuces in the 1st & 3rd picture are in the same bed!

A few days later here is where they ended up:

This year I thought I had planned my sowings very well but I didn’t count on such a cold spring nor such a hot summer! So they ALL came together at practically the same time & I had a tremendous glut!

I took a couple of bagfuls into church & on my Facebook page I said that if anybody wanted any to drop me a line but only one of my brothers did so. He came round to pick up some for one of his sons & his girlfriend. My wife & I were eating one a day each – but you can only eat so many! Lots of Lettuces from this bed & the one under the runner bean frame ended up making compost! ;-((

Beetroot ‘Baby Solis’ & ‘Chioggia’ being picked:

This year was a VERY good year for Beetroot! I don’t remember having had one single plant go to seed/bolt! Just the exact opposite of last year when I hardly got any at all to eat! It made no difference whether they were transplanted – as the great majority were – or sown directly into the ground. I also had some of ‘Bolthardy’. They all gave great results! I even sowed a couple more packets on Gerry’s plot after I lifted his onions & the ground had been bare for a few weeks.

However I was very disappointed with ‘Chioggia’! It was supposed to have pink & white rings but all I ended up with were paler red Beetroots – without pink & white rings! I had 3 plantings on my plot which I thought I’d labelled correctly, but after the first harvesting I thought perhaps I’d mistakenly labelled ‘Baby Solis’ for ‘Chioggia’. When the 2nd batch was harvested & they were the same I thought “This is rather odd but let’s see how the last batch I put in on my plot turn out”. These were planted under the runner bean frame but not a single pink or white ring in sight!

I’d made a last sowing, this time on Gerry’s plot & directly in the ground & the packet was placed at the top of the row. When I harvested them I thought this time they must have pink & white rings – but no, they were just a paler red, not even pink!

I’d bought the seeds precisely because of this novelty!

Broadbeans ‘Aquadulce Claudia’:

Plants growing very well on my plot:

Broadbeans ‘Aquadulce Claudia’ just harvested:

More, a few days later:

I had a very good crop of Broadbeans ‘Aquadulce Claudia’. I picked so many that I have frozen them & will be using them little by little over the coming months!

Leek seedlings ‘Musselburgh’:

These seedling Leeks grew very quickly & by the end of the month were ready to be moved:

Leeks from 2012 with flowers & lots & lots of bees!:

Bees seem to go mad over the flower heads of all types of Alliums! Gerry planted some type of perennial onions just outside of the greenhouse door on his allotment a few years ago when my wife & I were visiting our family in Spain. These grow & flower every year & they are covered in bees every year!

Onions ‘Sturon’ from sets:

These really did do very well this year! I’m very pleased with the results from just one single bag of sets:

Here, at the end of the month, they are beginning to fall over. In just a few weeks time they will be harvested.

After such a rainy summer during 2012 I found I had enormous onions. Before then I’d always been unsure about how to water them. I’d asked for advice & what I got was confusing; some say they water them when they plant them & don’t give them a drop more all summer, others said they watered theirs like the rest of their veg.

This year I decided I’d water them frequently & I’m glad I did as the results speak for themselves! I’ll put a couple of photos in my blog for August.

Pinto beans at the top of the plot are now flowering:

These beans were sown in the 2nd bed at the top of my plot at the beginning of June & within 6-7 weeks were flowering! I’d never sown them so early before.

Here are the same Pinto beans now climbing & flowering:

These beans don’t grow very high but these have grown taller than any others I’ve grown before.

New Potatoes ‘Rocket’:

Although I planted the seed potatoes very early this year, (middle of February), they came through at practically the same time as others planted later.

Potatoes ‘Rocket’, which are growing in the last bed on my plot, are now being harvested:

I’d harvested the first few at the beginning of the month but this year I started harvesting as I needed them instead of digging them all up the same day as I’d done in previous years!

Even so I now have several carrier bags of potatoes now at home from a sowing of a few more earlies & some maincrop. We should have enough potatoes to last us through to about Easter next year!

Strawberries just picked from the 1st bed at the top of my plot:

Here they are at home on the scales:

A few weeks later I also got a lot from the bed at the bottom of my plot:

I’m ending this long, (& long overdue!) blog on this bright note of the summer days now over for this year!

Till my next blog on August, happy gardening to all my readers!

Last look back at winter on the plots – at the end of March!

Last look back at winter on the plots – at the end of March!

I thought we’d take a last look at the plots after the winter, (now that the Spring has supposedly sprung!), starting in January 2013:

Leeks & Lentils at beginning of January on Plot 12A:

View along Plot 12A from top, beginning of January:

View along my plot from the top, middle of the month:

Here are some photos from February:

Leek bed a month later:

A Before photo just prior to harvesting a couple of rows:

An After photo of the Leek bed once a row or two were harvested:

The same bed of Leeks but harvested on the first day of March:

Beetroot ‘Baby Solis’ harvested & chucked straight on the compost heap!

These poor Beets were totally useless even if they don’t look too bad in the photo.

Last year was a total waste of time & space for me trying to grow Beetroot! I’d sown MUCH more than in previous years but harvested practically nothing!

Middle of the month: Carrots & Parsnips sown:

Might seem a strange time to sow Carrots but I was itching to put some seeds in & thinking March was just around the corner & the weather would be quickly warming up (!) &, having many packets of Carrot seed & several of Parsnips, I thought I could risk sowing some now. “If they don’t survive,” I thought, “nothing really lost as I’ve plenty more I can sow later.” Just as well as they are unlikely to germinate after weeks of winter weather all through February & March!

A few photos of my plot, 12A, in March:

We had a couple of dry, if rather cold, days at the beginning of March so I took advantage of them to dig in the last of the manure Gerry had brought down a couple of days earlier. I wanted to plant my new potatoes ‘Rocket’ in this bed. I’d started to dig in the horse manure in the middle of February, just before the snow came down, but was unable to finish it till about 3 weeks later.

New/Early Potatoes ‘Rocket’ being planted out at beginning of March, 1st row:

New/Early Potatoes ‘Rocket’ being planted out at beginning of March, 2nd row:

Second bed from the far end of the plot being manured:

Unknown Potatoes planted out in 2nd bed from the far end:

These potatoes came from the online shopping my wife does. She ordered new potatoes & when we saw them they were already sprouting! I kept about a pound of them back that were more the size of seed potatoes & put them in the 2nd tray of ‘Rocket’ that I had chitting in the kitchen. I planted them out once I’d finishing preparing the bed about a week after the ‘Rocket’ seeds were put in.

Onion sets ‘Sturon’ just planted out:

Planting these Onion sets was almost the very last thing I’ve been able to do on my own plot:

Broadbeans planted out:

This was the last time I was able to do anything on my plot during March owing to the extremely cold, strong winds that plagued us all of the month.

I only had 15 plants that had been growing in cardboard tubes in the greenhouse on Gerry’s allotment. I was going to plant out the last of the seeds directly in the soil but I’ve been unable to find them!

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Gerry’s plot during the first 3 months of 2013:

This is how the year/month began:

Still here!:

Snow on the greenhouse!:

I tried to write the date in the snow on the greenhouse roof but it starting breaking up before I could finish:

There were several inches of snow covering everything!

Now a few from February:

Bed after being dug over:

I started to dig this bed over during a short spell of dry but frosty weather in December but I couldn’t finish it. I spent half an hour digging but got less than half done before I was forced to give up because of the intense cold.

This bed had bugged me for weeks but, finally, I was able to complete it! I felt very relieved when I’d finished! Now it has a pile of manure waiting to be dug in!

Bed of Leeks & Lentils near the greenhouse:

There are actually two beds chock-a-block full of Leeks & Lentils.

Brussels Sprouts:

I managed to harvest some sprouts form these plants but the majority came from the one plant that escaped the netting! Although these have been under the netting since I planted them out all the leaves have been eaten away! I saw no caterpillars on them – I don’t see how they could have got through the fine netting anyhow!

Victoria Plum trees:

Some lovely blue sky, quite a rarity during the last three months!

Daffodils & Tulips sprouting & rests of Gladioli:

This bed right outside the shed looked a real mess & was another of those things that bugged me for a long time! I feel a great deal of satisfaction once I’ve been able to finish whatever it is that bugs me!

Daffodils & Tulips sprouting & no more rests of Gladioli:

Some views of the plot in March:

The same bed as above but nearly a month later:

Onion sets ‘Sturon’ just planted out:

Onion sets ‘Stuttgarter Giant Karmen’ sown:

To finish this blog I’m including some Crocuses that sneaked into the allotment in some old compost I brought down from my balcony!

Some Crocuses under the dwarf apple tree in front of the greenhouse:

Not much to show for three months but then I’ve hardly set a foot on the allotments since October 2012! This has been mostly due to the record amount of rainfall during November & December which continued into the New Year. January brought a lot of snow making it totally impossible any work. February was very cold as well & I wasn’t able to do much & March has been so windy & terribly cold that I’ve hardly been able to do anything either.

I hope to start my monthly series of allotment blogs from the end of next month & I hope I’ll be able to show a little more progress than I’ve made over the last 5 months!

Plot 12A Marching – marching on!

Plot 12A Marching – marching on!

‘Rocket’ seed potatoes on Plot 12A

I planted out my ‘Rocket’ seed potatoes about 10 days ago, on 2nd March. I had intended to plant them a week earlier but the weather was against me:

1st row planted:

2nd row put in:

Both rows now covered up & markers put in place:

Like last year I will put some plastic half hoops over them & cover them with fleece. I didn’t have time to do that on Saturday (9th).

On Saturday I also put in some unknown variety that we got with our weekly shopping some weeks ago. They were New potatoes but a lot of them were sprouting. As I had a trayful of ‘Rocket’ chitting in the kitchen & a 2nd tray with just a couple of rows, I thought I would take a chance on planting some of these. I put some in the 2nd tray & now they are in the ground:

On the subject of potatoes I bought some at a Potato Fair a couple of weeks ago:

They are both maincrop varieties: Picasso & Red Cara:

Picasso had been recommended to Gerry as being one of the best potatoes for our region by a man who grew them all his life so we both bought some:

Red Cara is described as being fairly resistant to blight which is why I bought it. I hope it lives up to its description:

I left them in the darkest, coolest place in our flat. I took the bag out this morning to find they had all got long sprouts on them! That was a big surprise!

Red Cara sprouting:

Picasso sprouting:

I have nowhere in the flat to put them out in the light so they will have to go down to the greenhouse on the allotment, be put in trays & then covered with a couple of layers of fleece as this week we are expecting sub zero (Celsius) temps all week. :-(( I have no bed prepared for them as I hadn’t planned on planting them till after Easter. The weather has been against us gardeners all winter. I’m at least 4 months behind with the preparation & planting.

I harvested some of the Leeks growing on my plot this month:

I was able to put in a bedful of Onion sets ‘Sturon’ last Saturday, too:

Onion sets ‘Sturon’:

Now in the ground:

Carrots & Parsnips were sown in a very narrow bed that hasn’t had any manure or compost added. I just broke up the soil to the depth of a fork, levelled it off & made a couple of furrows with a hoe & sowed them. As luck would have it we didn’t have a drop of rain in a couple of weeks! Typical British weather!

Although this blog is all about my plot I can’t help but ending with a photo of some Daffodils & Crocuses flowering on my balcony at home as there are no flowers on the plot at the present time:

Though there will be lots of Daffs & some Tulips on Gerry’s plot over the coming weeks.

Happy spring gardening to everyone.

Winter Wonderplots?

Winter Wonderplots?

A couple of views of Gerry’s plot:

8th December:

Dry Sunflower heads for ‘Bird Bar’:

These were “drying” in the greenhouse but got covered in mould! Due to the extremely wet weather of November & beginning of December:

I put them out on Gerry’s half plot opposite the greenhouse expecting the rain to wash off the mould then after a couple of dry days the birds would eat them. It didn’t rain in a week!!! It’s since rained quite a bit but I haven’t been back since the 11th!

Brussels Sprouts ‘Bosworth F1’:

I’ve never grown anything from the Brassica family before this year as neither my wife nor I like any of them:

I had some seeds, from a swap I think, so I sowed them as Gerry & my brother like them & there was a free bed. Although the photo is not very clear, I have them growing under netting over yellow hoops. They haven’t done at all well & I’m very disappointed with them. One plant however escaped the netting & has grow outside all summer & yet it’s the only plant that has produced any decent Sprouts! I noticed that the top of the plant has been practically stripped, whether by birds or caterpillars I don’t know.

Sprouts harvested:

Here are the few I managed to harvest, most from the one plant outside the netting. These are for my brother, to thank him for all the help he gave me earlier in the year:

I’m only sorry there aren’t enough for Gerry also. But I know he will understand. Anyway on the plants under the netting there are still some small buttons & he may yet get some!

11th December:

After a hard frost during the night we had freezing fog all day & this was my view of his allotment at 10.30am:

Bed half dug:

In retrospect it was a bit foolish of me to try to dig this bed over with the frosty weather as I’d only managed to get half of it done when I had to give up because my hands were too cold to continue:

Lavenders at the top of Gerry’s plot:

These are plants I grew from seed last year & then put here to make a sort of small hedge. They flowered very well this year & I’m very pleased with them:

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My own 1/2 allotment, Plot 12A:

Here’s a view from the bottom of my plot:

I forgot to take one from the top to compliment!

The bed of Leeks & Lentils:

My poor Lettuces & Beetroots:

I had intended to harvest the Lettuces when we got back from the birth of our first Spanish grandchild at the beginning of November but with such a wet month it turned out to be impossible.

The snails had a ‘Fiesta’ with them & they were full of holes & in such a bad condition I left them were they were with the intention of pulling them up & consigning them to the compost bin!

The Verbena bonariensis that I’ve grown for the first time:

They flowered very well but I thought they were an annual plant when I planted them! I’ve since discovered they are perennials! I’ll have to move them come spring.

Leeks: Close up:

These are growing where the runner bean stand is. They grew amongst the runner beans all summer & look none the worse for it:

These were seedlings I grew in the greenhouse & then put here for a “short” time! Trouble is I never got around to moving them from this “temporary” bed!

My Strawberry bed at the top of my plot:

Behind it you can just make out my composting area which is divided into 4 “bins”. My brother made it up for me in March this year.

I also have a few plants at the very bottom of my plot only I didn’t take a picture of them.

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Last ‘Allotment’ blog this year

Well this is my last ‘Allotment’ blog for this year. Thank you for bearing with me during the year & for all the comments you have made. I hope next year any blogs I make up on our allotments will be better & a little more ‘entertaining’ than this year’s!

Summer ending & autumn beginning (Plot 12A)

Summer ending & autumn beginning (Plot 12A)

September – October

Beetroot ‘Solis’:

The Spanish lady, Amparo, who spent 2 weeks here in August, & I sowed these seeds a couple of days before she had to return to Spain:

I had grown Carrots in the narrow bed earlier this year but it had been empty for about a month:

I was disappointed with the poor germination rate of these seeds & with the time they took to come up! Even now they have not made nearly as much progress as I would have liked:

The Pinto beans you can see on the left of the photos have made a lot of progress in just 1 month:

Beetroot ‘Solis’ in October:

Lettuce ‘Paris Island Cos’:

I sowed the very last of the packet of seeds I bought at the beginning of the year on the 1st of September:

Making progress:

More plants germinated & greater progress:

On the left of the photos you can see a tomato plant with fruit. This is the only plant to survive in the bed! All the rest of the plants died of Blight in July but this one, although infected as well, has somehow managed to survive & cling to life while producing fruit! I’m saving some seed from this plant to see if the genes will carry through to next year.

The same plants in early October:

Leeks:

Only the two rows on the right were planted out on the date in the photo, the others were planted out a week or two earlier! All the green you see are NOT weeds but Lentils I’d sown some weeks earlier when I had nothing to put in the bed.

Here is a view of the Leeks now in the first couple of days of October:

Leeks in half bed:

As this half bed was empty, except for weeds!, I thought I’d plant Leeks there as well. All the seedlings in both photos came from a guy who had sown several rows very thickly of his own saved seed. He told me I could have as many as I liked as he had plenty planted out for his own use.

Half bed of Leeks now in October:

Peas ‘Hurst Green Shaft’:

These were the very first pods of these peas that I picked & took home:

Pinto beans at far end of plot:

These are turning out to be the best bed of Pinto beans I’ve grown this year! They are at the end of my plot, it’s the last bed of my plot & where I grew early Potatoes ‘Rocket’ earlier this year:

A broad end on shot, rather than a shot from the beginning of the bed as in the other photos:

I put hoops in here as I wanted to cover the beans with fleece to give them a little protection against a possible frost we were forecast, as we had days of very strong winds I was unable to put the fleece over them.

Photo taken in October of the bed of Pinto beans at the far end of my plot:

Runner beans:

I’ve only included ONE photo of each as the plants look practically the same all month!

Runner beans ‘Celebration’:

This bean is easy to distinguish from the other beans I have grown as the pods are a lighter green & flatter than other beans the skin is also very smooth:

A photo of the last Runner beans ‘Celebration’ just harvested:

Runner beans ‘Streamline’:

These beans had a very rough pod but they produced 100s of beans:

Last of Runner beans ‘Streamline’ just picked:

Climbing French Bean ‘Cherokee Trail of Tears’, is, I think, the name of this ‘Unknown variety’. I got some seeds in a swap on another gardening forum at the start of the year. The labels got lost when it came to planting out the 5 or 6 climbing beans I’d sown:

French Climbing Bean ‘Cherokee Trail of Tears’ in October:

French Climbing Bean ‘Cherokee Trail of Tears’ seen much closer up in October:

The seeds are jet black & apparently can be cooked in the same way as we cook Pinto beans.

Tomatoes: Blight survivors:

These two plants are the only survivors of the blight that ravaged the allotment field during late July/early August this year. The further of the two didn’t survive to October, it was in such a bad condition that I pulled it up:

One surviving plant left:

Only Tomatoes harvested in 2012:

Last photo taken in October:

Last Tomatoes just picked. I picked these because we were forecast frost that night! I picked all the fruits that were just beginning to change colour & the green ones of a similar size:

To finish this blog of my own allotment, Plot 12A, here is a photo taken, from the inside, of the glorious show put on by these Perennial Sunflowers which I transplanted from Gerry’s allotment to the top of mine to help cover the corrugated iron sheeting that makes up the composting area:

Here is what they look like from the central pathway where all the allotments begin:

See you next month.

End of first season on Plot 12A

End of first season on Plot 12A

I’m now coming to the end of my first season on the new half plot I got from the Town Council on the 1st of September 2011.

Even if I dare say so myself, I’ve done quite a bit of work & transformed it completely! There’s little to see in the way of plantings as I’ve been concentrating on clearing away the very old overgrown Raspberry beds. Thanks to an exceptionally mild & dry November I’ve been able to do much more than I could have ever imagined when I took the plot on four months ago!

Ex-Raspberry plot 1st to be dug & manured:

All the Raspberry beds have been dug out & the roots removed. The couch grass (twitch) has been dug out as much as possible, but, as we all know, for as much as you try to remove every tiny trace of root, lots always remains & in the spring I expect it will be as green as a bowling green! The very first bed I dug up has sprouted a generous crop of grass!

First & second beds dug & manured:

It is hard work, very hard work clearing away the Raspberry canes & even worse digging out the Couch grass! As my back isn’t in very good condition I have to stop for a breath & a rest after practically every forkful!!! It’s a real fight trying to get the grass roots apart sufficiently so as to be able to lift the mass out of the soil. I have to rock the fork backwards & forwards several times on two sides before I can get down to getting the spit of soil & roots out! An exhausting task, even for a person half my age!

The First bed refers to the very first bed I dug up & manured. It wasn’t part of the Raspberry beds. The Second bed is the first of the Raspberry beds to be dug up & manured. Hope that clears up doubts as to the numbering of the beds!

The First bed was planted with a few Strawberry plants at its far end whereas none of the old Raspberry beds have anything planted in them. This bed is also at the furthest end of my half plot, there is a division put up by the council gardeners which is clearly visible in the photos.

Third bed dug & manured:

This is actually the Second bed of the old Raspberry beds. It’s the third bed from the end of the plot. There’s nothing planted in it at present.

View of bed alongside Compost heap:

Here is where my plot (12A) actually starts. The main path for cars & dividing the allotments field in two down the centre is on the far side of my compost heap. I will have to do something about it in a few months’ time as it is far too big at present. Dividing it into two/three parts seems to me to be the most sensible thing to do. First I will have to empty it! Unfortunately it is totally infested with Bindweed!

Horse manure being dug in:

This is the very first bed from the beginning of the plot. It was really choked up with Bindweed & Couch grass. I dug it all over trying to remove as much of the roots as possible. Later I dug it over a 2nd time adding the horse manure.

Bed finished digging in manure:

It took me two days work but now it’s finished! That was just digging in the manure!

View of manured section:

A couple of weeks later the 2 beds here are finished & the manuring has been finished. The 2nd bed was full of several rows of Onion sets. After weeding them & getting out as much as was possible of the Bindweed roots I pulled the loosened soil up around the necks of the plants to stabilize them. Since then I’ve mulched them with soil improver & they look 100% better!

Strawberry plants just planted out:

These Strawberry plants come mostly from the plants that Gerry had in pots in his GH at home. He brought them down to the GH on the allotment where they spent about 6 months. I put them outside when they started to flower but brought them inside again when the runners started to root into the grass around the GH! I put the runners into pots & pegged down other that hadn’t rooted yet. That way I got a whole load of new plants to put in this bed.

Strawberries mulched with soil improver:

A couple of weeks later Gerry brought a load of sacks of Soil Improver down to the allotment & I used a couple of sacks to mulch around the Strawberries & the Calendulas.

Calendulas & Strawberry plants on Christmas Eve:

Here is the most up to date photo I have of this bed which was taken on Christmas Eve.

To end this blog I’m including a series of photos of the bed that contained Leeks, Beetroot, Carrot & Onion seedlings when I took over the tenancy in September.

Leeks, Beetroot, Carrot & Onion seedlings 16th September:

Leeks, Beetroot, Carrot & Onion seedlings 5th October:

Leeks, Beetroot, Carrot & Onion seedlings 23rd November:

Leeks, Beetroot, Carrot & Onion seedlings 3rd December:

Leeks, Beetroot, Carrot & Onion seedlings Christmas Eve:

Sometime in the New Year I will continue to make updates but almost certainly the next Episode in this saga won’t be until Spring is officially here!

“Save it for a rainy day!”

“Save it for a rainy day!”

“Save it for a rainy day!” Something I’ve been saying for months – at last it came along!

I have had seedlings growing in seedtrays in the greenhouse on the allotment for months (I have already written about my Alpine Strawberries in a previous blog) & today I finally got around to transplanting the poor Lavenders that have been in the tray for months!

Quite surprisingly for me the seed germinated quite quickly! I’d expected them to take a long time & be difficult – but just the opposite in fact!

I transplanted the majority of the seedlings into small black pots but a few bigger ones I put into individual pots of a bigger size. I was surprised by the extent of their root system & their relative “wiriness”.

As the thunderstorms kept coming & going I was forced to take refuge in the GH. So I started looking at the packets of seed I had “lying around“. I found a couple of packets Lettuce seeds; I had one of Cos type, Rubone, that my wife brought me back from Spain last year, I’d sown a few of these & they have all now been harvested & eaten! I didn’t sow any more of these because they had been “lost” for a couple of months! When we found them a few weeks ago they were damp. I left them, spread out, for a couple of days to dry & tried to sow some but nothing has come up in the seed tray!

Then I found a packet Gerry gave me a few weeks ago of “Webbs Wonderful” that was unopened so I opened it & sowed a few seeds in a seedtray. Looking through some packets from last year I found a an open packet of Lettuce “Tom Thumb” so I sowed some of them as well! I don’t know if these will germinate or what the germination rate might be. We’ll see in the coming week or two!

I also sowed some more Water Melon seeds, Sugar Babe, that my wife brought me back from Spain last year, I’d sown a few of these & they have all now been planted out in the allotment. A couple of the plants have little yellow flowers. I haven’t noticed any fruit yet, but then I haven’t got down to look at them close up.

I sowed some flower seeds as well. My wife likes Godetias very much & I’ve grown them several years on our balcony. I bought a packet a couple of weeks ago & sowed some in pots on the balcony. I still had a few left over so I put them in a seedtray in the GH on the plot as well! She also loves Carnations, she always associates them with her country, Spain. So I’ve always grown a few on the balcony for her. She brought back a packet of seeds from Spain & I sowed some earlier in the year. They all germinated very well but once again I didn’t get around to transplanting them.

A few weeks ago I brought them home from the GH on the plot to transplant them into pots for use on the balcony. Then my wife asked me to give them to our daughter so she could plant them in her garden. So I’ve sown some more today!

What else did I sow? Hmm… Ah, yes, Carrot “Autumn King 2“. For some reason they don’t seem to germinate on our plots! I sowed 5 rows amongst rows of Onions a few weeks ago but there has been no sign of a single seed having germinated as yet! Gerry told me last year he had never been able to grow Carrots on the plot, but I thought I might have better luck, but it seems not! So today I sowed some in a seedtray in the GH but will transplant them into the soil as soon as they get their true leaves & then we will see!

A guy from an allotment across the central path gave me a few Leeks today. I’ve never grown them before. One he said was an early variety & the other a late one. I have no place suited to them for the moment so I’ve heeled them in for a few days till I can find a more permanent site for them.

As you can see I had quite a busy “Rainy Day”!

http://myfolia.com/journals/107090-save-it-for-a-rainy-day%5DSave it for a rainy day!

I’ve copied this blog of mine which I wrote on My Folia.

These events I describe in the blog took place on Tuesday 28th June. It was a day marked by thunderstorms all day long!