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!”

Giving up!

Giving up!

As of September 2014 I’ve given up my half allotment, Plot 12A, as I couldn’t spend nearly as much time as I needed to on it & the needs of our daughter & grandchildren have also restricted my time there. A third reason is that we don’t get much out of it as neither my wife nor I are keen on many vegetables that can be grown on it. We only really like potatoes, tomatoes, lettuces, sweet peppers, cucumbers, beetroot, onions, garlic & strawberries.

Plot at beginning of September 2014:

We were ending up with gluts & deficits – especially with lettuces as, for as much as I try to stagger them, the weather seldom played ball & I’d end up with gluts that couldn’t be used or even given away! We thought it didn’t make sense to continue to pay out for a plot that is getting more expensive every year & could only be used for less than 6 months a year.

The orange fencing marks the end of the plot or the division between plots 12A & 12B.

Nevertheless it’s not the end to my allotment growing as Gerry has told me I can grow some things on his 1 & 1/2 plots. That’s how I started out in 2010, helping him. It was he who encouraged me to apply for my own plot! He has supported me during these years in letting me use his greenhouse on the plot & using his shed & tools. In turn I’ve tried to help him on his plots at the same time.

This past summer saw a big struggle in maintaining his plot & mine as well at the same time. Having even less time on the plots made both our plots suffer & once weeds start to get the upper hand it’s an uphill fight against them which they seem to win most of the time.

On August 1st Gerry had to go into hospital for a major operation which saw him on the op table for 9 hours! He is now recovering well but it will still be a few months till he regains his former strength. It won’t be till next spring that he will be able to work on his plots again & at that time I will help him again.

I’ve added a few photos of views of the plot I’ve given up, some were taken at the beginning of the month some just a few days ago. These will obviously be the last pictures I will be taking of Plot 12A.

Plot 12A Beds being dismantled:

As you can see from these photos I’ve started to dismantle the raised beds that my brother & I put up 3 years ago.

Since the pictures were taken I’ve finished the dismantling & today my wife (she very rarely sets foot on the allotments!) & I took down the runner bean plants while she foraged around for the last of the beans. If I can get down tomorrow I’ll take the canes down & return them to Gerry who kindly lent me them.

I’ve also got two teepees of runner beans to take down yet & when they are finished that will be the end of my dismantling of the plot.

Thanks to many of you who gave me encouraging comments & their support over these past 3 years. I very much appreciated them! 🙂 Thank you all for putting up with my, more or less, monthly blogs on our allotments as well.

But … you won’t be getting off too lightly as I will be back with more blogs on the allotments – when I can’t be sure but I’ve sufficient photos from Gerry’s plots to make up several blogs!

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!