Well Done Daisy!!!

Congratulations to Daisy, she laid her first egg yesterday. The snow has almost disappeared here in Middlesbrough, though we are forecast to have more over the weekend, not too much I hope as i'd like to get a few things sorted, even if it's just cutting wood to size for all those construction jobs I have to do.

I've been looking through my magazines over the last couple of days, trying to get some ideas, looking at seed catalogues and checking what seeds I have left from last year to see what I need ordering. ADVICE NEEDED, when it says that you need to buy fresh seed each year for example with parsnip, if you didn't open the seed from last year and it is still sealed as when it was bought, will this still be ok if it is within it's BBE date on the reverse of the packet?

Update and the Allotment Song

Following on from my last post, I went along to the pruning course, it was really interesting and has given me a small amount of confidence for when I need to start and prune all those new trees we are waiting to be delivered for the orchard and my own four trees for my plot. But due to the snow, there hasn’t been any progress made with preparing the holes for the impending trees, nor with any of the winter jobs that I’m so keen to get on with.

I think that the very cold weather is affecting Mrs Pepperpot, she hasn’t laid any eggs for a week now, it says in one of my magazines that when the weather is sooooo cold they use a lot of the nutrients from their food to keep warm and it’s been recording as low as -10 at times during the last week or so. I can’t blame her really.

So as there has been nothing more done at the allotment, due to the mass covering of snow here in Middlesbrough, I thought I’d share with you my son’s allotment song which he sings to me. I love this song but can never get the words right, which really annoys Caleb, so I’ve jotted it down and now I’m going to share it with you:

Down at my allotment there are vegetables and flowers,
I planted every one of them and stay there hours and hours,
I have a little shed where I can make a cup of tea,
Down at my allotment is the only place for me.

Carrots, Cauliflowers, Onions and Beans,
Courgettes, Brussels sprouts, Squash and Wintergreens,
Tulips, Daffodils, Marigolds and Phlox
Sunflowers, Violets, Daisy’s, Hollyhocks.

Hope you liked it. But for now, I guess it’s time to get the books out and start planning what is going to go where and what new seeds I’m wanting to try.

My Girls!

Meet my girls, I’ve managed to capture all four together, but Hazel (Grey) is hiding behind the others so you don’t see her lovely features. Four eggs to date, so in one week and with only one bird laying so far I’m well on track to keeping myself well stocked up over the winter, when they are all laying I’m going to have ample, then I can start to think about letting friends and family have some.

So back in October I told you about going on a course regarding how the best way to plant the fruit trees were and that this would be followed up with a course on winter care and pruning. Well this weekend is the pruning course, so I’ll be learning how to keep my trees (and those of the community allotment) in tip top condition so that the harvests are bountiful.

Saturday, weather permitting will be some of the winter jobs that need doing.

Eggtastic!!!

Well you wait all this time for an egg and two come along together just like buses. I went to Edinburgh for the weekend, Samson went to the kennels and I left the girls to their own devices, the hut and run is predator safe so I put enough food and water in to last them the two days and left them too it. I checked the nest box the next morning after my return to find an egg there; I was chuffed to bits but then also disappointed as I’d missed the actual event. When I went home that lunch time to take Samson for his walk and to give the girls their afternoon corn I found another egg which had obviously been laid that morning after I had left for work, so Caleb and I were both able to have Egg and soldiers for our tea last night and truly enjoyable they were too.

I think it is Mrs Pepperpot who has laid the eggs so far, they were brown in colour, which is the colour she lays (although Hazel supposedly lays brown eggs) but Mrs Peppperpot has the reddest wattle and comb so I think she is slightly older than the other three and has now started her egg count. For ‘stocktaking’ purposes I am going to keep a little running tally of who has laid however many number of eggs. That is providing I am able to tell the difference between Hazels and Mrs Pepperpot’s eggs. The other two should be easier as they are different colours.

The weather over the coming weekend seems to be forecast nice and fine so I’m hopefully going to get a few more winter jobs done.

Quick Update

Well the ‘girls’ have settled in lovely, no eggs yet, I keep threatening them with a boiling pot but so far it hasn’t worked. They all seem to get to themselves to bed ok just as the night is drawing in, all are feeding well and there doesn’t seem to be any bullying, though I think Mrs Pepperpot is the boss, well she seems to be at the moment…

Most of the potatoes have been lifted, the only problem I have now is storing them, my shed at the plot is not solid, i.e. small animals etc can get in to it as there is a gap around the very bottom of it, and the shed at home is not waterproof, the roof is leaking, the floor has rotted and the window is broken so I have some work to do. I’m thinking of building a larder type storage building at the back of my extension, something similar to an out-house. I don’t have a large kitchen so there really isn’t anywhere to store surplus winter produce at the moment. I’ll just have to do my best this winter and hopefully have something in place for the harvests of next season.

Pete, one of the other community plot holders has made a start on digging holes for our trees. My own four trees have arrived and as per normal I’m not anywhere near ready for them to go in the ground, so I’ve had to ‘heal’ them in the small raised beds I have in my back yard until they be planted properly. I hope I’m not doing them too much damage; they are in their dormant stage so hopefully everything will work out ok. But the quicker they are in the ground the better, especially the Plum tree, apparently these need to be planted by the end of November, the Apples and Pears can be planted up till February.

Hope your winter jobs are coming along nicely.

We have the Girls!

Yes, the day has finally arrived, well actually it's been and passed. Yesterday we travelled up to Durham and collected our four hens. We have a Rhode Rock, who has been christened "Mrs Pepperpot", a Coral Nick, named "Daisy", a Blue Haze, aptly known as "Hazel" and a Columbine who now goes by the name of "Chestnut". They all seem to have settled in well at their Winter home, though I did have to persuade Chestnut to go to bed last night, she was sitting in the pop hole doorway and at 10.30 I went out and forcefully 'persuaded' her to go inside the house so that I could close the hole. I knew there was a frost due and I wasn't sure how much 'cold' she would be able to stand. One thing that I have noticed today is that one of them seems to have very loose droppings, i'm going to have to keep an eye on this and if it prolongs then find out which one it is, I hope that none of them have anything wrong with them.

I have still to dig up the maincrop potatoes, the weather has been quite lousy over the past couple of weekends and with the nights drawing in, i'm not able to get to the plot on an evening anymore. I've got to make time one way or another.

Chickens - At Last!

We’re finally going to collect the chickens, though not till next weekend, as this weekend I’ll need to give the old ferret house/run a clean out and scrub down as it has been vacant since we lost Stitch in July. I’ve decided that for now, and over the winter months, we will have the chickens in the run in our back yard, it’ll need a few adoptions making to it, for example a nest box installing and a perch inside the house and some sort of scratching pit for them outside as it is sited on concrete, but other than a good clean it’s good to go. When the summer months come, we’ll take them to the allotment and leave them there in the run that I’ll have finished building by then (hopefully!).

We are having 4 different hybrid varieties, a ‘Blue Haze’, a ‘Rhode Rock’, a ‘Columbine’ and a ‘Coral Nick’. One grey, one black, one ginger and one white, so we shouldn’t get them mixed up and will definitely (I’d hope) know who is who, and the good thing is that they’ll lay different coloured eggs, well 2 will lay brown eggs but the other two lay either a cream or a blue/green. Again this will help us in identifying who has layed, how many eggs and when. All are supposed to be hardy, docile and friendly, all excellent layers, and all are happy in a run or free range. With credentials like these, what can go wrong, lol.

Other plans for the weekend include digging up the remaining potatoes before the first frosts arrive, here in Middlesbrough they can come anytime from the middle of October, so the sooner the potatoes are up and stored the better. Clearing the sweetcorn, I’ve got a recipe for some chowder, so I’m going to utilise my crop and make some soup and freeze it. Also there will be more winter digging, you have to get it done whilst the weather permits. Oh and there’ll be holes needed to be dug for the fruit trees. So with a bit of luck, I’ll have the entire weekend to devote to my allotment chores, it’s all good fun.

I’m Back to Let you Know …

I know it’s a long time since my last posting and a big thanks to Mangocheeks, you’ve motivated me into sorting myself out and let you all know how things have been progressing since my last entry. So non allotment related news, promise its short and sweet, I’ve had my summer holiday, a glorious fortnight chasing lions and elephants and giraffe’s around safari parks in Kenya with a little bit of sunbathing thrown in. Three years of dreaming, saving and waiting, it was definitely worth it! But back to reality….

So allotment wise, I left you with news that the orchard had been approved, and we’d had an application for a grant to establish some bee hives approved. Moving on, we’ve (the community group) been on a course to learn about the good and bad ways of planting your fruit trees and an order has been placed for some Apple, Pear and Plum trees, 14 in all, which should be arriving sometime in November, Yipee can’t wait, 14 large holes to dig, ouch, but it has to be done! There is another course to go on sometime next month regarding the pruning and upkeep of the trees. In terms of the bees, it’s still very early days yet, until some training can be sorted it’d be irresponsible to get a colony etc, but I’ll keep you informed as things progress.

The Plot! Well it was rather overgrown when I got back off my holiday, sweetcorn had appeared from nowhere, not a bean in site when I left, a great jungle of them on my return, I had courgettes ‘eight ball’ which were the size of footballs, onions, marrows, broad beans, cabbages, caulis and leeks had all grown and a mass of potato foliage. So since getting back, I’ve pulled up the onions and put them to dry for over-winter use. The beans have been cut down, and I’ve put some to dry for storage, again for casseroles etc over the winter months. I’ve been slowly digging up the potatoes, and should get the rest of these all lifted this coming weekend, again more winter storage and I’ll have to sort out the sweetcorn. Leeks and cabbages will be left in the ground for now.

I’ve started re-arranging the raised beds for the new rotation system, taking into account the little area next to my patch which I will integrate this next coming season, and I’ve been winter digging areas as they have become empty. Plans for the coming weeks, at some point I’ve got 4 fruit trees arriving (expected sometime before the end of October), these will be planted in my plot (separate from the community orchard), I’d already ordered these trees before the funding was approved for the community orchard, so I’ll have to sort out where I want them to go and start to prepare the ground for them. I have a vague idea but at the moment the area I’m thinking of is used for storing my wood pallets and bricks etc, so I’ll need to move all of these before I can start to dig the holes. No shortage of hard work ahead, at least it keeps me off the streets!

Hope you are all doing well on your plots and the harvesting is going well.

Can't Blog on Holiday

Off to Kenya, will catch up when we get back

Bees and Fruit Trees

Well since my last posting things have really taken off at the ‘community’ allotment. On Thursday a lady came and looked over the area that we’ve decided to plant up as an orchard, she’d come to check on the ground, to make sure it was suitable growing soil and see how large an area there was so that she could recommend trees to be planted. It was all very positive so in September a group of us are going on a training course to learn how to look after and prune the fruit trees, and start to get the area ready for when the fruit trees are planted.

On Saturday five of the plot holders (one being me) came in and with a digger we cleared a great mound of weeds and loads of old rubbish that had been left in the area when it was previously used for pigeon sheds. We started at 7.30am and finished about 5pm, clearing, bagging, re-locating soil and eventually burning all the rubbish. It was hard work but actually enjoyable. We now have a lovely area that we are going to build a community garden on, where we can sell the produce to fund necessities such as manure, petrol, fruit trees, chicken feed etc.

Today we’ve just receive confirmation that the grant we’d bid for has been approved and therefore we are being allowed to get some bee hives, clothing, equipment and training on how to look after the bees and make the honey.

It’s all very exciting!

A Whole New Ball Game

Gosh is it really that long since my last posting! Things are progressing well on the plot, potatoes are flowering, broad beans, runners and French are all coming along nicely, sweetcorn is growing really well and the courgettes and squash are planted out, so it’s a waiting game. But the good news is I’ve been given permission to take over the little plot which joins mine. It’s been passed from pillar to post and has really only had a smidge of care and commitment over the last couple of years.

So ‘Plot 2’ is approximately 40ft by 40ft, tapering off to about 25ft on one side. It is very overgrown with weeds and needs a lot of looking after and sorting out, but hey I like a challenge. Actually it’s more realistic to say I love a challenge. Plans have been drawn, and the thought process has gone into overdrive. With this extra space I’ve decided to break down my crop rotation into more defined areas. There will be areas for ‘Brassicas’, ‘Legumes’, ‘Solanaceae’ - (Potatoes), ‘Alliums’, ‘Cucurbitaceae’ and ‘Umbelliferae’ - (Roots).

I’ve posted a couple of pics to show you ‘Plot 2’ at the beginning. I’m off work on leave for a couple of days so it’ll be all systems go to get things moving.

Plot '2' - View One

Plot '2' - View Two

Plot '2' - View Three

Of Mice and …….

I went to the allotment last night to do a bit more work; I weeded the bed for the Sprouts which I’ll get planted out over the weekend. I then decided I’d get on and start to sort things in the area for the Courgette, Squash, and Marrow and Pumpkin patch. I’d already started to weed out some of the area, but had come to a standstill when I got to the stacks of bricks that I’d had stored there since late last year. So after carrying well over 200 bricks to various corners of the plot it came down to the wooden sheeting that they’d been stood on. I lifted it up, to assess how the weeds were underneath and to guess how much work will need doing, when there they were, a little family of mice. Mother (I presume) and two babies. I lowered the wood as I didn’t want to scare the mother away from the babies; she’d already started to scurry off. So now my conundrum is which hat am I wearing? Do I move the wood and disturb the family, possibly causing the mother to abandon her babies (my vegetable hat - must plant out those courgettes etc. soon) or leave the wood where it is, checking in at regular intervals, and allow mother and babies to reside there until they are ready to move on by themselves (my animal loving hat).

Harvest Monday!

I just love the thought of pottering around the garden and thinking, mmm I’ll have some potatoes, some lettuce; some broad beans a couple of turnips and a bit of carrot to go with my tea and then being able to pick it straight from your garden. So that is exactly what I did yesterday and I thoroughly enjoyed every last bit of it. If you'd like to share your harvest for the week, join in over at Daphne's and show everyone what you’ve been growing.

I didn’t get to the plot on Saturday but Sunday was glorious so Caleb and I spent all afternoon there, he played with the other children and I did the work, usual story. I earthed up the potatoes, planted out some Cabbages and Cauliflower, a few more Sweetcorn - Mini Pop. I acquired some scaffolding netting and some builder’s Hessian so I’m going to make some cages for the Brassicas, the caterpillars are steadily munching their way through the turnip leaves so I’m going to have to put up some sort of defence.

I had 5 plants which I thought were Cabbage - Greyhound (I’d put in a label saying this) but as they grew, they didn’t look like Cabbages, it’s puzzled me as to what they were so I’ve not planted them yet. Whilst looking through one of my books, I noticed a picture of the leaves on a Celeriac; these were the same leaves on my little plants. So now I’m wondering if I’ve got my plants mixed up and those that I thought were Celeriac, (whose leaves had been scoffed last week) were actually some sort of Brassica (probably why the leaves had been scoffed!). So now I’m going to plant out the 5 plants tonight where I’d planted the other plants; here’s hoping they are Celeriac.

Sweetcorn Planted

I went to the allotment again last night to plant the Sweetcorn, I am growing two varieties: Applause and Incredible. These are sweet and super-sweet varieties so I have planted them in separate beds but these are positioned next to each other, I’m hoping that I’ve not done this wrong. As I understood it, you can’t plant standard varieties anywhere near sweet or super-sweet varieties as there is the chance of cross pollination making the corn taste bitter, but I think that sweet and super-sweet varieties planted near each other will be ok, if not, then it’s a lesson learned for next year. I also planted some Mini-Pop variety so I can have baby corn in salads and stir-fry.

I finished weeding the Brassica bed where I am going to plant out the Calabrese and Turnip so I can get these in the ground over the weekend, along with Cabbages and Cauli in the second Brassica bed. I’ll finish off the third bed and here will go the Sprouts and PSB, as these will be in over winter I’ve kept them together for ease of preparing beds for next years rotation.

Something has been EATING my Vegetables!

I went to the allotment last night to plant up some beans and do some watering as it’s been very hot and dry here the past few days. All seemed well until I passed the end of the bed where I had planted out the Celeriac on Sunday and noticed that something was missing, it was my Celeriac plants, all that was left of them were spines. Something had made a nice tasty meal out of them all, all nine plants that I planted on Sunday. As it’s too late to sow and plant anymore, I’m now going to have to wait for another year to see what Celeriac tastes like, well home grown Celeriac, I could easily go and buy one from the shop to taste it, but that is not how I want to do it. And if things couldn’t get any worse, I turned to find that who or whatever had been tucking into my Kohl Rabi as well. All is not lost with the Kohl Rabi; I do have some small seedlings which I can plant out so hopefully I will be able to try that for the first time this year.

Kohl Rabi Eaten

All the Celeriac Eaten!

On a more positive note, I planted up more Broad beans, and whilst doing so I noticed that I had some pods growing, so now I’m waiting most excitedly for when they’ll be large enough for me to start picking them to eat. I love Broad Beans; they have to be one of my most favourite vegetables. The bees loved them also, there was a very large bumble bee flying around and doing his stuff with the flowers. I also planted out some Runner Beans and some Borlotti Beans, did a bit more weeding and finally spent a good 45 minutes watering everything with the hose.

GYO Magazine has teamed up with QVC!

Tune in to QVC this evening (15th June) at 6pm to see the GYO editor, Lucy Halsall live on air, Sky Digital: channel 640, Freeview: channel 16, Virgin TV: channel 740, Freesat: channel 800. Lucy will be featured with Will Sibley who has over 38 years of growing fruit and vegetables and now he’s brought his knowledge to QVC. There’s something for everyone from beginners to expert gardeners.

Last night I cooked a good portion of my freshly dug ‘Rocket’ potatoes. I can say after devouring these, they were truly scrumptious; I can’t wait to empty out other tubs in the coming weeks. Don’t you find there is a certain gleeful feeling about eating your own produce? I’ve planted up 3 varieties of 1st earlies; Rocket, Pentland Javlin and Vales Emerald so I’ll be able to compare the different tastes and keep myself self sufficient in new potatoes for the next few weeks. Then I’ll move on to the 2nd earlies, lol.

I think I’ll have to pot on some of my Tomatoes this evening they are outgrowing their 5 litre pots, I’ll put them into some 9 or 10 litre pots, and these will be their final pots. A few of the plants are now producing flowers so I’ll wait with baited breathe for small toms to start forming. I need to sow some more Cauli, Turnip and Beetroot; mainly for winter storage, sow some more lettuce and radish and spring onions, salad season is upon us!

Harvest Monday

Well I had to do it, the suspense was killing me, I pulled the first tub of Rocket potatoes at the weekend and was thankful to see some lovely sized spuds weighing in at 2lb 3oz. This is my first harvest of the year. As you can see from the picture there were a few decent sized ones and some little ones.

Went to the allotment of Friday evening and started to weed and dig over the overgrown area where the ‘Onion’ group of beds are going to go. Here is where I’ll put in the Squash, Courgette, Leeks and Marrow; the Onions are already in a bed which I built a few months back. Saturday was glorious; I was at the plot from 9.30 am right through till about 5 pm, clearing more of the area, weeding other beds and laying some more paving around various beds. Sunday was awful, it rained non-stop, but I got some planting (Lettuce, Celeriac and Celery) done on the afternoon during the lighter spells.

Brian, an elderly plotter on the main allotment area has some ducks and hens on his plot, one of the hens had become broody so he put a few duck eggs in for her to sit on, well the other day she hatched them, so me and Caleb went to see them, they were so cute, all yellow and fluffy and only a couple of days old.

Wahey, It's Stopped Raining!

Well the constant rain since Sunday has stopped, I think i've seen every version of rain there is, but that fine hazzy rain is the worst, and I think you get the wettest with that one. Anyway, i'm going to take advantage of the break in rain (it's forcast to return on Sunday) and pull up some of those dandilion weeds and the thistles that seem to be growing this year with a vengence.

Sweetcorn and Beans to get planted up over the weekend, maybe put out one or two of the bigger Courgette and Squash plants. Other than that, it's dig, dig, dig to get some more ground cleared and beds made.

Catch Up

Apologies for not posting anything lately, it’s been quite hectic and I’ve not managed to find the time to post a blog, but anyway here we are and here is what’s been happening. Plenty of weeding done but this has come to a halt as the weather is awful, downpours of heavy rain for the past four days so it’s very wet, but it saves watering those potatoes!

So all the potatoes are now in the ground, I even managed to get the ‘sample’ spuds in eventually, hopefully they will all grow to produce some lovely tasty potatoes. I’m wondering whether to empty out one of the containers growing the 1st earlies Rocket, still no flowers and still nothing to find whilst rummaging. I think I may have to bite the bullet and empty one to see what is going on if anything. The seaweed/comfrey trials have started; one row of Rudolph was planted on a bed of seaweed and rotted manure, earthed up and watered in with a seaweed drink. I then planted another row of Rudolph on a bed of comfrey leaves and rotted manure and this was watered in with a comfrey drink. Each row had the same amount of potatoes planted and each potato was roughly the same size. To date the seaweed potatoes are the first to start making an appearance, a couple of leaves are beginning to poke through the soil. You can see in the picture below, my 2nd earlies are coming along nicely, the bed in the background is where the early maincrop are planted, the row at the left of the picture is the seaweed potatoes and the row next to that on its right are the comfrey potatoes. There is a row of Blue Danube to the far right and also a mixed row of Blue Danube and Rudolph. I’ve planted up the late maincrop Golden wonder in the area where the wildlife patch will go, things were just getting too tight to have the final bed weeded for them and I’d dug the wildlife area over last summer so all I had to do was pull out the fresh weeds and plant the potatoes, and I thought that the manure would enrich the soil ready for when the flowers/pond can go in when they are pulled up in the autumn. I’ll not get round to planting out the wildlife flowers this year, well possibly in the autumn I can put in the pond and a few plants but I think the majority of the plants will be put in next spring.

The tomatoes are coming along nicely, quite a few are now potted up in 5 litre tubs, these will have one final move to 9 litre tubs when they are ready, I might plant some in the ground at the allotment, if the bottle house isn’t completed in time, if it is, I’ll put some in grow bags or a ring culture in there. My aubergine plant got scorched and wilted beyond recovery one very hot afternoon, so I’ve had to resort to buying a plant from the garden centre. The cucumber plants didn’t germinate so I’ve planted a couple more; these are just starting to peek through the compost. Chilli Peppers and Sweet Peppers are looking good also.

My two over-wintering cauliflowers have produced nice little curds, I’m waiting anxiously until I can pick these, there is a nice cauli and potato recipe in one of my magazines which I’m wanting to use them on along with some of my 1st earlies. Plenty of cabbages, broccoli (green and purple), cauli and sprouts ready to plant out, which I’ll do once this blasted, rain stops.

I’ve made some bean frames (see below) ready to have the Runner and French beans planted against, these are in the process of hardening off at the moment. I’m going to make a wigwam of canes for the Borlotti and Flangelot beans to climb. The Squash, Pumpkin and Courgette plants are putting on growth, these will need planting out shortly, and I’m going to plant some with the beans, some with the Sweetcorn and hopefully some on their own, the Sweetcorn is also hardening off ready to be planted out hopefully over the weekend, when the weather is forecasted to warm/dry up.

Caleb and I went on a course this weekend just gone - Beginners Guide to Chicken Keeping. It was really good; we got to learn about their habits, food, shelter etc. and we even went into a large coop/run and handled them. Caleb though they were brilliant, so now he can’t wait for the chickens to arrive, I’ll have to hurry up and get their coop and run built, job number 624, lol.

Rounding off with a picture for you, have you seen the size of the root on this thistle which I dug out the other day!

Glorious Glorious Glorious! - Oh and the Spuds are In!

Can you believe the weather we’ve had over the last few days, it has been glorious to say the least, not the kind of weather you want to be digging in, but needs must and digging is what I have done. Eventually I have planted the Rudolph, Blue Danube and Golden Wonder potatoes; I must say that it’s a weight of my shoulders that these are finally in the ground. I’ve got a couple of ‘sample’ potatoes (Pink Fir Apple, Markies, Nicola and Cara) which I will plant over the next couple of days and definitely by the weekend, I’m not overly worried about getting these in as they aren’t my main choices, just tasters really so I’ll put them in little areas of soil that have already been dug over and weeded but are ear-marked for flowers or other types but not where potatoes will be planted over the next couple of years so as not to risk spreading disease etc. It’s been 10 weeks since I planted the first tub of my 1st earlies so I had a little feel around in the compost, I can’t feel any potatoes yet so I’m a little worried, is disaster looming? There is plenty of foliage but no flowers so I may give it a couple more weeks before emptying out the first tub.

My tomatoes are fast outgrowing their 5 inch pots so I’ll be potting them on into slightly bigger pots shortly, I’m not sure if they will get into the bottle house this summer or not, but as they are varieties suitable for either outdoor or indoor growing I’ll not worry myself about it too much, same said for the cucumber, aubergine and chilli plants, some of which I can grow on in the ‘plastic’ and ‘walk-in’ greenhouses if I need to.

I’ve planted out some broad beans and lettuces, sown four varieties of carrots and have Turnip (Snowball & Purple Top), Kohl Rabi and seed onions ready for planting out. My French, Borlotti, Flangelot and Runner beans are all making appearances peeking though the compost in their 3 inch pots, they look lovely.

Having spent all Thursday, Friday, Saturday and most of Sunday (until the heavens opened) at the plot and having all that lovely weather I have been able to observe the position of the sun during the course of the day. Most of the plot gets the sun all of the day except where my shed is, which is what I’d hoped when I re-sited it in its corner, the only disappointing bit is the flower area I’m wanting to plant up in front of the shed sits in the shade most of the day also, getting the sun from around 3pm on the afternoon so I’ll have to find some shade loving plants to go there. The good news is the area where the wildlife section is going to go gets the sun for most of the day, shaded a little on the morning but in full sun for most of the time, so I’ll be able to plant lots of sun loving, bright coloured big nectar rich plants there. I’ll also have to build a shade ‘shelter’ for the chucks when their run has been built so they can hide from the sun when they want to as they will be housed in that area also.

On a final note, we’ve been granted permission to plant an orchard on our little community bit, so that is something to look forward to, lots of fruit trees and we are also looking into having some beehives put there.

Rudolph Ready to be Planted (At Last)

I thought I’d never see the day but I can at last get my early maincrop potatoes ‘Rudolph’ planted in the ground, it’ll be my first job on the list for Thursday. I’ll be down at the lottie bright and early to get them in the ground, they had better taste good that’s all that I can say. But it doesn’t stop there, nope, there are still more potatoes to get in before the end of the month. I’m think I’m going to have to take a sleeping bag and sleep in the shed, I’ll need to be down at the plot that much in the coming days that the MEC will start charging me board n lodge, lol.

I’ve had to put down some weed fabric over the area’s that I haven’t got round to digging over /creating beds in yet, this is mainly where the ‘onion/other’ beds are going to go, the weeds are growing at such a ferocious rate and it’s the only way I’m going to be able to control them until I can get things sorted in that area, when I can start the digging, which will be the next major task after the potato beds as I’ll need the area to plant the courgette, squash and leeks out next month. You know what they say, weeds grow in fertile soil, so if my crops grow as good as the weeds, then I’ll be a happie chappie. I’m hardening quite a few things off at the moment, in anticipation of getting them planted out over the next few days, hopefully my plot will actually look productive rather than an area of mud with some raised beds scattered on it.

I’ll leave you will a picture of the inside of the walkin greenhouse at home, most of the plants were out sunbathing when I took this, getting ready for being planted out over the coming weeks at the allotment, but you can still see some turnips, cauli, cabbage, calabrese, some tomato plants, a lily, a couple of courgette plants my hosta and a hanging basket which has been planted with a ‘garden pearl’ tomato plant and some little flowers.

Catch Up

Thought I’d give you a catch up as I haven’t posted anything this last week, it’s been hectic at work and with one thing and another at home I haven’t had the time to post an update, so here goes.

My gate and fence at the plot have been moved/re-built, it really looks good, in a previous life the fence had been knocked over by a manure truck so it stood a bit lop-sided, but with the new fence standing nice and straight and running up to the container it really tidies up my plot. The second end frame of the bottle-house has been built and also one of the doors, I’ll be taking them down to the plot to attach to the posts over the weekend. Still plenty of bottles coming in.

I was caught by the frost, again, but after reading a lot of other blogs, I’m not the only one, still it is annoying. Not too much damage, a bit of blackening of the leaves on the 1st earlies, the 2nd earlies haven’t started to come through yet so they escaped damage and I’ve not got round to planting out the maincrop yet! Most tomato plants in the little greenhouse escaped without too much damage, a few were looking sorry for themselves.

I’d sown a lot of different types of bean in pots last weekend and during the week and have kept these in the little greenhouses at home ready until next month when hopefully it will be safe to plant them out - Borlotti (Firetounge) Broad, Flangelot, Runner, and French. I’ve sown some sweetcorn ‘minipop’ and will sow a batch of ‘applause’ this weekend. More lettuce, some beetroot and some sprouts done. I’ve got some Turnips (Purple Top and Snowball) which I have been hardening off over the last couple of weeks and some Kohl Rabi and Celeriac ready to plant out over the weekend. Some broad beans and peas also ready to put in, I’m going to chance direct sowing of the rest of the peas (mangetout and sugar snap) as I’m never going to be able to gather enough toilet rolls to sow them in. All roll donations will now be put into storage for next year. I’ve also started to sow my courgette and squash seeds, which will be planted out later next month along with the new batch of leeks after that pesky mouse ate most of the first ones.

I’ll finally be able to plant out my early maincrop this weekend, the bed is just about finished and baring a thunderous typhoon IT WILL be sorted, then it’s just the late maincrop to get sorted. I’ve put in a few days holiday next week, then that weekend and then with the weekend after this should see me get them all planted and sorted with very little time to spare, it’s definitely going to be a tight deadline to have them all in the ground by the end of May which is the time limit I have set myself to give a sufficient growing time of 20-22 weeks before the first frosts are expected.

Lots of hard work for the weekend ahead I suspect.

I’ve Grown (Just a Little)

Metaphorically speaking that is. I’ll explain, in our little community area of the allotments, a few of the plot holders have small plots and thereby don’t have much room for things such as sheds, so a small container was put in the grounds for their use. Now this container, which is bright orange (you can see it on one of the pictures I posted the other day) was placed very near my gate and made exiting with a heavy barrow load of ‘whatever’ quite awkward for me. So the nice people from MEC (who oversee our community area) said that I can have my gate moved and gap (after gate being removed) re-fenced, courtesy of them. So this morning a nice handy man came with the MEC rep and had a look and asked how I wanted it, which I explained. Then the MEC rep said “as this little strip (approx 16ft x 6ft between where my fence is now and the container) is not being used and will probably become a dumping area, why don’t we extend your fence to come up to the container”. So it was agreed, this will now become part of my plot and therefore I have ‘grown’. But the drawback is (and there always is one) this is not good ground, all gravel and hardcore and would never be able to have anything grown in it, and I was going to use the fence to train a fruit tree or similar against. Thoughts running around in my head now are, build a wicker fence or put trellis or something similar where the existing fence and good soil is to grow the fruit tree against and pave over the newly acquired area to use as a seating /picnic/BBQ/storage area.

Hoping to get to the plot this evening to do some more of the maincrop potato bed though the weather is awful, raining and cold so not sure if it’s going to be possible.

Mixed Weekend (Weather Wise)

Yet some more digging done but still more to do. Went to the plot again on Friday afternoon/evening and got some more of the maincrop bed dug over. Saturday I mainly potted on and sowed some more seeds. A little mouse or critter of similar stature has found its way into my plastic greenhouse and chomped its way through my leeks, and has had a good dig in some of the other pots of veg in there. Upon reading the back of my seed packets leeks are best sown Jan-Apr, would I still be able to re-sow some more (it’s only a couple of days into May) to replace the ones chomped on?

Sunday me and Caleb spent most of the day at the plot, he played with the other children that were there with their parents, I worked hard. I couldn’t face another day doing the potato bed so I opted for weeding and digging over what will be the root beds for 2010. These are 2 beds which are 32ft long x 4 ft wide, broken down into 8ft x 4ft sections (on plan). When it was all dug over, I re-did the area set aside for the carrots and dug it as finely as I could possibly do, breaking up larger clods of soil by hand, then sprinkled some Growmore over the bed in anticipation of sowing various varieties over the coming weeks.

Weather was terrible on Monday, the majority of the day was lost to rain, but it brightened up a bit mid afternoon so this time was put to use building some more of the bottle house. Speaking of which I’ve finally found out how to share my photo’s with you all from my new phone, so here is an update of what’s been happening so far this year.

First Post Ready

Six Post In!

Exit Doorway & Path.

Pea Bed with Canes and String for Climbing.
The onion bed netted in the background.

Bed with 2nd Earlies planted (Yukon Gold)

A Little More Done

Went to the plot last night to dig over a bit more of the potato bed, we’ve not had a lot of rain lately so I decided to give the onions a water. I’d steeped some of the last batch of seaweed collected in an 18l water drum; you know the ones that sit on those water machines in offices. So I also gave the 2nd earlies a seaweed drink.

At work we’ve changed drinking water suppliers and there are about 30 of those bottles sat doing nothing, so with a little bit of grovelling, hey presto, I was told I could take as many as needed, you don’t get if you don’t ask right! So I’m going to use these to make up some garden ‘potions’ as they have a nice tight cap which will hopefully keep in the stench. Thought I’d try a few different ‘potions’, I’m thinking of a nettle potion, a comfrey potion and a seaweed potion. I can just keep making up a couple of bottles at a time and they are small enough to sit behind the shed out the way till needed. I’ll also use some of them to make some cloches for putting over my squash plants, in order to try to keep them a little warmer and see if they develop fruit, as I didn’t have any luck with the one I’d planted in the back yard plot last year. I’ll also use some for a ring system on the tomatoes that get planted in the bottle house.

Once my maincrop beds are finished and dug over I’m going to run a test (previously touched on this idea earlier in the blog) - Comfrey ‘v’ Seaweed. Now that I’ve found my four extra comfrey plants this will be a lot more realistic. Each variety of potato; I have Blue Danube & Rudolph (early maincrop) and Golden Wonder & Pink Fir Apple (late maincrop) will each be separated into two rows, one row will be planted on top of a bed of comfrey leaves and watered with a comfrey liquid feed. The other row will be planted on a bed of seaweed and watered with a seaweed liquid feed. I’ll weigh and compare each variety at the end when digging them up to see which faired better, the comfrey potatoes or the seaweed potatoes.

Planning to get to the plot this evening to do some more digging, and tomorrow afternoon/evening, some (hopefully most) of the bank holiday weekend also, though its forecast rain over the next couple of days, we’ll have to dodge the showers I think. I must remember to take a little pad and pen and start to jot down all those jobs that you walk past and say, ‘I must do ….’

Scream!

Aaargh! Who invented cars? Somebody out there is totally messing with my sanity and has decided it’s my turn to have a big dose of bad luck. My little banger, the one I’ve only had for a week, decided it would pack up on me. Everything was going swimmingly; I finished work on Friday, got home, picked up Samson and headed off to the beach to collect some seaweed. Saturday morning, got lots of seeds sown and potting on done, lunch time we went off to get the washing done at the laundrette; my washer broke a few weeks back and I haven’t been able to get another one sorted yet. Took the seaweed to the plot, picked the washing up and went back home to do some more potting on. Needed a few groceries from the shop so Saturday evening I jumped into the car and nothing, it just didn’t spark, not a sound. I couldn’t believe it, the garage assured me I’d get a year out of this little banger, and here I am ONE WEEK later and its not working. One mobile mechanic, second hand starter motor and another chunk of cash later I have a rust bucket that goes again, till the next time….

I’d wanted to get to the allotment on Sunday and try to get some more of the potato bed sorted for the maincrop potatoes, ADVICE NEEDED: am I running out of time or will I still be able to plant out my maincrop potatoes within the next couple of weeks? Nothing further to report on any other happenings on the plot due to not getting there but Sunday was put to use doing some more sowing seeds and potting on. Oh yes, my bad luck reared it head again, had a lovely soak in the bath, out I get, goes to dry my hair and the hairdryer won’t work. Now is it me or have I had my fair share for a while?

Weather permitting, I’ll be going to the plot for a couple of hours on Wednesday and Thursday evening, I’ve got a half day holiday booked in for Friday which will be dedicated to the lottie, and as much time as possible from Saturday, Sunday and bank holiday Monday will be given over to getting some more of it sorted.

Happy St. George’s Day

It’s England’s national day but for most people in England St George's Day is just another ordinary working day. The national emblem and national flower of England is a red rose. The flower has been adopted as England’s emblem since the time of the civil wars (1455-1485) between the royal house of Lancaster (whose emblem was a red rose) and the royal house of York (whose emblem was a white rose). Some more interesting facts:
· Despite the fact that St. George has been the patron saint of England since the 14th century, only one in five people know that St. George’s Day falls on 23 April.
· More than a quarter of people living in England do not even know who their patron saint is!
· Shakespeare was born on 23 April 1564 and he died on the same day in 1616.

Now for some gardening info, went to the allotment last night to dig some more where the early maincrop bed is going to be and we’re off to the beach again tonight to collect some more seaweed for it. Hopefully I’ll be able to sort out the ‘entrance’ frame for the bottle house and get that screwed to the posts. Then I’ll get some of the canes filled with the bottles. Other than that, it’ll be potting on and sowing seeds.

Caught off Guard

Oh dear, I was caught off guard last night, we had a frost and a few of my 1st earlies have had their leaves blackened. I’m hoping it won’t do them too much damage. I’m annoyed with myself as I usually check the weather forecast just to keep an eye on it but with the last couple of days being nice, it’s gone out of my mind. They say you only learn by your mistakes.

Bottle count is coming along nicely, plenty of people are bringing them in for me, but the only downside is they are being stored in every nook and cranny until put into use. I’ve got bottles in the spare bedroom, in the hallway, in the boot of the car and in the back yard. Job for the weekend; start to get them onto the canes and onto the frames!

Off to the plot tonight to get on with the early maincrop potato bed, hopefully this should be just about done and dusted by the weekend. Then I’ll sort out the late maincrop bed. Does it ever end?

Find of the Month

So there I was out walking with Samson last night along the walkway/woodland area near to where I live and out of the corner of my eye I spotted them. FOUR comfrey plants, just there growing at the side of the lane. I have an establish comfrey plant on my allotment, but hey an extra four plants that I’ll be able to visit and take some cuttings from as and when I like (providing nobody else knows about them and beats me to it).

I’m informed that you can cut the comfrey plant four or five times a year, the first cut is recommended to be used by layering the trench for your potatoes. The remaining cuts; if you steep them in some water for several weeks it becomes a lovely (stinky) potion which the tomatoes and potatoes absolutely thrive on. If that wasn’t good enough, if you wilt the leaves these are good for the chucks to eat, FREE FOOD, it can’t be bad.

Don’t forget Alys Fowler and The Edible Garden on BBC2 tonight.

Is It Monday Again Already!

Sorry there haven’t been any posts lately, where did the week go, I can’t believe its Monday again already. Ah that’ll be it, the days have passed me by whilst I’ve been in my tranquil world on the allotment, yes folks I’ve been very productive. Monday and Tuesday were spent as normal, at work, boo boo. Wednesday my car went in for its MOT, remember a few weeks ago it was supposed to be done; well they wouldn’t or couldn’t do it as the doors had jammed, and they aren’t allowed to carry out an MOT if all the doors don’t open and close! So it had to be booked in again. As I was without transport, I started on the frames for the bottle house. Things were going well, I sowed some flower seeds, broad beans, peas and borlotti beans. Weather was lovely, then came the phone call - “you’re car has failed its MOT”, these were words I had already prepared myself for, what I hadn’t been prepared for was the cost to get it fixed £1000. Well after I’d picked myself up off the floor, I told the garage it was a no goer, the car wasn’t worth £1000 for one thing and secondly I don’t have a spare £1000 to throw away. So off to the scrap yard it went and I’ve got myself a little run around until I can save up for a new-ish car.

With the nice weather, I spent Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday down on the allotment. 2nd earlies (Yukon Gold & Anya) were planted up; I finished planting up the onion bed with 4 rows of Turbo. I weeded and dug over one of the ‘root’ beds; hope to get some Carrot and Parsnip seeds in here shortly, along with Sweetcorn, Lettuce, Celeriac, Beetroot, Radicchio and Spinach. I dug over part of the ‘legume’ bed and put out some canes and string for the Peas to grow against. First ‘doorway’ frame was attached to the end posts for the bottle house and the small path built for the exit. Plenty of volunteers are now saving plastic bottles for me, I should hopefully get all 2000+ needed in no time, she says lol. I started on the early maincrop potato bed and also the first fruit bed as I’ve got strawberries and raspberries which need to be planted out ASAP.

We’ve a new lady on our community patch at the allotment, she’s got a young family so should fit in very nicely. There are 8 of us in the community patch, 4 of us have children between the ages 10 and 18mths and one elderly gentleman brings his grandkids along sometimes, so it’s nice for the kids when we’re all there to be able to play with each other. There is a small amount of ground that isn’t fenced into a plot at the moment, as we have some spare wood we’ve decided that we are going to build a flower garden for the kids to potter about and plant and dig here to their hearts content, and there is a little old lady who likes to come along to help out.

So plans for the forthcoming week, second ‘doorway’ frame to be built and lots of sowing and potting on to be done. Promise some photos soon, I’ve taken them, just have to figure out how to download them onto the computer.

What a Lovely Weekend

I hope the weather over the weekend was as glorious for all you gardeners out there as it had been for us here in Middlesbrough. An action packed fun filled gardening weekend was had by me and I even took Caleb along on Saturday and not a whinge or moan was heard. A few of the other children on the site had come along so he had plenty of kids to run about with.

Saturday - I put in some ‘Paris Market’ carrots in the back yard bed between the rows of parsnips, as these are only little bite sized carrots, they’ll be grown and lifted before the parsnips require the space. I also sowed some Early Nantes 2 in the 4x4 carrot bed. All 6 fence posts are now in for the bottle house, time to start working on the frames to insert the canes & bottles into. I’ve now sent an e-mail to all contacts (approx 300) at work asking them to donate their 2 litre pop bottles. Hopefully it won’t take too long to get the amount that I need.

Sunday - The bed for the 2nd earlies was established and dug over; I’ll be planting a row of Yukon Gold and a row of Anya in this bed at the back end of this week. The few Yukon Gold that are left over will be potted up into patio containers. I also planted up some Red Barron sets (3 rows) and some Santero sets (3 rows) in the newly built onion bed. I’ve still got some Turbo to go in and if any of my Bedfordshire Champion seeds amount to anything, I’ll make room for them somewhere.

Lots of the seedlings are coming along, will have to do some potting-up into bigger pots over the next couple of days, as a lot of the brassica’s have now started to develop their true leaves.

The Weather Man Promises a Warm Weekend

How lovely it would be to have two complete (weekend) days uninterrupted by rain or hail or snow. Now the weather forecast has said it’s going to be dry with some good sunny spells, highs of 15 on Saturday and 11 on Sunday. It’s looking a bit overcast at the moment, but time will tell.

Plans over the weekend include first and foremost, collect the hen shed this evening! Definitely a must and a can do no matter what the weather brings for us. Next job, 3 more posts to be dug into the ground for the bottle house, fairly confident this will be a goer. Finally, dig and complete the raised bed for the 2nd earlies to be planted.

I might be able to collect some bricks and some wood from a friend, he’s not sure if he’ll have the keys for the store, but hopefully he will and I can get some 2”x2” wood off him to start making the frames for the bottle house. I’m using bricks to edge the main path on the allotment, I’ll lay some cardboard down and cover with small stones which have been taken out of the ground as I’ve been digging it over.

I’ve got a few days off work towards the back end of next week and the longer (10 day) weather forecast says it going to be nice and sunny, so hopefully I’ll be able to get some peas and beans in, possibly some carrots and the onions still need to be put in, time is running out for them.

Have a nice weekend everyone and hopefully you can all get some productive gardening done.

The Edible Garden

So did you see the new gardening programme last night, Alys Fowler's "The Edible Garden", i watched it, and quite enjoyed it, its on BBC2 at 8pm and has another 5 programmes to go, so if you missed the first one, try and catch up with it next week.

I'm off to try and get another of the fence posts in the ground tonight for the bottle house, i'll take some snaps and post them so you can all see how it's coming along.

TWO Posts and My Shed!

Well the holiday weekend was mixed weather wise, there was sun, rain and on occasion hail! I bought the fence posts on Thursday evening, 4 @ 3”x3” x 8ft and 2 @ 4”x4” x 8ft. The wood man asked what I was doing with them as he was loading them into my car for me, his face said it all when I tried to explain, probably thought I was another eco-warrior, environmentally friendly loony.

Friday/Saturday I managed to plant up all my 1st earlies - Pentland Javelin into patio potato tubs, the 1st earlies - Rocket which I’ve had stood in the greenhouse over the last couple of weeks are coming along very nicely. I’m hoping a couple of nice days over this coming weekend will allow me to get the 2nd earlies in the ground at the allotment, a few will have to go in the remaining tubs, this will be a good test on whether soil or tubs are better for 2nd’s. I’ve put in some parsnips and radishes in one of the back yard beds. Carrots are coming through nicely. Plenty of tomatoes, kohl rabi, cauliflower, and lettuce seedlings are geminating. Cabbages and peppers are just beginning to peek through. I’ve been given a load of strawberry plants so these will be planted up in the fruit area ASAP.

On Sunday I drove to the allotment, Caleb in tow. I’d asked him to give me a hand building the bottle house, “I like building things” he says, good I thought I’m going to need your help. First job was to cut down some growth from the bushes hanging over from the neighbouring plot, and clear away some of the leaves and overgrown grass from the ground. Caleb watched. Then I started to measure, AGAIN, just to be safe, no point in getting it wrong and being unhappy once the posts have gone in. Again, Caleb watched. When I started to measure out I changed my mind where the house was going to be sited AGAIN. I wasn’t happy with the amount of growth (from next plots bushes) at one end so now its going to run 10ft flower bed, 10ft fruit (raspberry & strawberry) bed, then the bottle house (16ft), then another 10ft fruit bed and then what’s left (approx 12ft I think) I’ll decide what to do with later, possibly plant some fruit trees (apple, plum or pear). I also changed my mind on its dimensions, its now going to be 5ft wide instead of 4ft; I don’t do things by half!

I started to dig my first hole, Caleb watched, I turned my back for one minute, Caleb had gone, I found him chatting to Sid who has the plot opposite mine “he’s ok with me” Sid said, so back to the digging, ALONE. Next thing I know Brian (from further down the lane) had come over to have a chat with Sid and so Caleb then decided he wanted to go to see Brian’s hens and ducks, so that was it Caleb was off. So back to the digging of holes, ALONE, I sawed the bottom off the posts, making sure they stood in the holes straight and were both at a level height, all done and two posts in the ground, nice and secure. What a happy chappie I was with myself. I went back to check on them last night and to my amazement they were still standing, I must have done something right! I’m hoping to get another post in tomorrow night, and maybe the rest all in by Sunday, then I can start to work on the frames and creating the sides (this is where the bottles come into play).

Yesterday I received a phone call from the DIY store saying that they had mistakenly sold my shed and that the only one they had left was the store display model, so with some haggling (another 15% off the price), and them agreeing to dismantle it for me, I’m off to collect the shed for the chicken coop on Friday night. More building, ALONE no doubt!

Fence Posts, Plastic Bottles and the WEATHER!

So the big question is.... will the weather hold off this weekend so that I can start on one of the two big projects i'm so eagerly waiting to get off the ground. Well I'm off to buy the fence posts this evening for my bottle house, it's a mammoth project, somewhere in my dreams this bottle house will measure 16 ft long by 4 ft wide. Its going to be home to my Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Peppers (Chilli and Sweet) and also i'm going to have a go at growing a Melon. I've got several large black plastic bags in my spare room full of 2 litre bottles and Mrs C has kindly got another 2 bags waiting for me, so with 4 days off work, I think the time is right to start.

I still haven't figured out how i'm going to secure the posts into the ground, I have 2 of those metal square block things that fence posts fit into, these will be for the middle 2 posts, but the 4 corner posts, well i'm going to wing it.

Wish me luck!

Rain Rain Go Away

....come back again when i'm on holiday in August so that i need not worry if my veggies are getting watered whilst i'm away, lol. Seriously though, when will this rain ease, my plot was flooded again after the heavy rain that came toward the back end of last week, luckly though it's only seems to be flooding in one area, though this will cause a problem shortly as this is where the bottle house and fruit area will be. It's not stopped raining for long either yesterday or today and it’s been really heavy at times, so probably more flooding at the allotment. Got a few bits done over the weekend, planted up the rest of the Rocket potatoes, I’ll be doing the Pentland Javelin during this week as and when. There’s no more space for them in the mini greenhouse so these will have to fair the weather. I started to weed the ‘Root’ patch; I’ll be planting some Sweetcorn - Mini Pop in the little area I got done. Try and get some more of that weeded over the weekend. My Comfrey plant is starting to grow again, the first cut will go in with the potatoes, and then I’ll start to make some Comfrey tea for the Tomatoes and Potatoes for when they need a feed later.

I’ve sown some more Leeks (Autumn Giant and Lyon), Cauliflower (AYR), Kohl Rabi, and various Lettuces. The carrots are finally starting to show under the little grow house on the 4ft x 4ft bed in the back yard. The parsnip seeds are now sprouting shoots; does this mean I can just plant them in the soil now?

I cleared away some of the area where the chicken coop and wildlife garden is going to go. I had some roof slates which I was going to use on Samson’s kennel but as I didn’t have enough I felted the roof, but lucky for me, when you lay them all together they measure 3ft x 4ft, just the right size of the chicken house (shed), so these are going to be a base for the shed to sit on, rather than it standing straight on top of the soil.

I’ve re-allocated the space down the side of the plot where the bottle house and fruit and flower beds are going to be. Hopefully if the weather gets better over the weekend I’ll be able to begin the digging for putting in the fencing posts which will be the start of the frame for the bottle house. I’m not sure if I’ll cement these posts in or just find some other way of securing them, just in case I decide to move the bottle house in the future.

We (Caleb & me) popped to Pets at Home over the weekend, and to my joy I discovered that they sell chicken bits n pieces. This will be a great benefit for us, somewhere local I’ll be able to buy food from etc. So anyway in anticipation of the little feathered friends joining us sometime soon, we bought a chicken feeder and water supply. I’m dead chuffed with them; it’s great what little things make us happy.

Oh yes, I’ve received a kind donation from a friend at work (well her father to be precise) two rhubarb plants, so I’ll have to decide where they will live. Probably somewhere within the fruit bits I think. Somebody told me that rhubarb leaves make a good fertilizer, does anybody know if this is true?

Small Steps in the Right Direction

Progress is being made, slowly but steadily, I was hampered by a day of rain on Saturday so not all that was planned happened. I managed to build the final (planned) raised bed in the back yard plot. So now I have three beds, one which measures 7ft x 4ft, one at 4ft x 4ft and one at 4ft x 3ft. These are primarily going to be for growing the carrots, parsnips and quick salad items in. I got some Anya seed potatoes planted in a potato barrel, I’m going to have to knuckle down and get the remaining Rocket and the Pentland Javlin sorted out this weekend. I managed to also recycle some pallets and made a start on the wood for the henservatory.

Over to the allotment, I’ve pre-marked the side of the plot where I’m planning to put some flowers, the bottle house and the soft fruit area; the flowers will sit directly in front of the shed (see picture), giving them a patch measuring 10ft x 5ft, I thought I’d put them there as that will give me something nice to look out onto. I’d then planned on putting the bottle house, next to that in an area I’d earmarked at 16ft long 5ft wide, and then I’d planned to have after that 2 areas of 10ft x 5ft where I had thought about putting my raspberries and strawberries, this would leave me about 15ft of space to ponder with before I got to my gate. These areas and the existing raised beds that are already built will be separated by a gravel path from stones which I’ve been collecting as I’ve dug over the plot. Each of these areas would be split by a small path. My only concern now, after marking this out is that the bottle house will be sited near some bushes/trees from next doors plot, although they won’t block out the sun as the sun moves clockwise around my plot, I will need to be able to get behind the bottle house to chop down growing branches, something I’d not really taken into consideration when allocating space. Saying that, the area where the fruit is planned to go has a bare patch behind it so I think the best thing to do is swap these two areas so that the fruit bit comes before the bottle bit.

I’ve started digging over the potato patch and started to build one end of each of the raised beds, this gives me a starting picture of where each type will be, there are three sections, one for 2nd earlies, and one for early maincrop and another for late maincrop. I can now concentrate on the patch for 2nd earlies as they need to be in the ground by mid April. I can then finish the other two areas off for the maincrops to be planted out by the end of April.

I also managed to pull out the last patch of really overgrown area of weeds (see bottom left of picture). So now all I have to contend with are the rooted weeds like dandelions and other small growing weeds and bits of grass that has decided to grow around my plot when digging over the areas to make the raised beds.

Hoping to get down over the weekend but will have to wait and see, we’re going to visit a local farm on Sunday morning, they are holding an open day to let people see the spring lambs, piglets and calves. I’ve a family commitment on Sunday afternoon, so that only leaves Saturday to play with and we have a fixed commitment every Saturday morning so lets hope Saturday afternoon can be stretched out into a full day.

Weekend of Activity

Well I’m off work tomorrow, my car is going to the garage to be repaired (it currently drives itself about) and fail its MOT, I’m expecting a few things to need replacing like its brakes (due to driving itself, I spend most of my time with my foot on the brake trying to stop it). The other day the back doors locked and now I can’t unlock them to open them and get in and out of the back seat, even when you press the button to lock and then unlock them they stay locked. Poor Samson got stuck in the back of the car after we’d been out for a walk, me and Caleb had drag him through the little gap between the two front seats to get him out, not a pretty sight!

So I thought I’d take advantage of my non-working day and do some more garden activity. I’ll not be able to go to the allotment, it’s an hours walk away so I’ll potter about in the back yard, build another raised bed, pull out all the nails in the wooden posts I’ve ‘claimed’ for the henservatory and cut down some 2x2 ready to make one of the frames for the bottle house. Mrs C has another bag of 2 litre bottles for me so I’ll need to collect them. My spare room is full of black bags which are full of pop bottles, lol

Caleb’s off to cub camp Friday night so weather permitting (its forecast scattered showers - but I can brave them) I’ll spend all Saturday and Sunday at the allotment (presuming I get my car back) as I’ll not have to think about keeping him entertained. Hopefully I’ll be digging over the potato area and making a bed ready to plant out the 2nd earlies. I’ll put some chicken pellets in the onion bed which I made last weekend ready to plant them out probably next weekend and give the other beds a weed so that I’m on top of that before they get too riddled with neglect. I’ll Lime the brassica beds then start to mark out the side of the plot which runs from the shed to the gate where the flower bed will be and the bottle house and the fruit area.

How many hours are there in a day?

How Could I Forget - My Chickens!

Gosh, I don’t know how I’ve done it, but yesterday I forgot to mention the most important happening of the weekend - I’ve ordered 4 chickens. When I say I’ve ordered them, I’ve put in a request to a friend who has a small holding (1 acre) to rear me some chicks, she will look after them until they are at ‘point of lay’, which is roughly about 18 - 20 weeks old, and at which point I’ll have returned from my holiday and it’ll be all systems go, eggtastic!

Quick update on the sowing - I’ve started to pre-chit some parsnips, done the old wet paper towel trick; we’ll see how they get on. I also sowed 3 of each of the tomato varieties: Gardener Pearl, Roma, Red Cherry and an Italian big beefy one I can’t for the life of me think what it’s called now, I’ve put them in little peat pots so I don’t need to prick them out and pot on, I’ll just pop the peat pot into the next size up which will probably be a 3” pot and carry on from there. Did this with a couple of plants last year and it seemed to work out ok, so I’ll give it another go.

Had another look at my potato plans last night also, I was going to put the 2nd earlies into tubs as I’m doing with the 1st earlies, but again the seed potatoes seem to be multiplying, I don’t know where they are all coming from, but they will go in the ground as I haven’t enough of the potato tubs.

Another Productive Weekend!

Yet another weekend of nice weather so plenty of progress made. On Friday night I popped to our local B&Q as they had 20% discount on all purchases over £50. I’d been there the previous weekend and had seen a little shed (4ft x 3 ft) priced at £65. Now having decided we were going to get some hens and had found some details on how to build the henservatory, I thought this little shed would make a good house for them. They could occupy the bottom and if I put up some shelves, this could be storage area for their feed and other bits. So I’ve bought one, sale price of £52, however I’ve had to leave it at the store until I can get some kind volunteer with a small van to pick it up for me. I know just the man but he’s on holiday at the moment. I’ve managed to source (or should I say recycle) three 3x3 fence posts 7ft long and a couple of 10ft lengths of 2x3 which will help create the frame of the henservatory.

On Saturday I planted a further 4 (rocket) seed potatoes in a potato tub. I’ll put Pentland Javlin into tubs over the next couple of weeks so that I get a gradual harvest. I sprinkled some bone meal over the 7ft x 4ft raised bed in the back yard ready for when I plant some parsnips in there. I’ve decided to plant carrots and parsnips at home in the back yard as a backup as the soil at the plot isn’t very good yet (improvements are being made) and I thought they would grow better in some compost where they won’t be hindered by stones etc. I’ll be pre-chitin some parsnip seeds tonight, going to try the damp paper towel trick.

It was then off to the allotment for me and Samson. When I arrived, fencing around the 4 little plots which have been created over the last year had been erected. It really makes our little bit look very smart now. I decided this weekend would be dedicated to creating the onion bed as the sets need to be planted mid-March to mid-April, so I got down to digging. The bed will be 7ft x 4ft. Lots of digging and plenty of weed and grass extraction later (over the course of Saturday and Sunday) the patch of ground was cleared, a raised bed made and then the soil was treated with some much rotted garden compost. This coming weekend I’ll scatter some chicken manure pellets to give the ground some oomph and then I’ll be looking to plant out the onion sets - Santero (the first onion set with resistance to downy mildew) and Red Barron. I’m also trying to grow Bedfordshire Champion from seed, but these sets are my back up.
Tonight I’m going to sow a couple more tomato plants, some tunip and possible a few other choices, keep you informed.

Chicken/Wildlife Area

After missing out on the chicks last week I’ve been reading more and more about the chicken side of things and I’m really determined now to getting some. I’ve found an article in one of the magazines that I get each month ‘HomeFarmer’, it gave an overview of how to build a ‘henservatory’, which I think is a brilliant idea. It’s a very simple enclosed lean-to extension that goes on the side of a chicken hut (shed). Instead of shutting the birds away at night, the pop-hole can safely be left open, so that the birds can wander in and out at will, as still be safe from predators. This will be really useful for me as by the time I’ve finished work in the winter it’s already dark, so I could pop over to fill food and water up on a morning and not have to worry about needing to get back to put them away for the night.

I’ve been to the plot and measured the wildlife area, I thought that this would be a nice place to site the ‘henservatory’, it measures 14ft long by 10ft at one end tapering to 8ft at the other end. I’ve drawn (attempted to scale 2cm per ft) the area. In it I’ve tried to plan where I think things would be sited, the little star shapes are wildlife friendly flowers and the small circular shapes will be stepping stone so we can easily go from one side to the other without needing to step on the mud. When i've figured out how to upload a word document i'll try to attach it for you to see.

It’s forecast to be dry all weekend, so I’m planning to have TWO yes you read right, TWO full days at the plot. Samson won’t know what’s hit him. Caleb is at his dad’s this weekend so I’ve won’t have to find things to entertain him, so it’ll be lots of hard graft and no interruptions, well that’s the plan.

At Last - A Dry Weekend

I can’t believe it, a whole week without any rain, well nearly, it rained a bit on Friday night, but hey we’ll let it off as it was dry all week and then also dry for the rest of the weekend. My plot has nearly gone from a boggy mess to a cloggy mess. Hopefully if it keeps like this it’ll just be a mess that needs sorting.

So to update you all on the weekend’s happenings, on Saturday morning I put 8 seed potatoes (Rocket) into 2 potato containers (4 in each) and put them in the large plastic greenhouse. I’ve put them on top of some pallets just to keep them off the cold concrete floor; I thought this might help keep the chill/frost off them. I also sowed some carrots (Early Nantes 5) under the little grow house which I’ve had placed over the 4x4 raised bed in the back yard. On Saturday afternoon, Caleb, Samson and I went to Redcar beach to collect some seaweed, read somewhere that it’s good for the potatoes so I thought I’d give this a go. I’ll plant some with a seaweed bed and some without and let you know the results.

Sunday I finally managed to finish Samson’s kennel, he’s currently sleeping in the kitchen whilst I’m at work, sleeping is what he does best, but now the weather is getting better I thought it would be nice if he could spend time outside and basque in the glorious sun (when it arrives), so I started to build him a kennel but then with all the bad weather I’d not been able to finish it off, well now that’s complete and he loves it. He was even sleeping in it whilst I was nailing the roof felt onto it, nothing interrupts his sleep! Now all we’ve got to teach him not to panic when he’s outside, as he doesn’t particularly like it, it’s not the being outside that upsets him, it’s the door being closed and him not being able to get back in that he doesn’t like. So it’ll have to be a slow, confidence building exercise I think until he’s comfortable staying outside on his own.

Me and Samson also spent a couple of hours at the plot on Sunday afternoon, it was wonderful! I dug over the small brassica bed, so now they’ve all been dug; I’ll add some lime shortly. I used my new cultivator (a xmas pressie from my Mam) to rake over the muck in the legume beds. I then started to weed the area where the potato bed is going to go, the mud was still very wet, but at least the boggy bit was starting to dry up, all the puddles have gone, it was just very cloggy. Its forecast to be dry all week so hopefully we can get down at the weekend to get on with a bit more.

Oh yes, something I couldn’t resist buying, even though I didn’t really need any more seeds, some Broccoli (Calabrese) - Samson. I wonder if these will grow big heads, as big as Samson himself, we’ll see!

We've Missed the Chicks

Over the last couple of days I've been reading up about keeping the chicks and had just started to think about how I was going to make a coup for them, when I recieved a phone call to say that they had all been allocated homes. I'm rather disappointed now, just when we decided we'd say yes to having the chicks. Not to worry, it was obviously ment to be that we'd not get them and at least that gives me more time to think about the implications of having the birds and where the coup will go etc. Also having to fit in building the coup amongst all the other pressing jobs that need doing, it was probably one headache too many at this moment in time, but we will get some when the time is right.

Nothing much more to report on, a couple of peas are starting to poke their heads through the compost, i've transferred the onions out into the plastic greenhouse during the days, i'll bring them in on a night to give them a little extra protection at least for a week I would think. Over the weekend I sprinkled the 4x4 bed in the yard with a slow release food mix and it's been covered with the grow house for a couple of weeks now, so i'll sow some carrots in that little area over the weekend.

It's forcast to be quite nice so i'm definately going to spend some time at the allotment this weekend, its been fairly dry all week so far so hopefully the plot will have dried up a bit.

A Great Weekend - Shovelling Shit

Wasn’t it lovely over the weekend, well lovely compared to the previous goodness knows how many weekends gone by. On Saturday I managed to build a walk-in plastic greenhouse a bargain at £19.99 from B&M; do you have one of those shops anywhere near you? There brilliant and so cheap. So I’ve built that and put in my Broad Beans, I’d potted them on into bigger pots, getting them accustomed to the outside world ready for when I plant them up at the plot. I sowed some Toms, Chilli and Sweet Peppers and Tomatillos (just 2 of each variety - 4 varieties of toms and 2 of each of the sweet and chilli peppers) just to see how they get going. I sowed some marigolds, and nasturtiums for the beneficial planting area.

On Sunday the weather was not as good as Saturday, but I went over the allotment, it was still rather flooded after the rain on Friday, just as it was starting to dry out we had continuous rain all Friday which meant the plot was re-flooded in parts. A delivery of horse muck had been dumped so I spent an hour shovelling shit, it was WONDERFUL!!!

On Sunday evening my Mother telephoned me to ask if I knew anyone who was interested in some chicks. Her partners’ son’s daughter’s school had incubated some eggs and they had hatched. I’m pondering taking a couple on, they’d be ready in a couple of weeks; I’ll keep you informed as to what I decide. Wouldn’t that be nice though a couple of little chicks?

Another Great Find!

I had a half hour to kill last night whilst waiting to pick Caleb up from Cubs, so I thought to myself, I’ll just pop over to that trusty dumping area I’ve found where I’ve picked up a few scraps of wood from, just to see if anything useful is there. Well would you believe it, what a wonderful find there was! An open slat crate (see picture of a similar one below), it measures approx 2.5 ft wide and about 5 ft long and stands about 1.5 ft high. I thought to myself that would look really nice with some pots of flowers in and would sit alongside my shed at the lottie.

The next task in hand was to somehow get it in the car and back home. I put it down behind the car, to measure if it would fit on the back seat, it seemed a ok, so I pushed it in only to find that about a foot stuck out and I couldn’t close the door. Dang I thought, I’m going to have to put the back seat down and put it in the boot (good job I have a hatchback), so here I am, getting everything out of the boot, the chicken pellets, the dog food, and the plastic crate I’d picked up a few days earlier. Out they all came, I lifted up the wooden crate put it in the boot, well dang, it didn’t fit, it stuck out about 6 inches. Sod it I thought, I’m getting this home one way or another, so I threw everything back in the car, well into the new crate in the car to be precise, lowered the boot as far as it would go and drove off down the road to collect Caleb. It was dark and not so windy so I thought that if I drove fairly slowly it should stay closed over, which thankfully it did. The only problem is I’m going to have to do it all again, well the driving with the boot half open part of it when I take it over to the plot.

Progress on the seeds, onions are coming through, broad beans are getting nice and big, will have to pot on over the weekend or I might chance putting them in the ground if the weather remains dry and cover with a fleece or something, whether this may or may not be a good idea thoughts welcomed. I’ve sown some peas in toilet rolls and think I’ll do a few lettuces tonight.

Sadly it's the last of My Dream Farm tonight, I must say that I have enjoyed these and will wait with baited breathe for the next series.