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.

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?

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.