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 ….’

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.

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.

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.

Light(ish) Nights

Isn’t it wonderful now the nights are starting to get a bit lighter, there will soon be a whole hour after work that I’ll be able to get bits n pieces done at the allotment. I’m lucky that it’s only 5 minutes drive from my work, so it’s easy to pop over to do a few bits before it gets dark. Over winter this has not been feasible, but with the nights getting lighter for longer I’ll be able to get over and do bits. Another added bonus is British Summertime Begins in just 4 weeks, just think of that extra hour!

I’m planning to get over to the lottie over the weekend, didn’t manage last weekend, what with one thing and another, but I would like to get across for a couple of hours at least on Sunday. The only stumbling block is yes you’ve guessed it, its forecast snow showers here in Middlesbrough. Hopefully though this prediction won’t come true and it will be glorious weather, yes I know cloud cuckoo land.

I ordered some Gardman (Pack of 2) Reusable Potato Planters / Tubs online to plant some of the earlies in, as the potato area isn’t sorted yet. You can see from the photo below, the area just at the bottom of the picture covered in weeds, this is where the potato beds are going to go.

Once I’d ordered the planters they only took a couple of days to arrive, very fast turnaround. I’m very pleased with them, they seem more robust than some of the designs available, and they have little pouches on the sides which will be useful to fumble about and see how things are progressing.

On the seed front, the chitting spuds are chitting quite nicely, the Rocket in particular are doing very well. The Cabbage (Greyhound) is doing well, Cauliflower (AYR) are starting to come through, so are the Khol Rabi. No sign of the Onions, Celeriac, Peppers or Cucumber yet but nearly all Broad Beans are through. I’ll going to have look through my seeds at the weekend and sow some more things. I may try some tomatoes, I’ve been given a heated propagator so I’m going to keep them snug in there and see how they go.

No Further Forward at the Plot

Well I’m no further forward in getting the plot prepared for the spring, I now have the added headache of having to make two lots of (rotational) raised beds seen as though I went mad and ordered loads of potatoes and there isn’t going to be room for them in the proposed ‘root’ section. I sat down and looked at my plan of the allotment and looked where I could squeeze in another section. I’d taken Friday and today off as holiday in the hope of being able to get started on these along with some winter digging but the weather is not helping at all, it has rained, and even snowed today so things are getting further and further behind.

I bought some lime for the Brassica patch; I’d managed to get two of the three beds in this area dug over in November, so I’ll get the third done and then add lime ready for when I plant out. I’d read in one of the magazines that this is an ideal time for the lime to be added so I’ll try and get that done fairly soon. I’d also managed to get the Legume section dug over and a load of compost and manure spread, so hopefully this will be ready to go when the beans are germinated.

I’ve sown a few more veggies. I tried again with some seed onions (Bedfordshire Champion) and this time I used brand new compost, I’ve bought B&Qs cutting and sowing compost, this was the best performer in the Which magazine trials with an 83% success rate and huge seedlings so I thought that I’d give it a go. I’ve sown some more leeks (Musselburgh), some cabbage (Greyhound), cucumber (Marketmore), celeriac (Monarch) and some aubergine (mixed).

Working it all Out

Well it’s official, with all these potatoes I’m going to have to build (or should I say squeeze) another section/rotation area into the plot. I sat last night and worked out what will realistically fit into the ‘Root’ patch. Its official, potatoes, potatoes and you guessed it potatoes. I’ll even have to put my 1st earlies into those little patio planters I have as not all my potatoes will fit into the space for roots. So that’s my Root (Potato) section worked out. It’s a good job I like potatoes, and so does Samson, in fact he loves quite a few veggies so he can help devour the harvest.

I also worked out where I’m going to plant my beans and peas in the Legume section. I’m growing Broad beans, Peas (normal, mangetout and sugar snap) some French beans and Runner beans and I’ve ordered some Borlotto and Flangelot beans to leave to dry for winter casseroles etc.

Tonight I’m going to look at the Onion section, here I plan on growing my onions (you’d never have guessed that would you), Courgettes, Garlic, Leeks, Marrow, Spring Onion and Squash.

If I have time I’ll look at the Brassica Section, planned crops for there include Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Calabrese, Cauliflower, Kale, Kohl Rabi, Radish, Swede and Turnip.

I’ll then have to fit into the rotation plan those left over ‘Roots’ which I’d pencilled in as Beetroot, Carrots, Celeriac, Lettuce, Parsnips, Radicchio, Spinach, and Sweetcorn. Reading up on the 6 year/5 bed policies they will have to follow the ‘Onion’ section and come before the ‘Potato’ section. I know that some of these can be put into ‘any’ area but if I can keep them together I’ll know where I am for the coming years rather than pop them here or there. Isn’t it all confusing?

At Last more than just a Fleeting Visit!

Caleb and I popped over to the allotment on Saturday for 10 minutes, the weather was dry and I wanted to see if it was feasible for me to do any work. I had some free time on Sunday afternoon and I wanted to fill it with ‘muck’ and hard graft! Things looked promising.

Sunday arrived; it was a bit nippy so I wrapped up well. Samson has only been to the allotment a couple of times, we only adopted him in November so there have been few chances to get over there since he came to live with us. So the allotment and growing veggies will be a new experience for the two of us (well three when Caleb’s enthusiasm is working, he blows hot and cold about the whole thing).

So down to some work, as the pigeons had decimated my PSB I’ve pulled them all up, chopped them down and composted them. I had about 5 cabbages still in the ground when the snow hit, well you couldn’t call them cabbages anymore, slimy green blobs would be a better phrase, and so up they came. Next it was the sprouts, they hadn’t really amounted to much and the pigeons had eaten the tops, so I pulled them up and decided to snap off the few decent sized ones that had developed. I didn’t have a tub to put them in (something I’ve got to start collecting) so I put them on top of a piece of board on a bucket to gather up when leaving for home. I turned around 5 minutes later only to find Samson chomping away at them, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The pigeons had eaten my PSB, the snow had finished off my Cabbages and Samson had scoffed the sprouts. I thought it was supposed to be Grow Your Own, not grow for everything else!

Not to rub salt into my wounds, it looks like the over-wintering onions have all gone mushy, so I don’t think they’ll be worth persevering with, and not one single broad bean had germinated. So much for hardy veg!

But then the Snow Turned to Rain

When will this awful weather stop? Throughout November it was rain, and then we had the snow and now yet more rain. My allotment doesn’t have very good drainage hence the reason I’m building raised beds to plant my veggies in. And all this bad weather doesn’t help when you want to get things moving along for example those ‘winter’ jobs we should be getting on with. Well that’s my moan over with.

I’m going to make a trip to the allotment over the weekend, come hell or high water (more probably high water if the rain continues). The snow has all melted and I want to see how things have faired, mostly to see if I have any broad beans before I plant some more and to pull and put it in the compost bin what’s left of the PSB and sprouts after the pesky pigeons had their way with them.

On the seed trial, remember I said that I’d planted up some leeks, onions and cauli’s as a kind of test to see how things move along here in the North East. Well all I can say is leggy cauli’s, the poor little things have stretched themselves so much looking for the light, so they’re definitely one seed that I’ll have to play the waiting game on, but the onions and leeks don’t seem to be too bad, I’ll keep persevering with the one’s I’ve sown and maybe do another batch at the end of the month.

Hope and Happiness

The Grand essentials of happiness are: Something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.

• Something to do: sow seeds a plenty
• Something to love: your budding seedlings and blossoming plants
• Something to hope for: a fruitful harvest

Should this dreadful weather ever change I would like to get over to the allotment over the weekend, have a look and see if the snow has disapeared at an amazing rate (I think not) and see what damage it has done to the broad beans and over wintering onions, should I be able to find them, lol. Possibly do a bit of tidying up in the shed or at least mend the shed as it kind of started to fall apart when it was moved back in November and what with all the dreadful rain and then the snow i've not been able to get round to mending it.

Looking at the forecast (for Middlesbrough), well for Sunday at least, things are looking promising. It is anticipated there will be large amounts of dry weather, with temperatures closer to normal, dare we HOPE?

Welcome on Board

Hi, and welcome to my blog, this is all a new experience for me so I hope you stick around as I'm sure things will only get better. Nothing much happening here in Middlesbrough, the snow is slowly disappearing so hopefully once it all goes i'll be able to get to the plot to finish off the winter digging and create a few new veg beds.

I went over to the allotment at the weekend, the snow was several inches deep, when I got there I found that the pigeons, well i'm blaming them, have eaten all my purple sprouting brocolli and demolished what few sprout plants I had. NOTE TO SELF cover next winter with netting!! I'd planted some Broad beans at the end of November and had planted some overwintering onions, i'll have to see how they have faired once all the snow goes.

So far this month I have sown some Onion seeds (Bedfordshire Champion), some Leeks ( - ) and some Cauli's (All Year Round and Snow Crown). I'll keep you posted as to their progress in the coming weeks.