December 22nd

Made the most of the mild weather and went to the plot on my bike this morning.
Emptied out the last of my well rotted manure from pallet bin on bottom allotment and barrowed it up to top allotment to put on bed where main crop potatoes were.

Just about the right amount to cover the bed with a decent layer - let the worms do their stuff over the winter!

Transferred all the compost from second pallet bin into the now empty manure bin - first time I've done it in 3 years! Put the lovely compost at the bottom on some of the raised beds. I then covered the remaining compost in the bin with some blue plastic to try and keep some heat in. Might empty in less than 3 years time!

December 4th

Got to the plot for 09:30 and it was a bit cool - thought my hands were going to drop off after first 10 minutes! Amazingly even though we've had our first frost the Rudbeckia were still flowering

Picked a load of different salad leaves from bottom allotment for my sandwiches at work and then a bit of weeding and tidying up on top allotment - picked a few radish too.
Warmed up a bit by this time and the sun came out too.

Then it was time for a bit of digging, dug a trench for the beans. I haven't done this before to this extent but the experienced allotmenteers all do it.

I will fill this with annual weeds and general kitchen and other allotment waste.

I need to spread some well rotted manure on some of the beds soon - will have to borrow a wheelbarrow from one of the other plot holders - spotted one further up the site on my way out.

Didn't see anyone else this morning but I did enjoy the peace and quiet and the exercise.

November 20th

Had a couple of hours at the plot this morning - -it was pretty foggy and it bit cold on the hands while riding there on my bike - soon warmed up though!
Top allotment tidied - harvested some leeks and a couple of parsnips:

Did a bit of tidying up on bottom allotment too - got some pak choi, some lettuce and the first cavolfiore (Italian cauli).

Still got some Rudbeckia flowering!

Out of my 8 raised beds I'm down to 4 with produce now

October 16th

Had 2 and a bit hours on the plot this morning.
I dug up the last of the Cara and desiree and cut the pumpkins and butternut squash off.
Got a load more radish and probably the last of the Cobra beans (these have been really good!).
Picked some more Chioggia beetroot and took 3 punnets of tomatoes off the outdoor plants.

I seem to have way too many salad leaves (got another bag full) but I suppose it'll be a good green manure if I don't crop it all!
The Hungarian grazing rye is growing well - I will dig this in next spring.

Remaining crops:
Parsnips
Beetroot
Salad - various types
Pak Choi
Carrots
Leeks
Cavolfiore
Cabbage
Purple Sprouting Broccoli

It's been a pretty good crop this year!

October 8th

Had a couple of hours on the allotment this morning, drizzled before we set off then rain threatening all the time.
Dug up another 5 potato roots - really hard work, the ground was so hard.
Got another decent crop - 2 big bags - Cara and Desiree, only 10 more to go!
Here's a photo from the rubbish camera on my phone:

Got another load of radish - some really big ones:

Cleared the last of the sweetcorn - got 6 decent cobs and a few smaller ones.
Still some cobra beans left and got some more Chioggia Pink Beetroot - pickled some of it along with some shallots - first time I've tried pickling:

Got a few parsnips, a big bag of salad and pak choi and took one of the smaller pumpkins - about 10 inches long. Saving the two other bigger ones for Halloween.

Got another handful of ripe strawberries - can't remember getting them in October before!

October 1st

What a great start to October, loveley and sunny and HOT!
Got to allotment for 07:20, started cropping potatoes in ex-car park bed.
Took ages, speared quite a few but got loads - I weighed the largest hessian bag of the 4 when I got back 27Kgs - excellent!

Got a load of sweetcorn, some more Chioggia Pink Beetroot, radish, cut and come again salad, some plums, apples and cobra beans.

The biggest surprise was strawberries in October - lovely and sweet

September 4th

Just back from Allotment - it was a bit wet! Stopped raining for a while though. Got a big bag of salad and some more chioggia pink beetroot.
Pumpkins doing well.

Butternut Squash were a bit slow but getting quite a few now.

Potatoes I planted on my ex-car parking space still flowering, doing brilliantly.

August 28th

Had another couple of hours on the plot this morning.
Got my first sweetcorn

Pumpkins and butternut squash coming on well

Remaining potatoes looking good on top allotment

Sweetcorn, salad and beetroot coming on well on bottom allotment


Parsnips doing well on top allotment, had 4 so far, getting a few bare patches, put some rocket and lettuce in.

August 14

Had a few hours up on the allotment, dug up the last 2 Rocket potato plants - big enough for jackets now!
Dug up a row of International Kidney, some nice sized ones for boiling and a few bigger ones. Some had a little scab on them, not sure why. Had some boiled tonight and the skins nearly dropped off. Maybe don't need to boil them for as long!
Sweetcorn is coming along great and the pumkins are swelling well.
Pulled up all the red onions I planted on bottom allotment last autumn and strung them up in the shed.
Sowed loads of rows of carrots, lettuce, spicy salad, radish, pak choi, etc. where the potatoes and onions used to be.
Got another large courgette - as usual I blinked! Cooked it in a veggie lasagne with greenhouse tomatoes, onion and cayenne pepper - delicious.

20 July 2011

Had a trip up this evening with rain threatening. Hammered some posts in on bed 4 where my brassicas are and managed to cover them with the Wondermesh I had on the strawberries to keep the pesky Cabbage White Butterfly off. There was quite a few white fly on the underside of some of the leaves - will have to lookup some organic method to control it!
Got a load of spicy salad for me, the rabbits and the guinea pig!

July 10th 2011

Managed 2.5 hours on the plot on Saturday. Got there 06.45. Funnily enough there was no-one else there until 7.30!
Had a 2 hour weeding session on top allotment followed by a strawberry and raspberry picking session. Got first courgette too and some more early potatoes.

Mid June - First Earlies

Went up to allotment for 06:40 on my bike to get some potatoes - dug about 4 roots of earlies up, got a reasonable crop - and was confronted with loads of weeds.
The recent rain has done them wonders! I hoed for about an hour round the runner beans and maincrop potatoes to try and control them and pulled a load up by hand from the shallots, onions and carrots. I also raked some soil up my maincrop potatoes on top allotment to tidy up the ridges. Sweetcorn is coming on and I've got a fair bit of blackfly on my broad beans (even though I pinched the tops out).
My peas aren't doing very well this year - I'll have to bung some more in and hope they come quick aenough.

15 May

Dwarf and French beans planted at allotment - front bed of bottom lottie.

Greenhouse - planted 3 Aubergines in a grow bag at far end.
Picked second ripe strawberry - delicious.
Tomato plants now about 4 - 5 feet high!

Front of house - planted 5 tomatoes and an aubergine in grow bags.

14 May 2011 - Planting Session

Got up to the allotment at 06:45 ready for a planting session.

Put in:

14 Runner Beans (not doing as many as lasy year - overrun with them)
2 Giant Pumpkins
29 Sweetcorn (most of them in bed 2 of bottom allotment, rest at bottom of top allotment next to beans)
5 Butternut Squash (2 with the sweetcorn, other 3 with the pumpkins. Used a good dollop of well rotted manure in the planting hole).
3 Courgettes
Planted bed 3 with pea and mangetout plants and filled rest of bed with a row of seeds

Took 2 of the 3 panes of glass off the potatoes in bed 8, left fleece on. Looking good - loads of flowers.

Bottom Allotment

Top Allotment

2 May 2011

Had 4 days off so went up to lottie on Fri, Sat, Sun and Mon at around 7:30 for a couple of hours each time.
Have nearly bottomed all the weeds on both top and bottom 1/2 allotments in preparation for planting later this month.
I have put fleece all round the first earlies I have under glass as I can't earth these up any more, they are around 18 inches high! I earthed up the other bed of earlies that went in later.

At home awaiting planting I have:
In greenhouse -
Peas, Sweetcorn and loads of different flowers.
Runner Beans

In conservatory -
Peppers (Cayenne and Tabasco)
Courgettes
Butternut Squash
Giant Pumpkins
Dwarf and French Beans
Aubergines (these will go in the greenhouse)

I put a small row of beetroot in (Chioggia Pink - apparently it's orange-pink on the outside with an appealing bullseye combination of rosy-red and white on the inside, which fades to soft pink when cooked).
Also put a row of spicy salad leaves in.
Pulled up the remaining leeks (sauted some of them last night and froze). I put 1 row of new leeks in (2 rows was too many last year! I used some plastic piping for some of the leeks and it worked really well at blanching the stems - some of them were about 9 inches of white.
Put some sweet peas in on a wigwam.
The parsnips and carrots have started.
The shallots are doing really well and all the onions seem to have taken.

In the greenhouse at home the tomatoes are doing well - all have first sets of flowers and I have planted the 2 cucumber plants on mounds.
Had some rhubarb that I had forced under a bucket and it was lovely - not sour at all

20 April 2011

Put rest of potatoes in - Cara, Vales Emerald & King Edward. Had to lose the parking area as didn't have enought room!

April

Potatoes - First earlies under glass - 2 of the 18 I put in early March have shown through - covered them back over!

Last weekend - put in rest of first earlies - 16 I think - I've put these 2 across my 4 foot raised beds as I will be digging these up later than the first lot I put in.

Rest of potatoes still chitting in the garage - will put them in this month.

Onion Sets - The ones I put in last autumn have had a few failures so I've replaced these. I put a 6m row in 2 weeks ago on top allotment and then 2 more bags arrived from T&M that I'd forgotten I'd ordered (last August surprise) so I've put them in last weekend - I'll have to count them - must be over 100!

Parsnips - 1 row sowed - never done them before

Carrots - Early Nantes sowed

Peas - 2 inch tall in toilet roll inners in greenhouse

Tomatoes - Sungold and Sun Cherry all doing well - 6 to 8" tall. Have sowed some Ailsa Craig about 10 days ago too.

Leeks - 2 lots in greenhouse

Feb

Bottom Allotment raised beds complete.

2011 - January nearly over

Went up to allotment yesterday and did some more weeding. I'm a bit behind my schedule this year but plenty of time still to catch up and get everything prepared (I hope).

The autumn raspberries have spread everywhere so stated to get rid of some (donated to new allotment holder, gave him some strawberries too) and found my eldest daughter's parrot tulips. I've moved them nearer the front of the plot and split the bulbs where they were big enough - hoping for a nice display this year!

I want to get some carrots in soon under glass - this worked quite well last year. I've got some 4 foot square old aluminium framed windows which are just the right width for my raised beds. They even have small window openings for ventilation if needed!

Top Allotment

Haven't done anything to this 1/2 yet!

2011

Bed 4 repaired and prepared. Bed 3 prepared. Bed 8 prepared and covered with glass panels in preparation for Early Potatoes.