Wednesday 31 December 2014
End of 2014
September to December were a busy time on the plot, harvesting and some planting
Dug up most of the remaining spuds in September:
The courgettes continued in abundance!
Had my best year yet for pumpkins:
and the Rainbow Chard has been a great success. The french beans and raspberries have done really well too:
The sweet peas carried on well in to September
A trip up on Christmas Eve got a nice harvest for Christmas Day:
The roasted parsnip was particularly tasty!
At home the new greenhouse has taken some time as weather (including snow) has hampered my efforts and I needed to repair/repaint the fence and build a new higher base.
It's almost complete now but here's the stage photos:
Original greenhouse in a state of undress!
End of November, hole dug and outer perimiter of base laid.
December 20th, fence repair and repainting completed, 6 inch plinths added and blocks for central path laid.
December 21st, aluminium base fixed into position and some earth moving!
Boxing Day, assembly of main wooden structure commenced.
and then the snow came.....
Sunday 17 August 2014
Early August - harvesting and weeding
Continuing to harvest and weed. I'd asked my mum to pick some courgettes while we were away but she got carried away with the weeding and forgot - result - more massive courgettes. I handed some out to the neighbours and took some to work!
I also had a go at baking - this Lemon Courgette cake was excellent and a good way of using some of them up.
Still pulling up carrots, picking runner and dwarf beans, pulling up the remaining onions and strung them up in the shed at home
The pumpkins are doing really well - they seem to be much further ahead this year. This one isn't the biggest but is changing colour already!
The squashes, sweetcorn and leeks are all looking good.
The Swiss chard on the bottom allotment is doing nicely. I've sown some late pak choi and mizuna on the top allotment
Pulled up a Chioggia Beetroot and had it as one of the veg roasted - delicious!
I've finally dug up all the early potatoes, there was a few more than I was expecting!
There was some slug damage to some of the spuds and about 6 had been decimated by something - what has caused this? It has been a bit wet the last 2 weeks
At home the carrots are great - decent size, no root fly and no extra legs or blemishes - much easier to peel! The black tomato and the striped tigerella experiment has been a success - they are tasty too!
Friday 25 July 2014
July
Last visit of July this afternoon.
It's been a fruitful month. Loads of courgettes, some a bit big ;), keep digging up the early potatoes, pulling up carrots, picking broad and dwarf beans, finishing off the peas, pulling up a few onions and loads of weeding and watering!
It's been pretty hot but everything seems to have coped ok. The pumpkins are coming along well as are the squashes, sweetcorn and leeks.
The extra carrots I sowed on the top allotment have germinated, hoes round them today and the Swiss chard on the bottom allotment in the bed that had the first earlies in have started too.
I weeded the strawberry beds and removed the Wondermesh as well.
My mum and dad have been roped in to water and weed while we are away next week!
I'm really pleased with the new raised bed at home. I've planted it with trailing lobelia, viola, tagetes, mesembryanthemum, bell peppers, radish, carrots and some other flowers!
Thursday 26 June 2014
Watering and Weeding most of June
The last few weeks have been general plot maintenance with some cropping too. Watering and weeding plus plenty of early potatoes and strawberry picking.
On a recent visit I weeded the onions on the top allotment and grabbed a couple of the bigger ones while I was there!
The sweetcorn seems to be doing ok but I've still got one butternut in the greenhouse to put in that bed:
The new cabbages are doing fine
The Wondermesh is doing a great job of keeping the birds off. I found another piece and covered some of the strawberries next to the path on the top allotment too.
and I've actually got some courgettes coming now - at last!:
Shouldn't need to water this weekend, the forecast has plenty of rain!
The sweetcorn seems to be doing ok but I've still got one butternut in the greenhouse to put in that bed:
The new cabbages are doing fine
The Wondermesh is doing a great job of keeping the birds off. I found another piece and covered some of the strawberries next to the path on the top allotment too.
and I've actually got some courgettes coming now - at last!:
Shouldn't need to water this weekend, the forecast has plenty of rain!
Monday 9 June 2014
No watering while we were away - typical UK Spring Bank Holiday
Got back from holiday on 1st June and guess what? - my parents didn't need to water the plot the whole week we were away. Apparently the weather was awful!
I had last week off work as well so a few trips were made sorting out the weeds and doing more planting.
The first thing I did was to dig up my first early spud and got a great crop. It was a bit difficult finding them in all the muddy manure and soil!
Here's the second lot I dug up later in the week:
and I found these 'volunteers' on the top allotment - they were just showing a bit of green foliage through the soil, amazing how you can always miss some spuds from the year before but I've never missed this many before! Should make some good jackets:
I've put the rest of the sweetcorn in at last along with one of the two butternut's I'd been growing on in the greenhouse:
My cabbages weren't doing very well so I purchased (shock horror!) 10 from a garden centre to add to the few of mine left that might survive. They still look a bit lonely!:
The main crop potatoes at the front of the bottom allotment and coming along well now. I've earthed them up again. I've covered up the strawberries on the bottom plot with the Wondermesh as they are starting to go red now. I've got some pea pods coming but the french beans could be better. The rest of the plot is looking a bit tidier:
On the top allotment, I've got rid of most of the weeds for now and the leeks, onions, courgettes, butternuts and squashes all look ok. The runner beans at the bottom haven't grown much and 2 of the 4 different kinds of beetroot haven't done so well:
Finally, the other main crop potatoes at the front of the top allotment have been earthed up about much as I can are are looking good. Still plenty of pears coming and some apples and plums too:
Went up again on my bike on Saturday to give the potatoes a bit of water and to weed the beetroot. I need to pick some broad beans too as they are ready. There's only the carrot bed on the bottom allotment to attack now. Haven't needed to water since then as it's been a bit wet!
I had last week off work as well so a few trips were made sorting out the weeds and doing more planting.
The first thing I did was to dig up my first early spud and got a great crop. It was a bit difficult finding them in all the muddy manure and soil!
Here's the second lot I dug up later in the week:
and I found these 'volunteers' on the top allotment - they were just showing a bit of green foliage through the soil, amazing how you can always miss some spuds from the year before but I've never missed this many before! Should make some good jackets:
I've put the rest of the sweetcorn in at last along with one of the two butternut's I'd been growing on in the greenhouse:
My cabbages weren't doing very well so I purchased (shock horror!) 10 from a garden centre to add to the few of mine left that might survive. They still look a bit lonely!:
The main crop potatoes at the front of the bottom allotment and coming along well now. I've earthed them up again. I've covered up the strawberries on the bottom plot with the Wondermesh as they are starting to go red now. I've got some pea pods coming but the french beans could be better. The rest of the plot is looking a bit tidier:
On the top allotment, I've got rid of most of the weeds for now and the leeks, onions, courgettes, butternuts and squashes all look ok. The runner beans at the bottom haven't grown much and 2 of the 4 different kinds of beetroot haven't done so well:
Finally, the other main crop potatoes at the front of the top allotment have been earthed up about much as I can are are looking good. Still plenty of pears coming and some apples and plums too:
Went up again on my bike on Saturday to give the potatoes a bit of water and to weed the beetroot. I need to pick some broad beans too as they are ready. There's only the carrot bed on the bottom allotment to attack now. Haven't needed to water since then as it's been a bit wet!
Tuesday 20 May 2014
20 May - Another rubbish weather forecast and We're Only Making Plants for Nigel
Forecast was for thunder and heavy rain, we got 20 seconds!
Biked up to the plot this evening to water. Managed to weed the other row of parsnips or should I say parsnip, there was only 1 in the whole row amongst the weeds. Oh well the other row will have to do.
Earthed up main crop on top allotment - not enough soil to completely cover them all
Also managed to prepare the sweetcorn bed on the bottom allotment
and earth up the main crop potatoes again, they seem to be shooting up fast now.
Back at home I pricked out some Mesembryanthemum (Livingstone Daisies) in the greenhouse for a chap at work, it reminded me of an old XTC song "We're only making plants for Nigel"
Biked up to the plot this evening to water. Managed to weed the other row of parsnips or should I say parsnip, there was only 1 in the whole row amongst the weeds. Oh well the other row will have to do.
Also managed to prepare the sweetcorn bed on the bottom allotment
and earth up the main crop potatoes again, they seem to be shooting up fast now.
Back at home I pricked out some Mesembryanthemum (Livingstone Daisies) in the greenhouse for a chap at work, it reminded me of an old XTC song "We're only making plants for Nigel"
Sunday 18 May 2014
18 May - Frantic! & Pears?
A number of trips over the weekend. It's that time of year again where I'm frantically trying to get the plot planted, weeded and shipshape before we go on holiday. It's only a week but if I don't do it it's a nightmare on our return. I have roped in my parents for watering duty and maybe a bit of weeding too!
The top allotment had the most time spent on it:
The main crop potatoes at the front were showing through so they've been earthed up.
From the back:
I've put the runner beans in:
Next row I've got 2 pumpkins. Left them plenty of space (I hope):
Followed a row of parsnips and some onions:
The next bed is a bit untidy, more weeding required but I've got some butternut squash (Butterbush & Balmoral) and the other 2 pumpkins in here:
Next bed has the courgettes in. There's some space left for some salad/radish etc.:
Getting nearer the front of the plot I spent some time on Sunday digging in the manure and then put 3 rows of leeks in (26 in each row). I used the end of a broom handle to make the holes, popped in the leek. I found that if I held the leek in the hole but up from the bottom, it didn't disappear!:
The final bed before the trees is a work in progress. There are a few parsnips hidden in the weeds but this is the only bed that needs a bit of work on the top allotment:
This could be my first year of pear production. I planted the trees in the spring of 2010 and I've had apples and plums for a couple of years but no sign of pears. Here's hoping!
On the bottom allotment, I've taken the double fleece layer off the 2 beds of potatoes and the first ones I planted have some flowers and look promising for a decent crop:
The second lot I put in are looking great too, just slightly behind the first ones:
I've had to earth up the potatoes at the front of this plot too although these are the slowest:
The carrots are doing ok but the red onions and shallots seem a bit small at the moment. The broad beans haven't produced a thing - strange as my father-in-law has had the same trouble in his garden! The cabbages could be better, I may have to see if another 'menteer has some spares (like last year). I need to sort out the bed for the sweetcorn but that can wait until we get back from holiday. Some of the beans haven't germinated so I've put some more seed in and the peas which were established plants when I put them in are fine, there's hardly anything from the seed I sowed - maybe the slugs or birds got them.
Back at home in the greenhouse, it's a bit emptier now but the tomatoes are coming along great and I put a cucumber plant in (on a mound) that someone kindly gave me. I've moved the peppers from the conservatory in here.
The peas in the raised beds are looking great and the salad is almost ready to pick. The carrots look fine and the second lot of salad has germinated but still waiting on the basil.
I have started another raised bed on the other side of the garden.
The top allotment had the most time spent on it:
The main crop potatoes at the front were showing through so they've been earthed up.
From the back:
I've put the runner beans in:
Next row I've got 2 pumpkins. Left them plenty of space (I hope):
Followed a row of parsnips and some onions:
The next bed is a bit untidy, more weeding required but I've got some butternut squash (Butterbush & Balmoral) and the other 2 pumpkins in here:
Next bed has the courgettes in. There's some space left for some salad/radish etc.:
Getting nearer the front of the plot I spent some time on Sunday digging in the manure and then put 3 rows of leeks in (26 in each row). I used the end of a broom handle to make the holes, popped in the leek. I found that if I held the leek in the hole but up from the bottom, it didn't disappear!:
The final bed before the trees is a work in progress. There are a few parsnips hidden in the weeds but this is the only bed that needs a bit of work on the top allotment:
This could be my first year of pear production. I planted the trees in the spring of 2010 and I've had apples and plums for a couple of years but no sign of pears. Here's hoping!
On the bottom allotment, I've taken the double fleece layer off the 2 beds of potatoes and the first ones I planted have some flowers and look promising for a decent crop:
The second lot I put in are looking great too, just slightly behind the first ones:
I've had to earth up the potatoes at the front of this plot too although these are the slowest:
The carrots are doing ok but the red onions and shallots seem a bit small at the moment. The broad beans haven't produced a thing - strange as my father-in-law has had the same trouble in his garden! The cabbages could be better, I may have to see if another 'menteer has some spares (like last year). I need to sort out the bed for the sweetcorn but that can wait until we get back from holiday. Some of the beans haven't germinated so I've put some more seed in and the peas which were established plants when I put them in are fine, there's hardly anything from the seed I sowed - maybe the slugs or birds got them.
Back at home in the greenhouse, it's a bit emptier now but the tomatoes are coming along great and I put a cucumber plant in (on a mound) that someone kindly gave me. I've moved the peppers from the conservatory in here.
The peas in the raised beds are looking great and the salad is almost ready to pick. The carrots look fine and the second lot of salad has germinated but still waiting on the basil.
I have started another raised bed on the other side of the garden.
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