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.