My half-allotment is beginning to Grow! It's great watching bits of stick and bare earth burst into life - spring is a great time.

I am therefore sooooo pleased that I have rhubarb growing - at last!! One of the easiest things to grow is finally growing in my allotment..... I have 5 plants sprouting up leaves - woo hoo!! Here's a picture (a fuzzy out-of-focus one, but you the the idea!) :


Now I just have to wait another year before I get to eat any of it!!

Yep, It's been that long.....

Been so hectic in the run up to Christmas, with illnesses and marking, that I haven't made it up to the allotment till now. It has definately been negleted!

The renewal for the plot came through, so I asked if I could share or split the plot. They've split the plot, and reduced the rent, so I'm quite pleased. It is now not very big, but still big enough for me.

Most of what I did on Sunday was just tidying up. I think the rhubarb is coming up - yay! I put my daffodil bulbs in (bit late, but here's to hoping.....).

My siting of the grape vine proved to be an error. I set it against the fence, but then they sprayed weed killer all round the fences! It survived, but I wouldn't say it flourished this year.... I have now moved it to the middle of the plot, where I am going to put up a wire to attach things to (raspberries etc).

Here's one of my blackcurrent bushes. I'm hoping they will provide a reasonable crop this year.

Strawberry Sort out

I've been up to the allotment today - woo hoo! A Sunday without kids and it isn't raining!

I've dug over a little patch, and I've planted some (but not many) broad beans. I'm not a bean of any form fan, but from what I understand they are good for the soil, and I've got to get this crop rotation malarkey sorted out!

I also gave the strawberries a good looking at. Weeded out the bed and played a huge game of 'Whose Runner Is It Anyway?'! Blimming heck they've set out a good few runners! I've taken some and planted them so that I have a new set of plants next year. I'm going to pass the others on to people, but don't know who yet!


I have 3 different varieties of strawberries 'to provide a long and bountiful supply of strawberries' supposedly. I think next year there may well be lots of strawberries! Hmmm.... The 3 types are (from top to bottom in this picture): Christine, Alice & Flamenco. Christine & Alice were totally runner mad. Flamenco didn't have any runners I don't think. The Flamenco plants are smaller than the other 2, but it still had strawberries growing! The Flamenco is supposed to be the all season producer, and Christine is the early season producer. I think next year will be when I see what they are really like for produce etc

Busy!

I haven't posted for ages - busy busy!

I have done a fair bit up the allotment though - or at least for the time that I have available, I feel like I've done a fair bit :-) I am sure that Mr. Perfect Allotment next door doesn't think so though! I haven't got any up to date pictures, but I'll try to be good and post some soon.

So a quick update:

• I put my tomato plants into the ground a little too late. They were tiny, but they grew well. I like the bush variety, as I didn't have to do any other work to look after them. I hoed a few times, and that was that. There were lots of tomatoes on them, which was good. Unfortunately, our summer was again wet and non sunny, so they stayed green. I left them on the plants too long, and they were going rotten on the plant. The once that weren't rotten I brought inside, but they didn't ripen. I ate 1 tomato! It was tasty though! I have not given up on tomatoes though - next year has got to be sunny!
• I planted potatoes as a weed suppressant - that didn't work! The potatoes didn't grow, and the weeds were just as hard to dig up!
• My pumpkins went in the ground too late and got slug munched again. Not sure if I'll try pumpkins again - it would be nice to carve up a home-grown pumpkin on Halloween though.....
• Sweetcorn is growing well - a good few cobs there. Not sure when to harvest them - must do some research!
• Leeks are growing - they don't seem very big to me. Hopefully they have time to grow yet.
• Strawberry plants are settling in well. Had some tasty strawberries off them! Next year there should be lots of strawberries!
• The 2 blackcurrant bushes provided me with a cupful of blackcurrants this year - better than the handful from last year, but still not many! I made some syrup out of them, which I was going to use to make gin with, but my big gal suggested having it with porridge, which we duly did - mmmmm!!!
• There are 2 blackcurrant cuttings left after various tramplings etc. They seem fairly healthy, and it's interesting watching them grow. Think that I should try some more for next year.
• After all that prickling, the gooseberry bushes decided not to produce this year - grrrr. Maybe they didn't like all that cutting.
• The raspberry cuttings that I was kindly given last year are looking healthy, but no raspberries this year. Hopefully they should be alright next year.
• The onions & garlic did OK, although I was kindof hoping for bigger bulbs from both. Not to worry, at least they grew and I got something for this year!
• The rhubarb I planted unsurprisingly died. A fellow allotmenteer though dug up one of her plants and gave it to me, which was very good of her. That is growing and looking OK - hopefully there will be some rhubarb in the spring! She has a large row of rhubarb, all very healthy, and she gave me a ruck of rhubarb for eating too. It was very tasty!

So lots went on, and there is lots still to do. I'll hopefully post again soon get on with more digging over winter!

Time is marching on....

Now you may think that a lack of posts means that I have been working hard up at the allotment, just not posting about it. Unfortunately, that would be wrong! The lack of posts is because up until last week, I just haven't been there. Things have been so hectic, and my 'weekends off' have been taken up with one thing and another.

However, I have been up a couple times in the past week and things are happening again.

My rhubarb arrived in the post at the beginning of the Easter weekend. It arrived as I was going away for the weekend, so in good ole me style, I plonked it in the garage to plant after the weekend. And then promptly forgot all about it. Until last week, when I just about falling asleep one night. Oops. Next day I grabbed the box and opened it up to find the rhubarb all covered in mold. Not good! I have planted it anyway, and I'll see what happens. Hope it doesn't do something nasty like infect the allotment with a bad fungus. Please don't let that happen!


I have also done a bit more digging. The ex-tomato patch has now connected through to the onion bed - woo hoo! When I first 'broke through' and connected the two patches of earth, I felt like the diggers of the channel tunnel coming at it from both ends, and finally making a connection!


I have also planted (yes planted!) some carrots and leeks in that patch. Just a short row of each - I think if I was truly expecting to live off the earth I would need a whole lot more!


On the next visit up I took the kids and we did some weeding, until they got bored and started making a den! Lil gal thought it was great to move soil around in the patch where I had planted the seeds, and of course sitting in the soil was also great fun. I think all three are responsible for walking over my blackcurrant cuttings - there are only 3 left now. I didn't factor kids into the success rate! The picture below was before the damage was done (I am quite impressed that they look so healthy though!):


Still got potatoes to plant though. I think I may try some strategic potato planting - to help with weed suppression, y'know? Not that I want to avoid more digging of course.....

Also this week, I have planted some seeds at home for growing on and planting out. I love watching seeds grow - I'll be posting pics as soon as the poke their heads up!

See how good I am at procrastination? As soon as I have marking to do, I am able to get a whole load of other things done.....

Daffodils

Passed by the allotment on Friday, and picked some of my daffodils. I am v. disappointed with myself as I must have picked up miniature daffs - grrrrr! I want BIG daffodils. There aren't many of them either, but there are more on the way. Note to self - READ THE LABEL next time.

The kids gave me 2 daffodils each from school as well, so they are in there too.

They do look pretty, if not big.....

You've guessed it - More Digging!

What more can I say. Lot's of couch grass in this bit - I'm sure I haven't got it all out. It took me ages to dig through that little bit in the photo. I've nearly joined it up to the ex-tomato patch bit though!

It's starting to get demoralising doing no end of digging. I know it's got to be done, and I know that time is running out to get it done (especially as I am going to be really busy over the next few every other weekends), but the enthusiasm for it is running low. Gotta keep going though - got things to plant soon.....

Here's my latest patch of bare earth:


You can see the ex-tomato bare earth behind it. Gotta keep digging....

Planning Out The Digging

Firstly, a 'Hello' if you have come here after I was brave enough to post about my blog on Beansprouts.

I have been up to the allotment since my last post, but I forgot to take the camera. The picture wouldn't have been very interesting though. Imagine lots of grass and weeds, with a bare patch of earth in the middle. And I was oh so proud of my digging too.

The amount of digging that I need to do is huge, and time is running out to get it done! I can only really get up to the allotment every other weekend, assuming that nothing else is happening. Unfortunately, there is a lot happening over the next few every other weekends. This means that I may have to be choosy over what I can plant as I am simply not going to have dug over enough ground to get it all in.

And so I need to plan out what seeds I have and when they need to go out so that I can dig accordingly. Boring, but I got to get it straight in my head.

• Potatoes will be going out quite soon, so I need somewhere for them.

• The carrots and leeks also need to go out fairly soon, so they are next in the list. The patch that I have been digging over had tomatoes in it this year, so I can't put the potatoes there. Leeks and carrotts have just had their new home identified me thinks.....
  

• The seeds that need propogating are (in order of sowing): Chilli peppers, tomatos, sweetcorn and pumpkin. They can all go in the allotment from May/June time, so that gives me some breathing space for getting some digging done. Will the first early potatoes be done by that time? I think so. Woo hoo! Less digging!

Okay, planning done. Now will everything run to plan? Course not.......

Spike Me No More......

.....or at least not until it's time to pick the gooseberries!

Yep, I've pruned them. That's another job off the list. It was a glorious day on Wednesday morning - really sunny. So I thought to myself that I would enjoy the sun and get the job done. I drop the lil'gal off at playgroup, trot down to the allotment, get out the car, and the sun goes away. Predictable really, but never mind.

Here's a pic of my pruned bush (oh er missus!):

Pruning those Spiky Things

Got up to the allotment today and did a bit of pruning. Only 20 mins worth, but 2 of the gooseberry bushes are done. Goddamn they are spiky! I'm supposed to aim for an egg-cup shape so that it is easier to pick the gooseberries. Well, I've tried, but I'm not sure how successful I've been. Anyway, I have lots of new scratch marks over my hands for my efforts, and the mother of all bushes yet to be pruned.....

Picture coming!

3rd Stint

So today I feel like I have actually made progress with the goosberry bushes - yay!


The picture isn't very clear as it was getting dark, but you can actually see the bushes. So now all I have to do is to prune them, and dig over all the rest of the allotment.

Oh well, at least I get to plant something soon!

2nd Stint!

Today I spent about an hour on my second stint at the gooseberry bushes of doom! Here's my progress:


I have to post progress, otherwise I'll just lose heart at how little progress I seem to be making! Can you see the difference? (See how I talk as though someone is listening?!)

I also pruned the grapevine and blackcurrant bushes. The blackcurrant bushes only needed dead wood taking off, and there wasn't very much of that. Here's a picture of the grapevine, just for the record:

I need to weed around it sometime. Yet more digging. I hope the pruning is done OK. It's not quite how I thought it would be. Oh well, we'll see.

Garlic in the Ground

The Garlic that arrived recently had instructions to put into the ground by early december, or else in the new year. I don't trust me keeping it until the new year, so I wanted to get it in now. Once again though, events are getting in the way! Lil'Girly came down with a bug, so playgroup was out last week. It's Christmas events for the next 2 Wednesdays, so I have to give up a Monday to get the Garlic in. So instead of Christmas shopping, I headed up in the freezing cold (and it was *cold*!) to lift up the mixed lettuces, and put the garlic in.

The garlic variety is 'Solent Wight', and when planted in November it should be ready in July - once the foliage turns yellow and dry. I'm assuming that I can take a couple of the bulbs from this years crop as next years starters. So much learning!


Here's a picture of them before I covered up the cloves. I hope they are far enough apart. I also put them possibly a bit too far in the ground, but the onions sets are showing bulb so I have put the garlic a little lower.
The garlic is in next to the big gal's wall flowers. One of them is flowering - in December! Awww.

The onions are growing well - here's how far they've got. I'm really pleased to think that I might get something useful from the allotment this year!

Next Year's Seeds!

Here's next year's seeds - it's just so exiting!!! I know, I'm going a bit overboard with it all, but I am excited!!

For next year I have carrots (on a seed tape - I'll see how it goes), peppers (DH's choice), sweetcorn (extra sweet - I'm hoping to convert Big Girlie), pumpkins, tomatoes and leeks.

I also have some garlic that's in the picture too, and some seed potatoes comings. Oh, and some Rhubarb!

I'm so exited, and I just can't hide it, La La la la la etc

I just hope I get enough allotment dug over to get it all in!!

So it's gonna take a while.....

I thought to myself, let's get all those weeds out from the gooseberry bushes. It won't take too long, and then I'll have better access to them for pruning. Hey, it can only take one 'stint'. Won't it?

Well, no. It won't. It's going to take quite a few stints. I started today, and in just over an hour, this is how much I got done:



Not a lot.

Oh well, at least it's a start. Can you see the bushes? There's even the blackcurrant bushes in the foreground. Gotta keep going!

Strawberries In And Update!

I haven't been up to the allotment nearly as much as I would like over the last few weeks. It has been half term, followed by one thing and another. The latest has been marking - it takes priority over most things.

Today however the strawberries arrived, with instructions to put into the ground immediatly! And so I went to the allotment this savo with the mission of putting the strawberries in. I have put them into the bed that had the failed potatoes. I am a little worried that there may be a few baby potatoes in there even though the plants didn't grow too well. Every now and then I come across some teeny spuds. I hope they don't grow into 'weeds' next year in between my strawberries.


Here is a picture of the strawberry plants as they cam from Suttons in the post this morning. They look very bare and small. Let's hope that they know what they are doing and they grow up big and strong.


The leaflet says that I should remove all flowers for the first year. What! No strawberries next year? I want strawberries! Boo Hoo..... (I think I'm going to be a bit naughty and let a few flowers through....)

In other news.......

The lettuces are still strong, although the frost has taken it's toll. I think the time has come to dig them out. Still, I'm pleased at how well the raised bed/copper tape worked at at stopping the slugs.

Talking of copper tape, on the strawberry bed the tape is hanging off in places (see the strawberries pic). So I definately need to do something to make it stay put.

In the background of the letttuce bed is the onion bed. Can you see a few onions sticking up? Yay - the onions (or at least some of them) are growing. As well as lots of grass. I tried digging up some of the grass, but it looks like it is a little tuft on the top, attached to a huge couch grass root underneath. I think I need the onions to be more established before I have a proper go at digging it all up......

That's all for now, Folks!

Daffs in! Potatoes Died :-(

The title says it all really.

I wasn't expecting much from the potatoes really - it was the wrong time of year, but it was worth a shot. It means that I can now use the potato bed for the strawberries when they arrive - always a silver lining.....

The raspberry canes that I put in are looking healthy, so that's good. The picture in the previous post was actually taken today, so they have been in 2 weeks and are looking healthy.

The blackcurrant cuttings are also looking healthy. The buds are green, so that's good, and I'm assuming that spring is when they will spring. Can't wait to see if they do!

And I should have some daffs for the kitchen in spring!

Raspberry Canes

I have very kindly been given some offshoots from a friends raspberry canes, which I have duly got into the ground. Unfortunately, I didn't get up to the allotment on Wednesday, so I didn't get things done that I was hoping to do. On Thursday morning I dragged lil'girly up, but she was pretty unimpressed at being there in the cold. I therefore created a much smaller area for the raspberries than I should have, and they are crammed in a little too tightly. Oh well, if they grow big and strong I'll separate them some more next autumn.

Bed finished, Onions in

Today I got up to the allotment for a little bit, and finally finished off the raised bed. That's 3 raised beds in place and copper taped. I am going to have to find something to keep the tape in place as it just isn't sticking to the wood. Can I use nails? Somewhere I have in my head about a nail causing the tape to lose its electric attributes..... It's probably just me being mad though.

So having finished the bed, I put in my onion sets. For the record, these are Early Crop Radar onions, which should be ready for mid July. The 200g bag nicely filled the raised bed, so the quantity was just right.

Seeing as the bed looks the same with the sets in as before, (except for the copper tape) I didn't bother to take a picture. I'll take one when they start to grow.

Grape Vines!

We eat quite a few grapes, so when I saw a grape vine in Wilko's, I bought it. A bit of an impulse buy maybe, but free (ish) grapes? Can't turn that down! I am curious to see how well it grows though. Staffordshire is hardly Mediterranean weather...... It went in the ground a while ago now (June?), and it's looking fairly healthy, so on to next year and some fruit! (hah!)