19th November 2011

It's been a while since my last update so thought i would write a quick one :)
Ive only been down a couple of times since my last blog entry been a bit too busy to go down ,me and callum went last sunday morning to dig in some of the horse manure ,however when i arrived there were more weeds than expected so spent more time there than intended .
The strawberries were the worst for weeds it took quite a long time to weed around them but they looked so much better after, then it was time for digging in the manure i was going to leave it to rot down over winter but it looked such a mess i decided to dig it in we managed to get quite a bit down that day.

Today i took callum again intending to clear the shed out and dig the rest in ... things didn't work out that way though .
First my allotment neighbours were there this morning i have only met the lady once this time her husband was there too had a chat for a while which was nice :) i decided at that point it was too embarrassing to sort out my shed imagine open door and things fall out!!
So we started digging until another plot holder called me over ,a few weeks ago he asked if i would like some redcurrant bushes i said i would really like them but didn't have room then as where i wanted to plant them i had a pumpkin plant growing. Today when he asked i had a lovely space next to my blackcurrant bushes so i was more than happy to take some, he gave me 2 large bushes and 2 baby ones took me a while but got them planted :)

We did get some more digging done and im pleased to report the weeds had subsided :) but im sure they will return when it rains !!

The manure has really improved the soil as you can see from the above picture ,never enough time to spend there hopefully ill get chance next week to visit again a year in and im still not fed up .. bring on spring time :)

31st October 2011

In a couple of weeks i will have had my allotment for a year it's gone so fast!!

I spent Saturday morning helping allotment Amy with her new plot it's much bigger than mine meaning she can grow so much more :):) it was a really good morning i took callum with me lots of hard work and we cleared a nice area
Sunday morning arrived and my arms,shoulders and upper back were really aching bad but had to try and ignore it as Pete had arranged a delivery of free horse manure
the afternoon arrived and the call came so i rushed down to my allotment with callum and waited ,didn't have to wait too long he backed his truck down to my plot and dumped it .... omg there was loads didn't have a clue where i was supposed to put it all it was very well rotted dry and crumbly :)
i rang Pete and told him to get down to the allotment and help he came with an extra wheelbarrow ,i was a bit worried as it was totally blocking the path to everyones plots!! we soon moved it though and lucky for us another plot holder came so we gave them some here are some pictures of my plot covered with about 4 inches of horse manure

I went back today to try and dig a little bit in but gave up in the end and planted my blackcurrant bushes instead  hope they do well will be a couple of years yet before they fruit bit hard to see but there are two in a line

i took down some of the netting on my plot too as it was stretched right across my plot but most things have been picked so just left the area where the brussel sprouts are spent over two hurs there :)

14th October

Went to the allotment yesterday haven't had time to go down for a proper dig around :(
Me and Callum popped down after school last week to collect the last 3 pumpkins that were ripe brought them home quite pleased with all 4

Yesterday had a good clearing session dug up the pumpkin and courgette plants they have all finished now then had to move to the other side of my allotment as some fat balding workmen were shouting abuse from the road like have you got oat for note grrrrr then went to remove my runner bean supports and dug them all up i left the roots in as they are good for the soil
Had a chat with another plot holder which made the fat balding men shut up!!!
Everything was damp even had to wear my wellies haven't worn them in such a long time it smelt really damp too reminded me of when i went to view my allotment for the first time which will be a year ago in 4 weeks!!!!
I still have parsnips, Brussels sprouts, 1 cabbage ,celery, leeks and swede left to pick it's looking very empty now, next year i'll know to sow spring cabbages and cauliflowers
Hoping to get my car back soon as i need to have a very good weed and dig around!!!

29th September 2011

when i look back this time next year to see what was going on ,I'll be shocked to read how hot it's been!!!
First chance to get to the allotment since my car came home :) spent 2 hours there wanted to spend longer but i knew i had to get back.
spent a long time weeding i think they are slowing down now well everything but the nettles!! as i was pulling weeds up i found a radish i took it home and ate it :)

My parsnips are looking very big i had a peep today can't wait until the first frost has been then ill test one frost is said to make them taste sweeter

Couldn't believe the courgette plant has burst in to life again and is producing lots more courgettes also the french beans have flowers again i thought they had finished

Looks like I'll be bringing home my other 3 pumpkins soon they have turned orange

Pulled up the sweetcorn today it produced plenty of cobs but inside only a few yellow bits were there if you remember i bought them late in the season as plants ,so next year will grow from seed

the allotment is looking quite bare now ... i have some carrots ,parsnips,leeks,b.sprouts,french beans, swedes, pumpkins courgettes celery and i think that's it apart from fruits..... hoping i can get down tomorrow too
  

Strawberries

Went to the allotment today and spent almost 2 hours in the strawberry bed. i hadn't planned this but when i arrived after a week of being away i noticed it was covered in weeds and the new strawberry runners had grown everywhere.
First i had to give it a good weed then separate and dig up all of the runners something i was meant to do months ago ..oooops
I started with 10 strawberry plants that i bought from ebay and planted them back in February i think it was (it's on this blog somewhere) i stopped several runners by snipping them off but they just kept growing ... somehow i have ended up with 53 plants altogether!!!! and i brought 10 home with me to pot up and give away  

Callum was busy at the other end of the allotment where i couldn't hear him ;) he pulled up the broccoli and a couple of cabbages and did some weeding ..... there is so much to do down there at the moment

anyway here is the new strawberry bed with lots of plants watered in and ready for next year :)

18th September

Finally went down the the allotment today :) due to to illness and no car i haven't been able to get down.
All of the potatoes are now out of the ground ,it looks very bare :( infact as me and callum looked around other plots it was a reminder of November last year when i went to view the allotment time has passed so quickly.
I brought a pumpkin home with me today i was very proud of it :) it is now curing so that it stores well  there are still 3 more there will add a picture soon...
The runner beans have finished now (yay) partly due to the fact i hacked at them before the winds came last week and they are still standing!!! well just, they are leaning over , I'll be pulling them up when I'm fully recovered i found out today i didn't have as much energy as i thought i would have very odd as nothing knocks me out!!
The sweetcorn hasn't come to much the cobs appear to have about 6 ripe corn things on them and that's it, having read about this on forums it seems I'm not alone ,i will give them another go next year i bought them as plants so ill have a go at growing from seed .
One of the other plot holders gave me some parsnips today which was very nice of him it's the same one who gave me some asparagus earlier in the year he doesn't go down very often, he also promised me some red currants bushes :) which reminds me i must get some pics up of the fruit bushes i have .
No idea when I'll get down next i know i wont be able to go on my bike for a while until i get over this properly :)

30th august 2011

heck just noticed it's been a month since i updated on here. The main reason for this is when i go down at the moment it's to  pick runner beans !! and french beans and im sure noone wants to read that over and over so here is what is going on ....

The allotment has a bare patch now where the first early potatoes were im still busy digging second earlies as and when i need them.

All onions and shallots have been lifted and are now hung in the shed

The 2 cauliflowers i grew as an experiment turned out well and both picked so will grow more of them next year :)

cabbages also doing well despite me digging them up and finding club root :( so far it hasnt made any different to the growing of anything but this might be because i limed the area before i planted them apparently liming slows down the clubroot so again will grow some more next year

The sweetcorn won't be much longer now had a peep yesterday they have done well quite pleased with them

brocolli is just to big and flowers to easily before you get to pick it did try some and wasnt keen so wont grow that again

carrots did well and some still growing in the blue tubs

The courgette is still going mad very pleased i only grew one plant and nearby i have 4 large pumpkins turning orange

The celery is still growing not ready yet

swedes hmmm i havent looked after them like i should have and some have split but think they will be ok we shall see again take up too much room not sure if ill bother next year even though i have impressed the alloment people with growing them

Brussels doing well though im sure they will soon be ready to pick which is not what i wanted i planted them when it said to in time for xmas

runner and french beans seem to be slowing down a bit now never had a year as good as this

parsnips i hope are doing ok wont be ready for a while yet until first frosts have been its makes them sweeter

not sure what the leeks are up to i must have a look

ill get some more pics on my facebook allotment wall soon :)

beans beans and more beans!!

What a change in weather today was!!

Me and Callum went down to the allotment on Saturday morning and was surprised by how many were down there it's been quite a while since we have been on a Saturday morning i had a chat with a plot holder then got on with  picking runner and french beans,I'm getting loads one of the plot holders said it's been one of the best years for beans, the ones I'm picking from were started earlier than the other half of runner beans in the row so may have all this amount yet again to pick.
We pulled up some shallots and onions and picked a couple of courgettes then headed back home for something to eat
Today (Monday) we went again this time the allotment was deserted ,just us two until another man came as we were about to leave.
Today's main task was to take and fill up 2 more blue barrels that pete finally managed to saw in half for me, i did take them down and put them in place but then got distracted by weeds!! so they didn't get filled with soil.

Yes its been raining which means the weeds have sprung up all over again!! there were some knee high nettles and other weeds between my shed and the hedge Ive been putting it off as i thought it was a perfect hiding place for rats!!! but i was very brave pulled them all up and now it's tidy :)
my first cauliflower is still growing well I'm going to pull it up later in the week :) another first attempt is the celery also doing well and looking more like celery now
i noticed there were loads more beans ready so got picking shouldn't complain but it takes ages came away with another half a carrier bag and a courgette then i pulled up the last of my shallots and a few more onions took them home to dry out
Had my first disaster growing at the allotment and it's the lettuce they have either rotted (not due to watering as i didn't water the leaves  ) or they have been full of bugs so next year ill grow them at home only lesson learned!!

Just a quick update

More harvesting at the allotment yesterday picked lots of runner beans and first pickings of french beans never tried french beans before hope we like them they were an experiment also picked 2 very big courgettes they grow so quick
We went back today mainly to give everything a good soaking and do a bit of weeding but me and callum soon found ourselves dripping with sweat so decided not to do anymore
pick some more french beans and pulled a few onions they are drying out right now, also pulled a couple of spring onions

29th July 2011

coooeeeee,

Been to the allotment with callum a few times this week did some weeding which takes ages by the time you realise it an hour has passed.
The runner beans are doing fantastic already picked quite a few and that's only from half of them as the other half were planted later ,you can't be scared of bees when picking them the whole row buzzes like a bee hive it gets covered in bumble and honey bees all good as they will be busy pollinating them which means i get more beans :)
I have a few french beans almost ready i have never eaten them before so only grew a few of them.
Had my onions checked by another plot holder as i wasn't sure if they were ready to pick and store they were starting to bend but hadn't changed yellow,i was told to leave them a couple of weeks but if we get wet weather to pull them up. If you pull them out before the leaves have flopped they don't store well so I'm waiting :)
Finally finished all first early new potatoes dug up the last few yesterday :( the second earlies next
enough rambling for now :)

21st july

First day of the school holidays and the weather is rubbish ,dull and cold :( think we had some heavy rain in the night which will have done everything some good ,it has the weeds they are growing well!!!
I took callum with me to the allotment today ..something i'll be doing for the next 6 weeks ,with the weather being rubbish didn't want to stay long just went down for some new potatoes for tea and some runner beans
i think i have about 6 plants of  first earlies left now i can't remember when i last bought new potatoes must have saved a few pennies :)
Runner beans are doing very well picked lots again today so many flowers on them hopefully many more to come

a quick mention about the pumpkin it's getting really big now there are a few baby ones coming too

16th July

I have been down to the allotment a few times this week but worn myself out doing so before i go i have to get everything else done around the house first as well as running errands for pete
It helped the weather has been good this week not too hot and not raining did more weeding which i don't mind doing if i have the time to spare , and more harvesting
first earlies are about finished now thing about 6 plants are left i dug a plant up yesterday and it produced a new potato the size of a baking potato the others were ok though be on the second earlies soon

Picked more peas this week it takes ages to pick them then pod them had to be extra careful as they have has nasties inside from the damn pea moth ..i know what to do next year to avoid them getting my peas id like to grow them again :) for now though it's goodbye peas as they have finished :(

Now I'm on to harvesting  the runner beans we had some the other night for tea they were really nice . They seem to be doing well so far lots and lots of red flowers hope they produce lots of beans i always freeze them to last through winter i would be more devastated if they went wrong than anything else as i have always grown them in pots at home and done well

courgettes are still being picked griddled some the other day in butter they were so nice

Took home a big salad bowl lettuce have lots more different varieties that should be ready soon too

All my hard work weeding this week will have been wasted as today's rain will send them shooting up again not complaining though need some good rain and it saves me from spending ages watering everything

ill add more pics next weekend it's changing so much and i want to keep a monthly diary to compare against next year :)

11th July

Bet you can't guess what i spent two and a half  hours doing this morning ..... well weeding is the answer ..it rains and my plot grows weeds overnight ..nightmare
To be truthful i didn't actually spend the whole 2 1/2 hours weeding ..but listening to allotment gossip old men are worse than women!! lol ..it's good there though everyone gets on with each other they all seem a good bunch i haven't upset anyone yet ..infact the man i spoke to today was the third in as many weeks to say i must have green fingers?? apparently Swedes don't grow at all well down there or broccoli  many have trouble with parsnips and beetroot ..but mine is all fine and growing well they have had the grand tour hahaha
 i can only put it down to reading up on what each plant needs soil ect and adapting things for them ,I'm surprised anything is growing though I'm neglecting them a bit especially the cauliflowers I'm not hopeful these will turn out

Yesterday i took callum down we had a harvest of some things pulled my first carrots including a forked one they were a bit small as i tried to tell callum but he said we should test a few ill be leaving them a little longer yet
i cut the head off a broccoli grabbed some runner beans, courgette radishes (that had grown to big)  and my last beetroot and of course more first earlies

I had a scary moment at the allotment when i saw a rat bait box i hate rats!!! but no one has seen any yet been told if they are seen they get dealt with ..the mayor has a plot which helps :) i think the box must have been moved from behind the big compost bin as that one has gone i assume its in it's current place to be picked up ..... I'm still uneasy there though

7th July

Things are getting busy at the allotment constant watering,weeding and more importantly harvesting :)
This week I've been digging up more new potatoes as i need them I'm still only on the second row they have done really well getting loads from the plants , i did an experiment with a small bag of "rocket" first earlies they did as well in quantity but we all decided we preferred the taste of the other which is foremost ... i still want to experiment more next year with another variety too but so far very pleased
Went down today as i needed some courgettes that plant really is a monster I'm so glad i didn't plant more than one I'm getting lots from it and will definatley grow the same one next year

Right next to the courgette is the pumpkin which is amazing i try and visit every other day weather allowing and it amazes me as when i go down every time its grown

Peas well i spent ages picking them today almost an hour in fact it was the one time i wish i had my son callum with me to help ..still a few left been very pleased with the amount of pods produced on this variety which is early onward but inside the pods they can be hit and miss ,so will be trying a different one next year which has been recommended to me

that basket is crammed with peas shame about a quarter of them had been visited by the pea moth and left horrid things inside ..lesson learnt keep netted next year!!
Lastly here is a sneak preview of my runner beans :)

Hopefully I'll find a break between showers to go again this weekend :)
thanks for reading :)

Saturday 2nd July

I have been to the allotment a few times this week watering and weeding it just goes on and on :)

Dug up more new potatoes and picked lots more peas unfortunately mr pea moth visited about 6 of the pods
 :( will net them for longer next year

Took Callum twice this week once on Thursday he helped pick peas it take a long time going through them all ,took him again today it was nice weather ,and as the waddington air show is on my favourite plane the Lancaster flew near near us

Took the netting off the strawberries they have all finished now and sorted out all the runners should have a few new plants rooted soon

Monday 27th June

Took Callum to the allotment on Saturday and did some weeding didn't stay long though . Too hot to go yesterday so stayed at home and did some gardening
Did get to the allotment this morning got there just before ten i regretted it the minute i stepped out of the car (had air con on ) the heat just hit me there were a couple of others there said hello and made my way to my plot ..
Filled my watering can and carefully watered the roots of the courgette and pumpkin they grow every time i go down there must be all the manure they are growing in

this is the tiny baby i took a pic of on thursday it's grown loads     

    i quickly watered my runner beans, french beans and broad beans ,after inspecting the broad beans i saw they were under attack by blackfly however 3 ladybirds were busy on 3 of the plants so with a bit of luck they will work there magic if not it's spray time 

Next lifted the cover to my cage that has the brussels,broccoli and cauliflower it's big enough for me to climb in to thought id have a close look at what was going on under attack whitefly  im going back tomorrow to spray bloody things were flying all over the place no damage to plants yet but im sure it wont be long!! 

     

cauliflower all going well so far just got to be careful with watering now 

very happy first broccoli :)) its very tiny at the moment

       looks like the start of sprouts :)

things are happening with the sweetcorn :)

After looking around things and a bit of watering i was sweating a bit too much i hate being hot thought it best to get home so dug some more new potatoes ,then  locked the shed only to realise i had some celery to plant , so put that in as quick as i could, had a chat with another plot holder then in the car air con on :) way too hot today

Thursday 23rd June

Very rare event today i spent almost 3 hours at the allotment this morning :) edged along the boundary path weeded which took ages between all the veg i swear it rains weeds on that plot!!
dug some more new potatoes for tea first row almost gone now been pleased so far with them they are foremost ,i do have 6 plants that are rocket variety i might dig them up next to compare them

Next i thought it best to get some peas picked counted the pods when i got home i picked 101 :) and there are many more still growing some of the pods were really full others not so i might try a different variety next year but I'm very pleased with the amount of pods growing

pulled some more beetroot today just a couple left now they were small so left them in the ground

Lots of red flowers are appearing on the runner beans had to be careful when weeding around them as bees were busy pollinating them :)
Hoping to take Callum down this weekend to do more weeding he is good at that i only did the strawberry patch the other day and its all weedy again!!
took a pic of my courgette plant again flowering again with more courgettes growing

last here is a pic of the pumpkin plant and tiny pumpkins growing :) will only let it grow 3 so they will hopefully grow big ready for halloween

20th June

Didn't get down to the allotment at the weekend because of the rubbish weather so i went down this afternoon :)
because of the rain loads more weeds had grown so spent a little bit of time weeding then gave up because it was too hot there instead got on with some harvesting.

I decided to try the new potatoes again as its 2 weeks since i last got some this time they were much bigger had them for tea tonight 
Then time to sort out the beetroot couldn't believe the size of them!!! I've never had them grow this big before and i think its still early to harvest them yet compared to when i normally do when growing at home

                   still have more left in the ground but as they are smaller i wanted to get the big ones first

                                                My monster beetroot takes up my whole hand

picked some more strawberries and a radish  decided to leave the peas today and head home as it was too hot

16th June

Been a bit busy this week again so haven't been to the allotment as much as i would like too :(
managed an hour on Monday had a very quick weed around was surprised yet again how fast everything is growing especially the beetroot which i think will be brought home this weekend as it's very big not sure i have enough jars though to pickle it
There were a few strawberries ready so brought them home and picked a couple of pea pods i ate one gave the other to callum loads are ready to be picked so might get them at the weekend ,also brought home a huge courgette it seemed to grow really fast few days before it wasn't ready
I will be doing a big photo update in the next few days might just put it on facebook everything has grown so much and stuff is growing at home too :)

8th June

Busy week been down to the allotment a few times but not for long with dan being in hospital i haven't wanted to venture down there for long
 i went to let dan's workplace know he wouldn't be back very quickly as he has been ill, on the way back we drove past and decided to dig up some new potatoes as I'm sick of pete saying other people have dug theirs
i dug up two plants and grabbed a courgette some mint too :) im going to leave the others in the ground for a bit longer yet
pics of my first potato harvest 

these look bigger than they were :)

first courgette

Wednesday 1st June

Had another busy day today so rushed around to get things done so i could go to the allotment ,Callum did some weeding which has got really bad since the rain
I took some more plants down ,cabbages, cauliflower,swede and my pumpkin got them all planted and had a good weed around

my strawberries are huge!!

swede planted today

pea pods :)

french beans just sprouting :)

spotted these radishes had come through

my pumpkin plant finally in the ground

Saturday 28th June

Ive not been to the allotment since Wednesday ,Thursday it was raining and Friday i was without my car :( it's back now so went to check on things today
not happy with the sweetcorn 2 of them have been flattened possibly by the heavy rain the others are ok though
everything else is fine the rain seems to have made things grow alot especially the beetroot and parsnips
picked some more strawberries today they taste really sweet wont be long before my courgettes are ready took a quick pic of the monster plant

hoping to go down again this weekend as the rain has made lots of weeds appear 

Quick update

Just a quick update all is well on the allotment after the wind runner bean leaves got a bit battered but they are still alive :)

I went to the garden center yesterday and bought some sweetcorn plants lots of people there are growing them thought id give them a go would have preferred to grow from seed but its a bit late ,went there today and put them in the ground hopefully they will cause me no trouble