28/03/2011

Can't believe it's almost a week since my last update thought i would do a small update .
i have planted all first early and second earlies now i put them in nice and deep if they do start sprouting up i have plenty of packs of poundland fleece to protect them , Pete (hubby) managed to get me some main crop potatoes from one of his friends not sure if I'll put them in or not there due to blight I'm thinking of growing them at home and covering them with fleece to stop the blight spores

No change with the onion sets or parsnips early days yet , the strawberry plants are growing well though and the peas have started to shoot so i covered the wire protecting them with fleece to protect from the frost.

Pete finally got me some blue barrels i have been asking for to grow carrots in, according to the royal     horticultural society to beat the dreaded carrot fly you need to provide a 24" high barrier as the carrot fly can't fly any higher than this so these should do the job.  

 I have been told carrot fly is a problem on the allotment so I'm not taking any risks another theory is to grow  onions next to the carrots or parsnips which is why my parsnips are growing next to the onions.

   Thanks to everyone who reads this you can join and follow if you want then you can add a few comments   as soon i won't be posting all updates on facebook :)                                                                                    

Inside my greenhouse and cold frame

No allotment today just don't have enough spare time :(  as nice as it is too. I thought I'd share whats growing at home

beetroot supposed to be hard to germinate but I've never had any problems always start them in the greenhouse then transplant them again something your not supposed to do but never had any problem I'm hardening them off so they can go to the allotment

 Two iceberg lettuce seedlings doing well will be planting more in a couple of weeks don't want to be overrun with them these will be grown at home

 Ive grown a couple of Brussel sprout plants just so we can have them for Xmas dinner :)

 Leeks are just starting to sprout

i have grown my usual tomato plants including minibel that i grow in hanging baskets they cascade over the edge lots and lots of sweet cherry tomatoes ,my neighbour was so impressed she asked me to grow some for her and her daughter i will be growing these at home

Finally for now some broccoli plants (callum you spelt broccoli wrong on the pot  )

Parsnips

Today i was rushed for time again but managed to get down to the allotment this afternoon to plant some parsnip seeds.
When i arrived there was one other person there ,i think mornings are busy and with only 4 places to park afternoons might be a better option from now on
Ive never seen parsnip seeds before so this a new veg for me to grow

germination is a bit hit and miss so did a lot of reading on which is the best way to plant them fingers crossed they grow :)
The soil is very stony there so first i had to make a hole so that the roots can grow straight down without hitting a stone as this causes the roots to fork ,next filled the holes with a mix of soil and compost then
 planted the seeds .

I bought a poly tunnel today and placed that over them that should help with germination, now i just have to water and wait

Monday 21st March

Spring is in the air today :) spent an hour at the allotment this morning really warm outside too  ,really wanted to be there a while longer but i had been to the garden center first thing to get a small bag of first earlies (rocket) to finish of the last row i planted at the weekend
Before i knew it time had passed and i had to return home and sort out some housework :(
The sun and warmth brought out the neighbouring allotment holders this morning 6 of us were there seems strange as i spent so much time clearing the weeds in February alone up there, its much nicer though when others are there and as ive mentioned before they are a really nice bunch
Whilst the weather was nice i decided to plant my sturon onion sets and started to rake over a patch to sew some parsnip seeds that's my next job another day :)

sturon onion sets if you look hard enough you can see the brown tops sticking out

Saturday 19th March new potatoes

Me and my son Callum went to the allotment this morning the sun was shining :) It was quite busy i think the sun draws people out from their hiding places, we met the couple from the neighbouring plot this morning both really nice people which is nice ive yet to meet anyone that isnt :)
Today me and callum took the chitted new potatoes variety foremost its an old variety recommended to me so we'll give them a go ,we planted almost 3 rows of foremost i need another 4 seed potatoes to complete the third row so ill go into town next week and buy a small pack of rocket new potatoes that's the other variety i was considering
have quite a few second earlies to go in too but not yet
here are the pics :)

The peas are in

went down to the allotment yesterday and planted some peas made sure i covered them as i dont want the birds pinching them

new blackberry bush

I chose the variety Oregon thornless fingers crossed it produces lots of nice blackberries

strawberries

Today i planted some strawberry plants that i bought bare rooted a few weeks ago they are called Cambridge Favourites i chose them as they are supposed to be a good cropper not expecting them to crop much this year but hopefully next year ill have a good crop