20th May 2012

It wasn't very warm out today too cloudy and miserable ,but when your busy you soon warm up.
I took down some broccoli plants today and the leeks both ready to be out ,really need the space in my greenhouse its full of veg and flowering plants.
The leeks were easy just make a hole with a dibber drop the leeks in,give a good water and thats it ,you don't even cover the holes back in the soil eventually falls around them

Callum dug a trench where the runner beans are going and i filled it with manure and kitchen compost i might put them in next week i have enough fleece in case it turns cold

I recovered the peas with debris netting I'm determined this year that pea moth isn't going to lay maggots in the peas!!
I must be doing something right people are now coming over to my plot asking to pick my brains about things ,i only know about what I'm growing though ask me about garlic i wouldn't know!! there is so much info now from books and the Internet there is no need to just look in one place for help, i read up on as much as i can about the things i grow and it's good to read about how other people grow stuff and what works best rather than just dumping it in the ground and hoping for the best .

Its going to be a lovely week for weather next week so I'm hoping i have some spare time to pop down :)

17th May 2012

So for the second time this week i step out of my car at the allotment and it starts to rain!! One of the plot holders laughed and said " nice to see you have brought the rain with you again".
 It wasn't going to put me off and it was only light rain and i wanted to uncover the potatoes that were covered, it didn't take long so made a start on my runner bean frame very impressed with myself it was done very quickly and is much sturdier than last years effort. Whilst i didn't have back ache i gave the area a good dig over too

I wasn't very happy to see that the damn mole had paid another visit to my plot grrrrr but at least it left my peas alone this time

that's the bit that got dug over damn mole!!

I really need to get more stuff down to my plot but have to wait until frost risk is over about 2 more weeks hopefully , i have a huge courgette plant ready to go out ,think its time for a new photo update from the greenhouse

13th May 2012

Went to my plot again this morning with callum we were in a rush i had strict instructions we had to be home for 12 noon as F1 was on the tv *sigh* and it can't be missed!

I took down about 30 pea plants that i had started off in my greenhouse running out of space in there ,they were all big enough to survive that pesky pea and bean weevil that chomps on the leaves.
It didn't take too long to plant them although i'm sure i'll be replanting them next time i go down as a mole keeps hilling around my peas grrrr.

The next job was to make a runner bean structure but i decided i really couldn't be bothered after all the cage building yesterday, so instead took the fleece off the parsnip/ beetroot seedlings BIG MISTAKE!! they were covered with thousands of tiny weeds .... took me almost an hour to weed around them all, still need to thin them out a bit but that's for another day

 beetroot on the left cant really see them and parsnips on the right the whole area was covered in weeds!!


Had a quick check around onions are fine, silverskin onions grown from seed are doing well too, things i planted yesterday are still alive ,strawberries in flower need to get them netted soon , first earlies are through and some second earlies .

I was given a redcurrant bush by another plot holder a few months ago it's doing really well think I'll be getting some fruit this year

finally a sneaky look at my blackberry i planted last year it has flower buds, the following  pic is a close up it's much bigger than it appears

12th May 2012

Had a bit of a shock this morning never seen it so busy at the allotment ,must have been the sunshine.

I wanted to get my cabbage and cauliflower cage built quickly so i could get them planted ,things didn't work out as planned and it took a long time to build... not only that because i have club root on my plot i have to dig a hole where i am planting each one sprinkle lime then fill it with compost it helps !!....derrr i forgot the compost  so decided to abandon my plot after an hour and a half and return after lunch.

The afternoon was very different no one was there except me and callum , i didn't forget the bag of compost this time .

Planted 3 summer cauliflowers ,2 summer savoys and 1 summer golden acre ... there is lots of room in the cage to plant autumn and winter varieties later on

1 cage down 1 to go ,next the taller cage which will be for brussel sprouts,broccoli,calabrese ,purple sprouting broccoli and kale it took even longer to build it but got there in the end.

I only had 2 plants to plant in there and they were 2 brussel sprouts, the other things will follow later on

Hoping to go down again in the morning i have lots of peas in my greenhouse to plant really need the space in there!!

Sunday 6th May

Me and Callum spent a couple of hours at my allotment today it was very strange as there was an orange glow in the sky and it was quite warm ....makes a change.

There was only one other plot holder there today and somehow managed to get on to the topic of rats!! and it wasn't me that chose the topic of conversation!! i went over to my plot and put up with callum making random noises to try and convince me there was a rat i was having none of it. It wasn't until later when i was near the hedge (it always scares me being there ) that i heard a scuffling noise and a splash and as quick as anything a brown thing appeared ,this of course made me scream the allotment down!!
It turned out to be a bird, it had taken a bath in a pot of water behind my shed ,thankfully the other plot holder just got on with his digging!!

I spent most of the time there edging the other side of my plot boundary seemed to have gained more room to grow things ;) it took 4 wheelbarrows of weeds and grass to clear it all.

We had taken some old compost from my pots in the garden to top up the three blue bins i have at the allotment  that was callums job , then finally sowed some carrot seeds I'm late with them again i can sow up until July but can start them much earlier than may.

Good news from my plot the parsnips i sowed under fleece three weeks ago have germinated :) as have the beetroot

In my greenhouse at home runner and french beans have finally sprouted just waiting on that damn stupid pumpkin to germinate

Not sure when I'll next get to my plot the weather doesn't look too good for next week but if i do go I'll be taking down some brassicas that are now very big

3rd March.. i mean May 2012

It felt more like march at the allotment today ,that was until i started edging my plot soon worked up a sweat!!
Todays main task was to earth up first earlies i have 2 or 3 rows i cant remember, but only 2 are showing through ive already earthed them up and now the mound is too high to do it anymore , a frost is due on Saturday and Sunday night so I'm going down at the weekend to cover with newspaper and fleece .I'm relieved i delayed planting this year as this time last year the same thing happened and a frost came me and callum had 6 rows to cover up quick.

Had a quick check on the strawberries and they are beginning to flower so fruit will soon be here :)

Next i had a check on my plot boundaries and decided to claim back some of my plot from the weeds that are creeping on and making the path much wider and my plot smaller this took a while!! and ill do the other side next time

The silverskin onions i sowed the other week are just coming through as are some of the beetroot ...no sign of the parsnips yet they are under fleece with the beetroot.

I have sown some swede in my greenhouse have lots more to sow on my list to do this month

Enough rambling I'm going to check on here now what i was doing this time last year I'm sure things were much further on!!

24 APRIL 2012

As promised by the weatherman a day free of rain ,so i took the chance and headed of to the allotment ,i was a bit worried incase any rat holes had appeared there or even worse a rat was waiting there for me !!!
Everything was fine though but i don't think i would have stopped there alone just incase
I took some more peas down with me from the greenhouse and planted them with the others they are doing well

Had a quick check on the potatoes none had appeared yet so carefully checked and the first earlies are just under the surface i would imagine by the weekend they will be showing meaning i have to keep an eye on the weather incase a frost is due!!

Tried to tidy up path edges but my back hurt too much so gave up on that and decided i would finish it next time

this is my red currant bush that another plot holder gave me looks like i'll be getting some fruit from it this year :) i have another 3 but they are alot smaller

the blackcurrant bushes i bought last year have new growth on them ,I'm not expecting fruit this year

here are my onions doing well so far ,under the fleece i have sown parsnips and beetroot

strawberries are growing again this time last year they were in flower

seven rows of potatoes

I'll do a monthly upload of whats growing in my greenhouse tomorrow ,doesn't look likely ill get to the allotment before Saturday that's the next rain free day