12th July 2012

It's been a while since i wrote on here so thought I'd update with a few ramblings :)

Couldn't believe it this morning the sun was shining as predicted!! managed to get to the allotment for 9:30am.
The allotments aren't a typical allotment site it's more like veg gardens all are very well kept as is the site it's not very big but i like it there i always feel safe there are houses all around and a main road so you are always seen.
I did lots of weeding I'm sure it rains weeds there!! most of it by hand as the hoe hurts my dodgy back.
I have a small salad area with a few lettuce and radishes so after weeding that  i sowed a few more seeds of both.
Next was to find out what was nibbling my turnip leaves, it was the same holes that were all over the beetroot leaves and eventually they stopped growing ,on close inspection i found what i was looking for the flea beetle, i thought it was them but haven't seen them until now, they jump like fleas horrid things .... gave them a spray and sowed a few more turnip seeds in the row, fingers crossed they leave them alone.
Pleased to say all squashes are now looking much better :) the round courgette and normal courgette are producing again and looking green rather than yellow.
The pumpkin has tiny flowers starting and has really started crawling along .. finally the butternut squash is looking much bushier I'm not sure it will produce the weather hasn't been warm enough for it but we'll see :)
My first french beans are growing and the runner beans have quite a few flowers on them now :) even the sweetcorn is starting to look well.

One of the other plot holders told me to go and pick as many raspberries as i wanted ,as he didn't want anymore i picked about a pound in weight and made some raspberry jam with the seeds removed tastes lovely :)

There might be more yet as he has told me to pick anymore i see :) I'm really lucky to have such nice plot neighbours .

I had a bit of an accident today :( after picking peas, courgettes,strawberries and digging up a few potatoes i was rushing around putting everything back in my shed all going well until i stepped in to the shed on to the rake and BANG!! ouch the handle hit me in the side of the head ...it really hurt ... but i did laugh afterwards hoping no one had seen it ,i have a nice trophy lump behind my ear now!!

29th June 2012

When i stepped out this morning i didnt really want to go to the allotment as it was so windy!! but went anyway had to finish off from what i was doing yesterday before the storm hit.

Planted my winter king cabbages and netted them not easy when the wind is blowing!!

Checked on my peas and some were ready so picked some and brought them home

These are greenshaft different from last years ,have to say im very impressed so far the pods are huge and some had 11 peas inside i have half a row of these and the other half and hurst greenshaft

It takes a while to check every pea before picking it i need a pea harvester lol

Next back to the strawberries picked another 2lb today and yet again there are still many more to pick!

then dug up some more new potatoes

Hoping to pop down again tomorrow morning to put another row of peas in a different variety that can be planted up to july .... there is a nice gaop for them now a row of first earlies have gone

28th June 2012

Havent posted for a while so thought id do a quick post

At the moment im busy weeding and picking strawberries there are so many i went back today to pick some but the sky went very dark and i heard a rumble so just ran to the car with what i had .... when i got home i weighed them another 2lb thats 8lb in total and may more to come yet!!
One of the other plot holders gave me some netting that was wider than i have and sturdier he told me he would bring it when i saw him on tuesday ,so i was quite suprised when i saw it on my strawberries today :)

Everything needs weeding nettles are growing everywhere they are only small but they grow so quickly i really need more time to sort it all out.

Some of my potatoes have had blackleg which turns the stems black and rots them ive found 3 plants so far .... and on tuesday the starting of blight on some leaves :( i knew it would come its been the perfect conditions for it, at the moment everthing is ok

courgettes ,pumpkins ,butternut squash are so far behind compared to last year but they seem to be growing nicely now we have had a bit of sun

The peas are almost ready i grew them in different stages so some wont be ready for a while yet

Runner beans finally have some flowers but they arent as bushy as they usually are i hope they will be ok

had problems with brocolli and cauliflower they have produced head way to early im not the only one with this problem

Tiny heads they shouldnt be ready for a few weeks yet im glad i only grew 1 at this stage the others in the row are much further behind

This year is proving to be very challenging for growing veg i'll be doing a big photo update soon

Managed to get some planting done today i found some in my greenhouse that were ready i put in 3 cauliflowers and 2 savoy cabbages ready for winter harvest and 2 calabrese. I did take down some winter king cabbages but because of the stormy looking sky i ended up bringing them back home again!!



17th June 2012..mushrooms and new potatoes

well well well .... look what i found when i opened the cupboard under the staires :)

My first mushroom!! i just kept going over and over the instructions i wasn't giving in!!


Went to the allotment today i haven't been since earlier in the week I've either been too busy or its been raining,so although i had back ache from hell i decided this afternoon to pop down quickly just to check on things as we have had lots of rain and bad wind
sweetcorn is looking bad :( but I'm not alone so is everyone elses on the allotment, the courgettes butternut squash and pumpkin are growing slowly but compared to last year not as well its just been too cold for them.
Strawberries are doing well have lots that are red :):) but underneath they are still pale so I'm hoping the warm weather for the next couple of days will help ripen them some more ... some of them are really big!!
 everything else is fine, peas will soon be ready to pick :) i did pull up a couple of potato plants at first i was a bit disappointed i was sure i had more last year but looking back on here at the pics its about the same amount ... i might try a different first early next year....the pentland javelin look better plants in the next row so if the harvest is better i'll go for them

Oh and its the first harvest of the year :)

11th June 2012

It was a bit chilly this morning at the allotment i was first to arrive around 10am so i had to unlock the gate unusual for this time of the year ,it wasn't long before others arrived and i had a good chat with them each time i emptied my pink wheel barrow

I took down some Kohl Rabi plants today managed to squeeze them in amongst the fruit bushes there was quite a gap at the end so i put them there ,i wanted to let them grow a bit bigger before taking them down but i needed the space in my greenhouse so they had to go .... then i arrived home later and found another one hiding with the winter cabbages grrrr

i dug over near my shed which was grassy its quite soft ground so it was easy going gave it a good rake and sowed some radishes and more lettuce

Had a look at my beetroot and it really isn't happy, a few weeks ago i took about 6 plants down that i had grown at home and because they are bigger they weren't attacked by the bloody beetle that's stripping the leaves as soon as the come through so i have decided to sow some more at home ,and make a mental note to sow at home next year too!!

I had did more weeding there wasn't that much to do as me and callum went down yesterday to weed

Ive had another look at this blog this time last year .... and things were very different potatoes were ready strawberries too ... i had a feel under the soil and i have potatoes :) but i want to leave them a bit longer as they looked quite small

02 June 2012

Arrived at the allotment with callum about 10:30 this morning i took with me 12 swede plants, 10 celeriac plants and 9 strawberry sweetcorn ... the plan was to plant them.
However i saw so many green fruits on my strawberry plants i decided i best net them from the birds before it gets too late and they help themselves to them once they are ripe it took me almost an hour to net them everything i tried to do didnt work out but got there in the end ...i have no idea how im going to weed let alone harvest them!!

I quickly planted the strawberry sweetcorn and decided to head home for lunch and return after

We arrived back around 2pm ish it was quite warm perfect weather for the allotment, i planted swede, celeriac,and 3 autumn cauliflowers i found in my greenhouse... then another plot holder came along and asked if i would like any leeks i had room on a row for about 8 more so happily took some and planted them too im not sure when i'll get back there as the next few days look like its going to rain :(

27 May 2012

I didnt plan on visiting the allotment today but a change of plans gave me a free morning :) so me and callum headed to the allotment just after 9:30 ,not a cloud in the sky and it wasnt too hot just perfect we left around 11am as it was getting a bit too hot and he was panicking about missing formula 1

I took 5 cabbage plants these should be ready in the autumn i already have my summer ones in and they are doing well

Also took down the last of my peas i have grown at home really need greenhouse space as im growing some tomatoes in the greenhouse this year
i took the follwing pic from inside the netting

The largest are right at the back


After a bit of weeding i dug a large hole filled with manure and planted a courgette plant it became too big for the greenhouse ,i have another variety but its much smaller at the moment so i'll hold on a week or two

At this point i decided it was getting too hot so we headed home as we were leaving another plot holder said we could help ourselves to his asparagus as he will be going on his hols soon :) .... funny that as my plot neighbour told me the same thing this week :):) and i picked some yesterday