snowing

Its snowing... grr

Planted out some Lidl cheapo fruit bushes last week - couple of gooseberry plants and some blackcurrant. Will try weed suppressing using cardboard - got tired of digging weeds this year.

Last time I got some fruit from them the plants did pretty well - kind of generic German packaging...

Nice weekend

Weather was good on Sunday - spent an hour or two on the allotment - bit of weeding and put two gooseberry bushes and a blackcurrant plant in.

Something has destroyed my winter potatoes down on the plot - the ones I bagged at home are doing well though.

Cleared greenhouse

Had some good weather over the weekend - spent Saturday clearing up the greenhouse and putting a small raised bed in it. Inspired by Gardeners World. Planted some Italian lettuce, parsley and coriander - see how they get on. Planned to visit the allotment but it tipped down on Sunday, so...

It'll be £24 for the plot this year if I get the early payment discount of £4.

The tomatoes in my garden did quite well in the end. Managed to convince them to turn red by putting the fruit in a fairly dark room in the house. Chillies are starting to swell up finally, some are even turning red so I'm optimistic about them. Even got a couple of cucumbers this weekend from a plant I'd given up on. Marvellous.

Bludy blight... blub blub blub

I knew blight was around on the allotment but last week the tomatoes were just too small to be worth picking - of course all 20 plants have been decimated now. Very depressing. Got maybe 10% of the fruit off the plants that looked viable - all green so I'll have to look into chutney I suppose. Touch wood the plants in the garden and greenhouse are all ok.

Feeling a bit like giving up on the whole plot and speaking to the allotment secretary and handing 50% over to someone on the waiting list. Might make the plot more manageable. No doubt then I'll run out of growing space. Ahhhrrr I dunno. Maybe I should press on for the the first year to see if things get better.

A lotto work

Cleared more space, removed about 6 barrowful's of weed, planted out some french beans 9(a bit late but hey ho). Put some mustard down too. Wilko's doing 75% off on seeds so picked up a few packs.

Was a good day on the plot.

Born to Roam

zebra zebra zebra

Weeds like humid conditions

Hot and humid today at the allotment - apparently its been like it all week here. Spent a couple of hours weeding - some of my leeks are coming along pretty well. Others a bit stunted in comparison though I guess they will catch up. Pink fir potatoes seem to be struggling - the plants look very straggly and the tubers are very small. Its a bit early for them I suppose, but I would have thought there would be a bit more to them than there is. I shall water 'em a bit more and maybe try and give them a boost with a tomato feed.

Pulled a few onions and (of course) a load of courgettes. Ratatouie is probably the culinary answer to the courgette mountain question...

Sawfly - urrgh

Wet weather scuppered the camping holiday a bit - and my plans to hit the allotment today - its tipping down here. Yesterday was pretty nice so i spent half a day sorting the back garden. Noticed that the gooseberry bush has been stripped of foliage. I'm guessing it was sawfly, but a quick search didn't show up any caterpillars - probably nothing left to devour. Whatever, its likely to affect my crop next year. Bah and humbug.

The raspberries have done very well this year - my best fruit by a long shot. I've taken lots of rootings from the bush and will stick a load down on the allotment.

One apple from the cox's pipin in the front garden, one pear in the back garden - the pear didn't seem to produce any fruit at all, the apple tree just saw the small fruit fall off at an amazing rate. Need to research why that might have happened.

courgette a go go

Cropped another 8 courgette/marrows. Took most to work as we're away to Cornwall soon so won't have cooking facilities let alone recipes... We'll see if anyone fancies the. The biggest marrow had suffered a bit of chewing by the looks of it.

Got another 3 rows of leeks into the ground. Probably another 3 rows to do before we go away. Might pop back tonight. The one that have been in the ground for a couple of weeks are beginning to stabilise - they've reached the stage where most guides suggest planting them out - ie pencil thickness.

Eat up

Had a bbq yesterday, cooking up some cucumber, onions and new potatoes grown by my own green fingers. Very nice too.

Spent a whole 40 minutes on the allotment on Sunday. Pulled up potatoes and about 5 courgettes. There are a load still too immature and also a couple that are now marrows. I'll leave them for a few more days but I'll have to pull them before we go away.

My netted frame has now been lifted 4 inches of the ground by the weeds that are growing in it (safe from the rabbits).

Aminopyralid petition

So, we're now told that crops affected by this pesticide can be eaten.
Hmmm.
Of course, Dow AgroSciences reckon its ok too
There's a petition on line at the gov.uk website calling for its ban - no way that's going to happen but it might just help to highlight the issue and actually control its use so that it doesn't simply spread into the manure supplies used on allotments.
Petition to ban aminopyralid

micro irrigation kit

Bought a couple of irrigation kits from woolies today - cost about £4 quid each - needed two to reach down to the greenhouse and branch off to the pot storage area.
Anyway, was a bit fiddly getting the t junctions in and all that. Couple of issues that I've got with it though - can't get water up to the hight staging at the moment - guess there's quite a drop in pressure by the time it reaches the GH.

If you whack up the pressure at the tap then there's too much pressure at the first few drippers which become sprayers instead. Guess I just need to fiddle with it all a bit more. Anyhow, should mean that everything will get a watering when we go off on holiday.

Down to the allotment tomorrow - the young'un seems to be quite keen just now and I do need to put a few hours in.

The missus managed to slip a bit of courgette past the kids vegetable radar this dinnertime... so we can now say that they do like the taste of courgette (or rather the taste of the cheese sauce that they were layered in.

Rain rain go away....

I've managed maybe 30 minutes on site over the past week - largely due to the inclement weather. Bah.
Our allotment isn't taking any more manure - due to the aminopyralid weedkilling debacle that is going on. See the report in the Telegraph

I've heard that about 8 plots have been affected to varying degrees by this. I (fingers crossed) think I might have been lucky - I was using an older pile of muck from one end of the site, whilst most others were grabbing it from a newer pile at the other end. Anyhow, must be upsetting for those hit by this.

I dug up th rest of my first earlies last night - what with all the rain I was thinking that blight might strike. Got a reasonably good crop - probably enough for 3 family meals from about 5 plants...
Oh, also got 2 courgettes and a strawberry!

Raspberry havest - gooooog

Took a whole dishfull of berries tonight - kids ate em all. Plus a good serving of gooseberries. I'll put out some of the new growths from the raspberry onto the allotment site during the week. I think the end nearest the road would be a good spot - they'll only be able to spread out in one direction so I might be able to keep them under control.

I've got so many tomatoes that I planting them in all sorts of strange places - today it was all around and under the kids trampoline. I expect she who must be obeyed will be less than impressed. Ah well.

Pallet construction

Thought I'd test out the practicalities of building with pallets at home before potential embarrassment on the allotment. Got hold of some very good quality timber from some carpentry work taking place at my wife's work, a load of batten softwood from the same source and a few pallets.

Put up a lean-to type of shelter for bin bags and recycle-ables - in the end made it large enough to just about accommodate a couple of bikes. As its outside our back door I wouldn't be allowed to build an eyesore. I'm quite pleased with the final result - though I need to get some hinges as the door is currently flapping about midships... poundshop here I come.

I did spend about £20 on roofing for it - probably would get away with free roofing materials on the allotment.

Major lesson was that pallet busting with a bolster chisel and a big hammer does work quite well. Also, the inbuilt strength of the pallets is probably the key to success when using them as a construction source - I cut through a pallet to get the right length for the lean-to and no amount of bracing would strengthen that section to a level that would work in an exposed area.

So, once I've cleared a bit more ground and planted a few more plants I think I'll start to slowly put a pallet shed up on the allotment. I've also got a very large & heavy pvc window down there so I'll look at integrating that into the build.

Back on the blog

Been a bit of a mad few weeks - Download festival took some time to recover from - must be getting old (hence the allotment...)
Anyhow, was losing the battle against the couch grass so finally took up the offer from Malcolm on the next plot and got him to rotavate a patch. Put a few rows of Musselborough and Autumn Giant leeks in there - they finally seem to be thickening in the mushroom trays I seeded them in. Anyhow, I think I'd advise people on this site to use some mechanical method to get on top of the weeds. The combination of fairly heavy soil and heavy couch infestation makes weeding manually a tough task. I'd say that I'm on top of about a 3rd of the plot now and I'm making heavy use of straw as a mulch to try and keep it that way.

Had my first crop of earlies last weekend. To be honest the potatoes and onions at the far end of the plot have mostly been left to their own devices and have suffered from thistle and dock encroachment. Still, got a fair few potatoes from the first row that I cropped. That end of the plot now looks a little like an Afghan poppy field - thanks to a nearby farmer who went for a colourful look 'n' feel a year or two ago.

Depressing site... sight

A weekend of good weather - lots of sun on Sunday.

Felt a bit down when I saw the rate of weed growth yesterday. To be fair it was amongst the potato patch that I'd most neglected. Spent an hour weeing - filled 4 bags with thistle et al. It looks a little better, and some of the first earlies in that area look like they might be ok. Some of the others might need a little more attention.

Was given a few random brassica's which I put in. Looks like most of my peas are struggling - except for the ones that I cloched with cut bottle tops. So, I'm going to try bring a few on in pots at home, then transplanting them out with a little plastic protection...

Turned over another section. Applied plenty of water. Covered another patch of freegrowing weed. Guess it was a fairly productive few hours.

Felt a bit better on leaving the plot.

U say tomato I say potatoe

Put a load of tomato plants in - most of my remaining courgettes went in as well.

A few of the tomato plants were Sub-Arctic Plenty - haven't grown them before - apparently they handle the lovely inclement British summertime but Ive heard they arent especially flavoursome. We shall see.

Another pea came through today... thats 4 now...

Cleared another 3 barrow fulls of couch grass.

My enormous melons (hopefully)

Removed about 5 barrow loads of couch infestation tonight. Hand weeded half a tonne of thistle... bit of dock too. Got rained on, built up a sweat. Dropped off my leaklings to be planted out when I have raked and weeded the latest section a little more.

Was forced to spend money on half price seeds from Thomson & Morgan. Melons etc ...

Rain rain go away

Plans for alotmenteering over the past two dayswere scuppered. Got a few courgette plants in yesterday - the only good aspect to the visit was the fact that all the structures were still in place after the battering it got from the storms on Monday.

Give me some peas and quiet

Had Friday off work - so spent a good few hours tilling the soil - bit depressed when I got to the plot. The birds had got away with my young pea plants - admittedly I'd not finished off the netting last weekend, so my fault really. Live and learn

My courgettes in the raised bed had basically died off as well. On closer inspection it looks like the manure on the bed had not done much retaining of water, so most of the courgettes had dried up. I'd not been on site since the weekend, so previously my watering can had compensated. I've put a bit more soil/compost mix down, and stuck one or two spare plants in. I think I'll use the rest of the bed for lettuce etc. Put my remaining courgettes into the ground.

Did a lot of digging, and transported a lot of weeds off the plot. It looks a little better, but still plenty to do.

Grabbed 4 large pallets from the wife's work -there are at least 2 more to be collected. Think I can feel some construction coming on.

More digging

Spent about 4 hours on the allotment on Sunday making the best of the weather - spent most of my time clearing couch grass. It was quite a successful dig, but you've got to admire couch grass's 'stickk-ability'.

Dug a couple of trenches for my peas - think I'll try growing some using traditional supports and grow another load by digging a big wide trench and putting the rest of the packet in - then, the theory goes, there are so many planted that they can support one another.

Got given some runner beans which went in too - they looked like they'd taken a bit of a burn so gave them a good soaking prior to putting them in.

Also bought a couple of sub-artic tomato plants to help fund the association - brought them home to pot on.

The misus even came down to he site - I was quite chuffed until she said 'oops,I've forgotten my wellies...' So, instead of any useful weeding or digging, she occupied herself for half an hour slaggin off the aesthetics of my site. Doubtless she had a point, but still...

Couch and thistle

I hate couch grass.
I dislike creeping thistle to a very high degree.
At least thistle seems to be individual - couch is like the Borg from Star Trek...

I spent about 2 hours clearing an area of about 2m x 2m of couch and thistle - the thistle could be removed fairly easily - it was quite distinct when you pulled a thistle root out. Couch on the other hand... think I did quite well but had to be far more careful about breaking bits off.

Got some peas in that had germinated in paper pots. Tomorrow will put pea seeds in alongside.

Got given some spring onions by one of the allotment committee - he also gave me a little nudge about chopping back the grass before it seeds. Guess I'd better take the shears with me tomorrow.

Courgettes are doing well in the raised bed. They're at the 5 leaf stage now and are all looking pretty fit. Onion all seem to be coming on well. My potatoes need earthing up - another job for tomorrow.

Bought a corrugated pvc sheet - about £8 for a 2.5 metre sheet - to make a cheap polytunnel - seems to do the job - just using it for my excess chillis at the moment.

Courgettes et al

Got my courgettes in over the weekend - onto my so called raised bed pretty much direct into manure. I am informed that courgettes should be quite happy with that arrangement.

Strawberries look like they are doing well. The onions and potatoes are in danger of being crowded out by nefarious thistles and yet more couch grass.

Covered a 2x6 metre area with weed-suppressant plastic - should help keep the inspector off my back - he's been having words with a few plot holders I'm informed.

Potted on a large number of Moneymakers and Gardeners Delight - they're a bit behind a lot of others Ive seen around - hope they catch up.

Would have liked to spend longer on the plot over the weekend, but kids parties and visiting of friends took priority. Bah humbug!

Strawberries

Planted out four plants today - in a holed bucket so they might be a little more slug resistant than the ones I put out last year.

Potted up another load of leeks in paper pots - bit late for them maybe but eh oh. Also planted some alpine strawberry seeds that I came across - two months too late but otherwise I would be chucking them.

Giving peas a go this year - will paper pot a few and put the others in direct - see what occurs.

Cleared a bit more thistle and couch - think I will need to decide between a big weed suppressing sheet or some round-up generic stuff cos I am beginning to run out of time and steam.

Did I mention that I put out my sweetcorn plants... splendid.

Potatoes are coming on well - I suspect I shall have to earth em up next weekend. Splendid.

Paper pot madness

Spent about 4 hours sitting in the back garden making paper pots and filling them with all sorts from the greenhouse. Got a job lot of sunflowers to plant at one end of the plot, and about 1 sweetcorn which might go to the raised bed.

Repotted the corgettes which are doing well but were running out of space. They're back in the greenhouse for a couple of weeks.

Friday I spent the morning on the plot - put together a compost bin, spent half an hour weeding and cleared a 3x3 metre area of thistles. Missed out on the £25 tool storage boxes at B&Q though - thanks to the missus.

Good weather

Saturday saw some pretty pleasant weather - the couch grass and docks are doing very well down on the allotment...
Potatoes are beginning to come through which is nice. Onions are looking pretty good too - no sign of action from the beetroot yet.
Turned over an area and covered it in cardboard - then put a raised bed on top. I'll probably try this on a few other areas as well.

Was surprised how quiet it was on the allotment site - our first really good day weather wise - I expected to see it a lot busier.

Greenery

In the greenhouse there's some signs of life - looks like a tray of chillies have come up - also sweetcorn, tomotoes, courgettes all germinating.

Beetroots in the raised bed in the garden have just shown a tiny bit of growth.

The weather is still really odd - pouring down then sunny spells - the roads were half way flooded on the way home.

Finally a picture of the allotment.

Tom wanted to take a look so we dove down to the allotment. It was very bleak there today - only a couple of other people around - very wet and cold so we decided against doing any digging. Brought my Fuji FinePix S7800 with me but made a schoolboy error - always check that your kids/wife haven't nicked the batteries. Luckily he had his Leica snapper with him.
Anyway, on careful inspection we decided that I've dug a third over rather than half the plot. Bleh!

Finished potatos

Put the last row of King Edwards in on Saturday - it wasn't raining but it wasn't all that pleasant. Not very warm and not much of a hint of sun. Bah.
Onions look like they're doing quite well now - inch or two showing. Nowt from the beetroots, but when pulling up a very large dock I got an accidental sighting of one of my second earlies - will probably need to earth them up in a week or two.
The rescued wheelbarrow isn't much use really so I've taken to reversing 10 yrds and then emptying it out - the allotment's barrow seems to have disappeared so looks like I'll have to buy a cheappie...

Onions showing

Spent half an hour on the site this evening - had some sprouting King Edwards to put in (thanks Simon)
Got rid of some weeds, bent my cheap hand fork and spotted quite a number of my onions - turbos - coming through - cheered me up a bit as the weather so far this "spring" hasn't been up to much.

Half cleared

With a little help from my old mate Winny - Ive now cleared half the plot! Woop-de-f-do....

My pink fir apple potatoes went in yesterday - we shall see how they progress.

Rescued some rhubarb from the abandoned plot next door and have split five clumps into my plot.

Had a go at building a simple coldframe - used a load of old rubble and a double glazed window I rescued some time back. Looks like it will work, but the frame is very heavy so I might need to re-engineer and find something lighter to use.

My raised bed construction is something of a disgrace - so my plot has a touch of Steptoe a Son about it at the moment.

Reckon we spent about 3 hours on site yesterday - the sun had actually come out... which was nice.

Pallets - taking them apart

I've been busy collecting pallets as a wood source - thought I'd use them to make some free raised beds, then a compost heap then maybe a storage box. First problem I've noticed is that getting them apart is quite tricky - at least using a crowbar and claw hammer was tricky. Used quite a bit of energy and ended up splitting quite a few planks. Still - managed to put together enough wood for the first raised bed - used the split stuff to reinforce the rest.
Tonight I'll maybe try using a hacksaw and just cut through the nails...

Spend spend spend...

What money am I spending on this stuff? Well apart from the £22 for the allotment rent and £5 on some spades for the kids Im doing my best not to spend on anything apart from seeds, sets and the odd bag of seed compost.

Guess seeds etc will be the most regular expenditure

• Leek - Autumn Giant 3 - Albana : £2.35
• Leek - Musselburgh : £1.45
• Onion - Spring Onion Lisbon : 59p (Wilko)
  
• Onion - Spring Onion Lisbon : £1.35 (Johnsons)
• Parlsey - Plain Leaved 2 : £1.50
• Corriander : £1.45
• Beetroot - Boltardy : 30p (*2)
• Carrot - Autumn King : 30p
• Onion Set : £3
• Onion Set : £3
• Potato : First Earlies : £3
• Potato : Second Earlies : £3

Need a computer to add that up...

Autumn leeks

Planted a handful of seeds in the greenhouse using some old mushroom containers - should see some germination in about 3 weeks, think they can be harvested from September time. There's this here youtube video that shows you how to tranplant 'em.

Musselburgh - (sowing Mar-Apr, harvest Nov-Feb)

I've got some Autumn Giant 3 - Albana - (harvest Sep-Feb) leeks to plant out too - guess they can go in a bit later - might just shove 'em straight in at the allotment.


Simon's allegedly going to let me have some King Edward seeds - if he remembers I can put them in at the same time as the firs... so there's a hint to my regular readership!

Wireworm

Have I got wireworm on the allotment?

Greenhouse

The plastic sheet repairs survived the snow - so planted out

• chillies - cayenne
  
• parsley
• peppers
• tomatoes - gardners delight & moneymaker
  

So whats gone in...

• Boltardy beetroot - been in two weeks now
  
• Potatoes
• First earlies
• Second earlies
• Pink firs (going in next few days)
• Onion sets (two types)

Carrots are due in next week - if I can clear enough space
Leeks ditto

Couch grass

Its pretty inundated with couch grass - Ive decided to dig it out where possible - pretty time consuming but probably worth it.
What I might try is an area given over to raised beds - turn the couch grass over, then put a layer of carboard down to inhibit growth then put the wood down and fill with compost and soil.
Seen mention of growing without digging - looks like it might be worth a try. Also, might try to get a digging hoe (azada) using gravity to brake up the earth.

The begining (almost)

Me and my veggies kicked out of the garden by she who must be obeyed.

Time to get an allotment. One local site had quite a few plots available. Mine needed (still needs) a lot of digging.