A New Year and All That..........

It dawned on me this morning that seeing as a new growing season will be upon us before we know it, we've kind of had it easy working on the allotment so far. These first six months have just been about the digging. Ok we managed a small harvest this year, hell we managed to survive on our own grown potatoes for four of those six months! But there hasn't really been any pressure to grow anything.

 

But with the new year just around the corner, we now need to plan ahead and make sure we plant things at the right time.

 

It starts getting serious from now on.....well not serious but it will be important to do things  at the right time. We sowed some spring cabbage seeds a couple of months too late in the hope of growing them over the winter, but at the moment they are still tiny seedlings. We'll plant them out on the plot but I have a feeling they won't amount to much. Time will tell I guess.

 

Father Christmas very kindly brought us a new spade and a composter. Thought he would have given us some seeds too but glad that he didn't as I really wanted to pick the varieties ourselves.

Seed potatoes will be available soon. Think we will have a couple of rows of main crop next year and just one of earlies.

 

So next plan of action will be to plant the spring cabbages out, erect the composter and prepare the bed for the potatoes.

It's been difficult finding the time to fit the allotment in the last week or so and the weather has been quite stormy too, but here's hoping we can get back into a routine in  the new year.

 

Can't wait!

Getting there..............slowly!

Its been a while since I've found a bit of time to post an update on our progress but I can at last say almost all of the plot has now been dug over and that for the first time it is more weed free than full of weeds........

I am realising that even though we have got rid of the worst of the weeds, they keep coming back and Bed 2 that was weed free is green again, mainly because I have neglected to keep on top of the weeds while I continued digging over the other beds.

Although now that the colder weather is here, the weeds are at least taking longer to grow back so hopefully we can put that to rights over the winter months!

 

So from the top of the plot this is where we are now.

 

Bed 1

This had potatoes in this year and I'm really pleased with our harvest.

 

We had been digging up the earlies for a short while. These were the Duke of York variety and they've been ok but I wouldn't grow them again. I think we left them in the ground a bit too long. Still we did get just under 5kg of them from one row.
We also have a row of main crop potatoes, Picasso and these have been really good. A nice tasty potato that has been good for everything. Nearly 8kg from this row.

And we haven't bought any potatoes since the end of August!

 

Bed 2

This has had runner beans, strawberries, carrots and beetroot in it this year. A mixed bag  I know but we have used this bed just so we could have a harvest this year.

We're going to dig up the strawberries and plant new ones in the perennial bed, mainly because they are completely overgrown with grass.

And we had just enough runner beans with just a handful in the freezer. The carrots were small but perfectly formed and we picked most of the beetroot when they were small too. The last of these have been pickled and will be ready in a week.

This bed still has the Swiss chard in it. Never eaten it before so we'll give it a go but we'll probably just dig the plants up when we go over this bed again which is completely green!

 

Bed 3

I finally finished digging this bed yesterday. I had hoped to have had it done by the end of October before the colder weather started but alas we hit a snag. There had been a bit of raised ground in the middle of this bed and when I got to it, I found out why. First off it was where a previous plot owner had decided to have a bonfire.........except a lot of it hadn't burnt properly so there were piles and piles of un-burnt magazines, chunks of wood, you name it. Having dug that out, I hit the next problem............carpet. Yes actual carpet. Not the matting you use to keep weeds down but actual proper carpet. It started in the middle of the plot and went on and on. It took me ages just to find the edges........it went right to the edge of the plot.

And what was worse it had at least 6 inches of soil on top of it and weeds, like mallow, growing through it in places.

 

It was an absolute nightmare and just as I was starting to feel like I was never going to get it up, I had a breakthrough! I was also having to pull it up in bits as it was so large I was never going to be able to lift it in one go.
We then had a stroke of luck as the site had a skip so that a spare plot could be cleared and the manager of the site very kindly took all that horrible carpet and put it in the skip for me!

So having cleared the carpet I was then able to dig the second half of this bed which seems to have taken an eternity!

 

Bed 4

The mesh tunnels arrived in September and so we planted the onions; one row of Shakespeare and one of Troy.

 

 

They took a while to get going, over a month, but are now firmly established.

 

We've planted a second batch with another row of Shakespeare and one of Senshu Yellow we swapped with a friend. These are just starting to sprout now. Its amazing that despite being covered they have still been pushed up in places, must be worms!
As you can see we also have some scaffolding boards for paths now too.

 

Perennial Bed

This is going to be TK's bed as he wants to grow things that keep on growing basically. So he has the rhubarb which was looking really healthy........

 

 

Until we had the storm that never was a few weeks ago.........

 

 

When it took a bit of a beating.

 

We've moved the blackcurrant bush next to it and will move the redcurrant bush in the next week or so.

Then we'll make a new strawberry bed and also prepare a section for some asparagus which I ordered online for delivery next spring.

 

He'll have a bit of space left which we might use for herbs.

 

And the only other news is we have some manure to spread out on a couple of the beds..........four barrows' full for starters.

 

 

So all in all not bad for our first six months!

 

Progess at last!

We really seem to have managed to make good progress with the digging over the last month. The perennial bed is dug, although weeds, particularly couch grass, pops up again just as quickly. It seems to be called twitch grass by other plot holders. It can be a bit disheartening to go over to the allotment and find a lot of it looking green again and not in a good way

I finished digging Bed 4 yesterday. This will hold legumes next year and onions. I bought some onion sets from the shed shop last Sunday. Two varieties: Shakespeare and Troy. All these little beauties for the princely sum of £1!

 

We actually have too many Shakespeare so we're going to swap some with a friend.

As soon as the micro mesh tunnels arrive we'll get these planted. They'll need protecting from the pigeons.

 

So I've started digging Bed 3 which technically is the last bed we need to dig over. Its also the worst. However Bed 2 which we planted some things in is looking a bit weedy again but hopefully it won't take as long to go over it a second time.

 

The parsnips that were already growing in the potato bed (Bed 1) have continued to grow. Some did die back but a few have green leaves still. We pulled one up the other week to see what it looked like and hey presto! We had a parsnip!

 

The runner beans are still going but slowing down. I did have to freeze some the other day though as there were too many for me in one day.

 

We pulled a couple of carrots the other evening and although small, it was reassuring to see they were nice and straight!

 

 

TK complained yesterday that I am making to many homemade things which is bizarre as he likes to help making them! This year we have made strawberry jam and raspberry jam. I used the raspberry jam to make this Gainsborough tart which is something my nana used to make. It has a coconut top

 

 

And yesterday I made millionaires shortbread

 

 

Yum!

Let Harvesting Commence!

We may not have planted much on our allotment. It may still be half covered in weeds. But amazingly we are now managing to harvest some fruits of our labours.

 

Not huge amounts but just enough for a meal as and when we need it. And that's how it should be, rather than having a glut of something and getting fed up with eating it or having to give most of it away.

 

So the first runner beans are ready, just a few a time, but that's ok as that's enough for me. Even though they are melt in your mouth yummy, I haven't been able to persuade TK to try one yet.

 

We decided the first earlies might actually be ready a week or so early seeing as the foliage was starting to die back on them. And we were right!

This is the harvest from the first plant we dug up

 

 

TK has said he will eat the tiny one.......

Again just enough potatoes there for a meal or two for us. We dug up another plant a day or so ago and will try and do that every few days and work our way through them

 

So potatoes, runner beans and now the first beetroot. I decided one looked large enough and it was. So here is our haul from the other day.

 

 

So all in all we're really pleased with what we have achieved in a few months. The shed shop should be getting some onion sets in soon so hopefully we will have enough free ground to plant these.

I did work out a crop rotation plan the other day so need to make sure the right area is clear for them!

In the meantime, its back to the digging before the weather starts to turn.

Picture Post

So here is where we are nearly three months into our allotment adventure

 

The first earlies are almost ready I think

 

 

The first few runner beans will be ready soon too

 

 

Swiss chard

 

 

Beetroot looking good and carrots coming on slowly

 

 

And finally what will be our perennial bed

 

 

And when you look at all the bits we have planted in isolation, things don't look too bad do they? So we'll ignore the big bit in the middle that is still weeds!

Slow Progress

So its been more than a month since I posted. Its been a really busy month with work both the editing and my fabric business so progress on the plot has been a little slow. Before that, believe it or not, it was just too hot for digging; we had temperatures around 30 degrees for several weeks!

I need to take my camera or TK's iPod down to the plot with me to take some photos as my iPhone thinks I don't have any room on it to take photos.

 

So what's been happening this last month?

 

The potatoes are well and truly established. I'm hoping the first earlies will be ready at the beginning of September, although a couple of plants might be ready already.

The first sowing of beetroot and carrots have been thinned and are doing well. Although the second sowing of carrots hasn't germinated much for some reason.

The runner beans have reached the top of the wigwam and the first beans are already 3 or 4 inches long.

We acquired some Swiss chard from a neighbouring plot owner which is just starting to settle in.

 

But the big news was the raspberries. We picked over 6lbs in the end despite the canes needing thinning out and generally needing taking care of. We made some jam with them.

 

Today I finally reached the other side at the bottom of the plot! It feels like I have been digging that section for ages. It was a bit demoralising to come back from a few days away to find it looking quite green again the other day, but a bit of hoeing has sorted that out!

We are now going to make the bottom of the plot a perennial bed. It already has the rhubarb. We will move the two currant bushes down there and I thought we would also put some asparagus in . Rather excitingly, we think we have a small asparagus plant growing in the raspberries!

 

So next post will be a picture post showing our progress, hopefully.

 

Lucky Lucky

We have just been so incredibly lucky with our plot so far. Thanks to the previous plot owners we have been able to harvest and enjoy quite a few things so far without too much sweat and tears on our part.
We are currently trying to keep up with the strawberries. This was our pick the other day!

 

We also have a couple of currant bushes which now the fruit are ripening we can see they are blackcurrants. However the big surprise was that the other bush was a redcurrant!

We picked some fruit the other day but the birds seem to have pinched quite a few since

The bindweed is already starting to come back but the other growth we noticed just a week after sowing......is the beetroot. Can't beat the taste of fresh beetroot!

 

We still have a lot of work to do. Some of the weeds are very high now and have deep roots, but while the days are long, spending an hour or so digging over the ground is actually one of my favourite pastimes at the moment

 

 

 

 





 

 

The first month

So just over a month has passed since we took over our plot. Seems longer!

 

The early potatoes have had their second earthing up. Think they should be ok now as they are already growing through the pile quite a bit.

We have also earthed up the main crop potatoes in the last week.

 

 

We've cleared another stretch across the width of the plot the other side of the raspberries.

We collected some wood to make a cage/protection around the strawberries but so far we have been picking them just before the are fully ripe and eaten by the birds, so we haven't needed to build anything.

 

 

We planted a small row of carrots and beetroot here a couple of days ago. They were both varieties that could be sown in June so we'll see how they go.

 

On the other side of the strawberries we have put a wigwam together and planted the runner beans that we started off in pots at home.

 

 

The middle of the plot is REALLY overgrown but rather than continuing to work our way down the plot we have decided to start clearing at the bottom end of the plot. We figured that's where the potatoes will have to go next year as the previous plotowners had planted some where we have planted our beans, so we might as well get ahead of ourselves, kind of!

 

We have been quite lucky so far to be able to harvest a few things; the rhubarb, some potatoes and now strawberries. The next thing will be the raspberries which are summer fruiting...........and there are a lot of them!! Not quite sure what to do with them at the moment as neither of us like raspberries!

 

Earthing Up!

Very excited yesterday afternoon to see a whole lot more of the potatoes starting to poke their way through the surface. The first half of the first earlies were doing so well that we earthed them up last night

 

 

The other half of the row is slightly behind but only by a few days and the good news is that the tips of the main crop potatoes have started to appear too so all is looking good!

 

We planted some runner beans in pots at home a couple of weeks ago. They didn't seem to do much for quite a while so I brought them indoors and of course they all germinated straight away

 

'PING!'

 

 

We have some old bamboo canes so will plant them out shortly.

 

So everything is looking good..........and the only problem is hayfever! Its been quite bad the last couple of days so I may have to take some antihistamines for it. Hayfever and needing to work on the allotment do not mix!

Bees!

Just a little short post, almost a Wordless Wednesday............except its Tuesday...........and it has a few words in it.

I love being on the allotment, digging away, sometimes on my hands and knees. It's so peaceful

Just me...........and the bees in the raspberry bushes

And here is Mr Bee

First Sign of Life!

It was  so exciting when we went over to the plot yesterday afternoon! The first signs of growth!

 

Yep, several of the Duke of York first earlies were breaking through the surface. We weren't expecting to see anything for another week seeing as we only planted them a week ago.

Time to start earthing up!

 

We have nearly cleared the area around the strawberry bed now.

 

 

Just need to remove some of the raspberries nearby and then we will try and board the strawberries in and protect them as best we can. They are already fruiting.

We've put up some notices in case anyone wants any of our surplus raspberry canes but not had any takers yet.

 

TK's friend came and helped us yesterday too so I gave them the job of doing some digging, which left me with not a lot I could do. I set them to work on some old earthed up areas as the soil was quite loose there...............and this is what they dug up!

 

 

 Not sure if any of them are any good, but we'll give them a try.

 

Can't believe how lucky we have been so far!

 

Potatoes Planted!

By Friday and just over week since TK turned over the first bit of earth, we had managed to dig over a 5ft strip of ground across the width of the plot. We've kept the parsnips that were already growing there, just in case but yesterday afternoon was spent planting the potatoes we picked up at the Shed Shop last Sunday.

As we are late planting, the potatoes were already chitted so it was just a case of putting them in.

 

 

 

We have two rows planted:

One row of earlies, Duke of York. These were well chitted so not sure how these will do. They are the left row which TK is putting in. The row is split by the parsnips.

The second row is the main crop, Picasso. These looked a bit healthier. Will be interesting to see which are the most successful.

 

 

The next job will be to protect the strawberries that are already on the plot by creating a bed for them. Going to pick up some netting from the Shed Shop later this morning and make a start on that today.

 

 

 

 



 

Days 2 and 3........

Although strictly they are days 3 and 4 as Friday was an absolute wash out.

Its the late May bank holiday weekend and half term so we are hoping to get a fair bit of digging done, weather permitting!

 

The soil is actually quite loose, not compacted at all, so digging it over isn't too much hard work apart from the weeds which seem to consist mainly of bindweed and couch grass; both of which I'm sure will be a bind to get rid of!

Most of the other plot owners we have spoken to have said don't bother getting the plot rotavated so we are a bit undecided about that.

This is how much we had done after the second day

 

 

And yes we picked some rhubarb!

And here it is a couple of hours later........in a crumble

 

 

I couldn't remember if I like rhubarb or not, but I'm pleased to say this was rather yummy.

Finding it hard persuading TK not to pick any more just yet!

It's cool harvesting something already though.

 

We've done a bit more digging today and have almost dug the width of the plot.

 

 

 

This morning we went down to the Shed Shop which is run by BALGA, the allotment association. We joined the association and also picked up some seed potatoes, although we will be a little late planting these out. We are trying a first early, Duke of York and a Picasso which is a main crop potato.

The bit of land that we have dug over is wide enough to plant a row of each.

Hoping we can get them in the ground this week.



 



Day 1

The decision was made. TK was keen to make a start. So we dashed out after the rain had stopped, garden forks in hand.......plus an umbrella....and headed for the allotment.

 

TK turned over the first sod of earth

 

We managed about 20 minutes of digging

 

before the heavens opened again..........glad we took the umbrella!

 

The weather today is much the same; heavy rain on and off so I doubt we will make it over this afternoon. Fingers crossed for drier weather over the weekend. Half term next week too so maybe just maybe we might get an area cleared..........!

 

Trying to Make a Start

Having been given the go-ahead by the council today that we could make a start on the allotment, we were eager to do so.

However, Mother Nature seems to think otherwise as the sky is rather dark out there and it's pissing it down with rain so we may have to wait until tomorrow...........garden forks are poised and ready!

(correction its hailing!)

 

The allotment association is supposed to be treating and rotavating the plot but I don't think this has happened yet but on the plus side the ground won't be too hard!

 

We are hoping to go down to the Shed on Sunday as they might have some seed potatoes left still but before then we will need to pick up rubble sacks, a water butt and probably a wheelbarrow.
I see a few trips to the tip in our future.........

Area 51 - aka The Jungle

So this is it - our new allotment. As with all allotments that have fallen into disuse, it is slightly overgrown.

 

Ok it's quite a bit overgrown.

 

The photo shows the full length of the plot. It goes back as far as a small blue water butt and that unstable looking metal frame.

 

There are some possible good bits though........

Like these fruit canes and currant bush

 

 

Shame we don't like raspberries.......

 

Plus there is some established rhubarb

 

 

Hmmmm.........

 

And some onions

 

 

But mostly it is like this

 

 

So its going to take a bit of work even before we can plant anything. The allotment association will treat and rotavate it before we officially make a start next week which will help.

 

So this blog will be a record of our progress.

 

Wish us luck.........I think we are going to need it!

 

In the Beginning......

In the beginning.............there were weeds. A lot of them.
And matting.
And all other kinds of rubbish............