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!

 

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.

 

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.



 



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!