sandersj89 Allotment

Blight

2006-07-16T09:31:00.000Z

As said before it has arrived with a vengeance, especially in the walk in greenhouse , there are 4 varieties in there and the Sungold and Gardeners Delight have taken a beating. I have stripped the leaves from them to try and slow but not sure if it will make much difference.

What makes me feel more uneasy is that it has got into the stems of the plants:

I have removed one plant totally and am tempted to do the same to the other Sungold soon.

Funny though, the outdoor tomatoes are not faring so badly and the spray seems to be working…..famous last words!!!

On the potato front things are not as bad as I thought. The Ratte are a right off but the second earlies have formed good tuber and the foliage, though slightly effected for blight, is dying back as normal. I will strip the foliage this week and leave the spuds in the ground for a couple of weeks.

The Arran Victory though is showing signs of infection but it is not getting any worse at the moment:

Trouble is, this is a late maturing variety so I really need it to get a few more weeks under it’s belt before I remove the foliage, bit of a gamble!!!

But it is not all doom and gloom, the sweet corn is busy flowering away and there are plenty of silks and cobs!

I have the smallest Aubergine……

And I am sure this was not there last night when I looked!!!

I fear we are about to sink under a wave of various courgettes.

Beetroot are great at the moment, very sweet and lovely baked in the oven and drizzled with walnut oil when still warm:

First Earlies are still going on very well and will feed us for a few weeks yet, this is Foremost:

I have Mimi ready now as well.

Carrots, my daughter is now happy as we have plenty, she more than content to munch on a raw carrot which is excellent:

And we are now picking black currents, filled this bowl this morning but needed another, will have to pop back later:

And despite the blight I am picking toms.

Tumbler:

And the first Ferline, not huge but ready and perfect!

So, not all good news and not all bad news either, typical gardening really then!

Jerry

Back to the Plot

2006-07-09T19:20:00.000Z

After the excesses of Hampton Court it was back to my little plot…or plots!

It was funny old weekend, Saturday was not too bad but Sunday dawned cool damp and very windy! We need the rain but not the wind.

At first it was not a great deal of rain Sunday early morning and I managed to get to the plot to try a couple of new video’s taken with the Handy Cam rather than my still digital. The quality is a bit better but the sound is awful as it was so windy and I even managed to call the Rhubarb a cucumber! Some dodgy camera work too…….end result deserves the mark of “Could do better!”

Any way, these are the links to the two scenes, you have to copy the link to your address bar in your web browser and it should work:

Plot One

http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y222/sandersj89/Allotment%20July06/?action=view¤t=Plot1July.flv

Plot Two

http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y222/sandersj89/Allotment%20July06/?action=view¤t=Plot2July.flv

Having said how bad the wind is most things seems to be doing well and we are enjoying the harvest, but there is plenty to come!

Courgettes, well we will always have plenty!

Calabrese….not just yet!

The outdoor main crop toms are just starting to colour, the weather conditions though mean a spray against blight is on the cards in the next day or two:

If at all worried I recommend monitoring the blight situation from Bight Watch, a free web site run for commercial growers. Obviously blight effects both spuds and toms.

http://www.blightwatch.co.uk

You have to register but it is free and could save your crop!

Today also allowed me to put up more secure netting for the Black Kale, Autumn King Cabbage and some White Excel Cauliflower. I am using blue piping this year to support the netting and I am very pleased with how it does the job and the ease of use:

And we are now picking rudbeckia to go with the pinks, freesias, dahlias and sweet peas!

I would like a bit more rain and bit less wind for the next week. Though I am sowing the next back of lettuce and beetroot to try and spread the seasons a little!

Jerry

A day out at Hampton Court Flower Show

2006-07-06T21:38:00.000Z

I decided to treat my self to a day at the Hampton Court, with out kids! So the day started with an early run up the M23/M25 to be at Hampton Court for 9am. The gates did not open until 10am but I wanted to be in as soon as it opened to get the best of the day. In fact I ended up being the first in the queue for the show which made a huge difference for the first 45 mins.

But, before I went into the show I had a mooch around Hampton Court Palace gardens. The building is stunning and the gardens are very well put together. I did not realise they also have the worlds largest vine, it lives in a glass house and was smothered in grapes. The bed outside the house is kept clear of all vegetation and is well mulched with manure as the roots of the vine extend well past the house. They had a good crop of mushrooms on the bed as well.

So, the gates opened and I dived in……and headed to the floral marques to start with the avoid the crowds.

Now seeing as this is a website about allotments I thought I better include a few pics of veg, and where better to start than in the Floral Marquee and the king of Vegetable Displays, Medwyn William.:

I do not know how he grows so much stuff to be all ready at one time and it was a shame he was not there as he has recently broken his leg. His wife though was very happy to talk.

But this was not the only stand with a touch of veggies:

Ken Muir had a stand doing a good trade in frozen straw berry plants:

And Chillies put on a good show, some of the plants where 6 years plus old and still cropping, made me laugh though that some plants were being sold for £10 plus! !

Not sure who this was but they had loads of veg on show:

Indeed the veggie theme carried on outside in the show gardens:

And in the Daily Mail Garden, not strictly outdoors but very impressive:

In fact this was a lovely country cottage built under cover:

But back to the floral marquee,

Sweet Peas to die for:

(Next years seeds are sorted)

Ferns by a famous company, seen them on TV, Fernattics?

Loved these carnivorous plants:

And as for colour……

And then I come on to show gardens, I struggle here a bit as I find these hard to translate into the real word. The sand mounds in one seemed very odd to me but I could not get close for a picture…

But I did enjoy some of them and I hope to pinch the odd idea here and there:

I loved this water garden:

All in all it was a great day out, the weather behaved in that it was not too hot and it only rained for about 40 minutes.

Getting there at the outset allowed me time to wander with out being too crowded.

The highlights for me were the floral marquees, the heritage hall and the small independent nursery stands and the chance to talk to the exhibitors. I did buy a few things but not too much:

But what I did buy was very cheap compared to locally and far better quality and unique.

And I can but dream about a real greenhouse one day…….

All in all a very good day out very much enjoyed by myself.

Jerry

Summer is truly here…..

2006-07-03T11:12:00.000Z

Well the temperatures have continued to rise, over 30 degrees Celsius at the weekend and it was baking working outside. I must admit to getting up at the crack of dawn on Sunday to try and beat the worst of the heat!

Te other sign of summer is picking the first Tomatoes and I did so on Saturday:

The first toms were Tumbler, started off inside and moved outdoors a few weeks ago into a sheltered spot. Very pleased to be picking so early though the main crop is still some way off. Looks like Sungold, another cherry, is going to crop next, again outside. Just in time too as we are down to the last jar of last years oven dried toms!

Along with the heat of course comes dry soil, and we are now very dry. I am trying to avoid working the soil too much as that accelerates water loss, but I have had to do some digging.

Firstly there was some garlic to harvest. I was a bit worried about this due to the white rot problem I have so it was with a more than a little trepidation that I push the fork into the row of Purple Wight and Albigensian Wight. However it has not done too bad and I have only lost a few heads.

It is now drying prior to storing:

I still have to lift the Solent Wight which does not look to be so good, 3 rows of this and I hope to get them out of the ground soon this week.

The garlic will be followed with Cabbage and Kale transplanted from the pots they have been started off in to help beat club root. Blimey this makes my plots sound disease ridden!!!

Hopefully also by the end of this week I shall have all my brassicas planted out, the weekend saw me get all the sprouts in and covered by net to stop the pigeons and butterflies. Only the next batch of cauli and black kale to go.

Speaking of cauli I picked my first few heads of All Year Round at the weekend, sowed back last autumn in pots and over wintered in a cold frame. Very pleased with the result:

Also exciting news of the flower front, a Dianthus/Pink my father has been working on developing has now officially been named and a commercial producer is looking to trial it soon. It has been named after my Mum, Hilary May.

I have a few plants on my second plot and will be expanding the stock this autumn with more cuttings.

Finally, if you want to see a couple of short video’s of the plots click below, hope it works!

Plot 1 Video

http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y222/sandersj89/Allotment%20June06/?action=view¤t=134_3475.flv

Plot 2 Video

http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y222/sandersj89/Allotment%20June06/?action=view¤t=134_3471.flv

It is hotting hot up

2006-06-27T13:13:00.000Z

Time for an update, seems a bit of time since I have done so and things have moved on quite a lot with the weather swing from very hot and dry to cooler with some rain. Over all things have not been too bad though and plant growth has been much better now things have warmed up to reasonable levels.

All of last years crops bar the garlic have now been lifted and we had a great harvest of leeks and parsnips to see us through the winter. However it has not all been good news, my over wintered onion sets have been hit hard by Onion White Rot and I have lost approx 50% of the crop:

It is also affecting the garlic but not so badly it seems, unlike the rust!!!

I have dug one clove of Purple Wight and it seems fine so I hope to get to store about 80% of the crop which will see up though to the early part of next year, fingers crossed.

Everything has been moved out of the cold frames now and either been potted on or planted out. Due to having club root on both plots I dare not plant out brassicas until they are very well established with a good robust root system. As such they stay in pots for a little while yet, planting them out in July in the main.

These are a mixture of calabrese, cabbage, sprouts, kale and cauliflowers.

Of course I also over wintered some cauli in the cold frame and these were planted out in the spring, these are just heading up now and will be eaten in the next few weeks:

Whilst talking about under cover items the plastic greenhouse is doing it’s usual sterling work:

Pot grown spuds that were in the house have been moved outside and also eaten by us, and very nice they were too, this has left room for the Toms.

These are a variety of tomatoes, Marmande, Ferline, Gardeners Delight, Sungold and San Marzona with a couple of cucumbers lurking in there too.

Before these cordon types got too tall I also had tumbler on the shelves but these are now outside and just starting to crop:

Also during the nights I move Aubergines back under cover so keep them snug:

The rest of the toms are outside, mainly San Marzona and Ferline.

As it has been so windy at times these have been well staked and also I have erected a wind break on two sides to give them a bit of respite. This has also had the added benefit of helping reduce water loss. I will increase the wind breaks this year to surround the whole of the top plot which is far more exposed than the bottom plot.

All the sweet corn has now be transplanted out from their starting point in root trainers in the heated greenhouse at home. Their first staging point was a cold frame and them outside for a few days prior to transplanting. There are two blocks, one on each plot. One block of swift:

And one block of Northern Extra Early Sweet:

Hoping fro a good crop to store in the freezer for a taste of summer in the depths of winter.

Other crops destined for the freezer are peas (sowed in lengths of gutter), which we have just started to pick:

Runner and Barllotti beans:

Broad Beans:

Under the netting infront of the beans are the caulis that are just about ready and a new cabbage, Kalixy, that is meant to be club root tolerant. So far it seems fine but is a long way from hearting up just yet.

All my roots are in one area this year, carrots under fleece and parsnips out in the open. The fleece stays on until harvest to beat carrot fly and it does give a better growing environment.

Spuds, well this year there are 5 on the go.

First earlies are Mimi and Foremost. Foremost is ready and we had the first crop at the weekend. Mimi are a few weeks away but the two combined will see us through a good few weeks into August I hope.

To follow are Second Earlies are Marfona and Kestrel with late main crops being Aran Victory and Ratte. These should see us through well into next year and mean we wont buy any spuds for nearly 3 years.

The real summer crops such as Courgette:

and Lettuce:

are also well under way. I grew a few types of courgette, Romanesco, Parthenon and Defender, leaving so to mature into marrows for stuffing in the autumn. For lettuce I grow hearting varieties such as 4 Seasons, Little Gem and Sherwood, along with loose leaf and oriental leaf lettuce mixes.

So at the moment it is pretty busy weeding, watering and now harvesting. Podding peas and beans always takes a bit of effort but is helped along with a glass of wine by my side while sat out in the garden.

Also I still have to construct more pipe hoops for supporting the pigeon netting over the remaining brassicas to be planted out and spraying for blight will have to start soon if the forecast holds true.

But even though there always seems something to do it is hugely rewarding and great to be eating so much home grown food.

Fingers crossed for a warm summer with rain at times!

It is starting to warm up at last

2006-05-04T08:58:00.000Z

Looks like we should get some heat that will get things moving, things still seem a bit behind to be honest. The again the lateness of the season means we are still harvesting winter crops such as these Leeks, Porvite, that have done us very well indeed!!

But the warm weather means that I can start to rotate things out of the greenhouse into cold frames and move the current contents of the frames outside.

At the moment my main cold frame is stuffed to the gills with lettuce, lambs lettuce and my main brassica crops, sprouts, cabbage, cauli, cabbage, etc.

The second smaller one has carrots, lettuce and onions in there still, onions need transplanting really.

But with the warmth comes the ever present problem on my heavy clay soil of capping over and cracking if it is dry. And it is a bit dry as can bee seen here in the shallot bed:

Still we are forecasted some rain for the weekend and there is still plenty of moisture under the surface. A good soak wont go a miss though and will help fill the water butts.

It will also give the rhubarb a boost, we have been picking of the first crown, Timperley Early for a few weeks now, the Victoria is now coming on line. These are crowns I planted autumn 2004 so this is the first cropping year.

Talking of sweet things, the current bushes are now full of promise!

More later….

Bank holiday weekend and it rained……….

2006-05-02T14:40:00.000Z

But that was good as we need a drop of rain and it decided to rain mainly at night so that did not stop play too much!

My daily routine at the moment is to visit the allotment first thing every day to open the flap on the plastic greenhouse to prevent things getting cooked in the day when I am at work. I also remove the fleece from the tender stuff that I covered the night before in case of a cold bite to the night air.

The greenhouse is now pretty full.

There are 4 large tubs of early spuds:

The benching is covered with Dahlia plants:

And I have risked a few tomatoes ready to go into the boarder of the house before the end of the month:

On the floor I also have more dahlias, rudbeckia and toms.

So Saturday morning saw be there to check things were OK and I then quickly mowed my paths and did the edging. A quick run around with the hoe in the onion and garlic bed and a check on the spuds showed my first and second earlies are just poking up.

Then back home to do some work in the main greenhouse, potting up, pricking out and making up hanging baskets!

Sunday night it rained off and on for a few hours and but my new water butts and guttering to the test, pleased to see Sunday morning that they have collected a few gallons of water from only a small roof space. I would like them to be full come the end of this month if at all possible. At the moment I am moving all spare water to the butt inside the greenhouse to help it act as a heat sump for the cooler nights.

I then harvested a few leeks and rhubarb for that evenings meal. I had planned to get in a row or two of parsnips and carrots but the soil was too wet really so I consoled myself with erecting a fleece tunnel over the first sowing of carrots made a week ago.

The back home again to the greenhouse and planting up some tomatoes into their grow bags. Thanks to a member on the Allotments 4 All website, thank you Tim, you will see I am trying an unconventional approach. I have cut the bags in two and then stood each half on it’s end and planted the tomato into the bag. This has allowed me to plant them very deep and has given them a good mass of compost to get their roots into. Will be interesting to see how they do, I have high hopes!!!

(Photo to follow)

Monday was a day on little gardening, though I did potter around a bit here and there, the main event of the day was taking the family to the Amberley Working Museum for a great and fascinating day out, having to explain how to use an old rotary phone was a surreal experience and demonstrated just how far and how fast technology is moving!!!!!

The first post of the year....very late!!!!!!

2006-04-24T19:33:00.000Z

Firstly, apologies for not updating things sooner, life has been busy and many things have moved on since last year.

Also it was a busy winter weather wise, harder and colder compared to more recent winters but we have fed very well from the allotments. I say allotments with reason as I have decided this blog should cover both of my plots as now the second plot is firmly ensconced in my allotmenteering life.

The recent weekend saw lots of activity and the first harvests of the new season and the start of the harvest for last season…………. and the weather nearly behaved itself!

Hmmm, a pretty busy weekend one way and another.

Saturday saw me at the plot for a couple of hours. Job one was fixing up two new water butts on the shed and lean too. That should hold about a further 400litres of water. I also had to make a top for an old water butt to meet health and safety regulations.

Next job was to thoroughly weed the onions and garlic beds and the last few leeks. The sets have been over wintered and have got away to a decent start this year so far. I will be giving them a top dressing of potash soon once I have had a bonfire.

I also slipped the peas in from their guttering, now under wire to keep the pigeons at bay!

Then it was grass cutting of the paths and edging the beds. The grass has finally got around to growing a little now after a slow start. The damp conditions should mean this will accelerate over the next few weeks but I need the grass for the compost bins as they are lacking in a bit of green material and they will come in handy to mulch the potatoes and runner beans.

Talking of spuds, the first earlies, (Mimi and Foremost), are just a few days away from breaking the surface of the soil.

The final big job for the day was erecting one of my walkin 6 by 4 plastic greenhouses. I have a couple of these and have decided to place on on my second plot this year. To facilitate watering in the summer I have installed a water butt inside and this will have a drip irrigation system attached to it to water the tomatoes, cucumber and aubergines that will be grown inside.

At the moment it is acting as home to a selection of stuff being hardened off and some early spuds in pots for a catch crop. The water butt inside will alo act to some degree as a heat sump.

Then all that remained for Saturday was to pick some salad leaves from a cold frame and head home for a barbeque that evening as it was such a glorious day.

Sunday started early with me on the plot for 7am. It was very dull and damp and as I parked the car the first spots of rain fell………………..

But I finished all this years digging and sowed a row of carrots, Early Nantes, and a row of parsnips, Tender and True. The root bed is all ready for the rest of the carrots and parsnips which will go in over the next month.

I also popped in the over spill sweet pea plants, I grow most of these at home for ease of cutting but had about 20 plants over, mainly Liz Taylor, Blue Velvet, Galaxy Mixed and Kings High Scent.

Before heading home for breakfast with the kids there was time to pick some rhubarb and flowers, Tulips and Anemone’s for the wife.

As the drizzle set in for most of the day I spent 30 mins or so in the greenhouse potting on dahlias, Echinacea and Delphiniums.

The before lunch out with the kids as oldest was in the St Georges Day Scout parade.

Evening was spent slumped in front of the tellie!

Busy but good fun and exercise!

Jerry

Harvest and the end of the season, the start of the season.

2005-10-24T11:42:00.000Z

Funny thing gardening, when is the end of the season and the start of the next? To be honest they all blur into one and this time of year is no better than demonstrating this.

Over the last few weeks I have been busy tidying up the second plot, harvesting bits and bobs and getting some crops in for next season.

On the flower front I have cleared the cornflowers/poppies and sunflowers. Only the Chrysanthemums are still on the ground and these windy wet days will see the end of them as well soon. The real hit have been the sunflowers, real wow factor when cut and taken to the house. The chrysanthemums are also great value for money as they last in a vase for at least 10 days.

However they have also been infected by Rust. I first noticed it back in the spring when I was taking this years cuttings to supply new plants. Now some plants are literally leaf less and will be no use for new stock next year. As a result I have decided to start afresh next spring with new stock.

As I have been clearing the spent flowers I have been digging the ground and giving it a dressing of Fish Blood and Bone. I have then been setting out Garlic and Over Winter Onion sets.

I have chosen 3 garlic varieties this year, Purple Wight, Solent Wight and Albigensian Wight. Purple and Solent were planted 22nd of October and the Albigensian was planted on the 23rd of October. The bulbs were very large and I look forward to a decent crop from July next year.

For onions I have opted for senshyu yellow this year, not grown it for some years so will see how we do. Again these were planted on the 22nd of the month.

On the harvest front we continue to pull carrots though the woodlice are having a go at them, only a couple of feet left of the row so will be gone soon. The parsnips are ready but no frost as yet to sweeten them so they will stay in the ground for a while yet, will be interesting to see how smooth the roots are…….

We then come to the brassica’s. The calabrese has now finished and we have been very pleased with the crop, Trixie. Plenty in the freezer. The cauli has also been good, White Excel.

However the sprouts have failed in the main, due to club root. I was told the plot was freeze of the problem but it is not the case. Yesterday I pulled up a row of Trafalgar sprouts as they will come to nothing, the other two rows look Okish but not a huge crop. They are also suffering from white fly, again another reason I would like a frost. Next year I will be taking measures to prevent club root damage such as planting in a whole filled with sterile soil/compost and adding a stick of rhubarb and a bay leaf with lots of lime to the bottom of each hole, we shall see.

The January King cabbages seem to escaped the worst of the attack too so not a total disaster.

In preparation for next year I have also moved a large coldframe to the plot, this is 8 by 4. Currently it houses some winter lettuce and lambs lettuce in grow bags, these should give us an early crop in the new year. It will then be used to harden off new seedlings before going out on the plot.

I am also going to create a couple of raised beds and add a plastic greenhouse. The greenhouse will be tomatoes and chillies and the raised beds will be for beans next year.

However the next big job is to move a couple of trailer loads of horse manure to the site so I can mulch the bare ground over winter. This manure is 3 years old and a lovely dark crumbly mix that not only will add nutrients to the soil but will also improve the heavy structure.

So, as you can see it is still all go as we head into winter.

Time for a Holiday and Late Blight but Plenty of Colour

2005-09-02T14:17:00.000Z

As we edged into August I had to plan for leaving the plots alone for 3 weeks whilst we went away. The ground was reasonably damp so I was happy enough on the watering front but I made a special effort to clear as many weeds as I could before we left.

The harvest has also been going on very well, some great Cauli and Calabrese have made it into the freezer and the French beans have been cropping well.

I have grown 2 varieties, Opera and Kinghorn Wax. We did not like the texture of the Kinghorn so I have left them to pick as dried haricot beans for storage. The Opera though have been fantastic and again we have frozen plenty.

The January King cabbage look very good and parsnip, tender and true, should also see us very well in the winter. We have also just started to harvest dried borlotti beans, the red pods look very striking indeed.

The other main crop now ready is the sweet corn, around 60 plants. The cobs have been lovely and uniform and flavour is very good. Eating plenty fresh and also freezing plenty for later in the year.

As I have cleared the lettuce I have been following on with leek seedlings, Lyon, Argentan and Musselbrough.

On the flower from we have been picking bunch after bunch of cornflowers. These last very well and have lovely soft colours. The chrysanthemums are just starting to open too and I am very please with how they look. They will provide colour right up until frosts arrive. The real winner has been the ruby sunflowers though. They look stunning in the house and have been a real hit. Finally the asters are now ready and provide lovely long stems easy to arrange.

But it has not all been good news. Just before we left I noticed the first signs of blight on the Sungold tomatoes. I picked them clean and removed the plants. I did the same with Alicante as well. The green fruit was washed and taken home to ripen, most have been OK but we have lost about 30% of the crop.

The other two varieties, Ferline and San Marzona seemed to be OK but I sprayed to be safe. Upon return San Marzona were also effected and I again stripped the plants and removed them. The yield is huge and I hope they ripen well. So far so good. The Ferline still look OK but just a couple fruit effected. I have left these to ripen on the vine and they are a very good size. Fingers crossed!

Sungold

Alicante

Ferline

San Marzona

Outdoor Toms

2005-07-23T20:51:00.000Z

Well all this talk of dry weather but one crop that has liked it is the tomato. They have lapped up the sun shine and seem to be doing very well. (Bet that has torn it, blight will strike any day now!)

These have all been sown back in Jan/Feb under heated glass, moved to cold frame and then outside after frost has passed. All planted over a bucket of well rotted manure and kept moist. Little other care required to date and we picked the first Sungold today, very good indeed.

Sungold

San Marzona

Alicante

Ferline

I am particularly interested to see how the Ferline and San Marzona turn out. Ferline for it’s supposed blight resistance and San Marzona for it’s sauce making properties.

Jerry

A Dry Month

2005-07-23T20:32:00.000Z

Well I wish it would rain, so far in the last 4 weeks we have had less than 10mm of rain so things are a little dry. Being on a heavy soil it at least holds some moisture below the surface but caps over terribly. For established plants not too much of a problem but for germinating seeds not so good.

As we are not allowed to use hosepipes on the site all watering is by hand, this does not bother me one bit. I can control the water plant to plant and I get up close to each one so can spot problems early. It takes me about 20 mins to water both allotments and I try and do this once every three days. The really thirsty plants such as toms and beans are planted over manure which acts as a reservoir so they seem to be happy. In fact looking back at the pictures from a month ago I am amazed at the change.

We have been picking Calabrese, Lettuce, Cauli, Peas and French Beans to date. Also cornflowers and red sunflowers in the floral section.

On the planting front I am now full. Leeks, Lettuce, Spring Onions, Lambs Lettuce all took up the spare space.

You can see the plot here, and the dry soil!

Upto Date Pictures

2005-06-22T11:52:00.000Z

As promised here are some images of the plot:

The kiddies section, poppies, cornflower, peas and carrots, compost heap in the back ground:

French beans, toms and chrysanthemums:

Brasica under nets with sweet corn behind:

And last but not least, the shed!

First Harvest

2005-06-14T16:24:00.000Z

Well we have now had the first produce from this new plot, just a simple lettuce, 4 Seasons, but very nice it was too. We are also picking a few sprays of Sweet Williams that had been left by the previous owner of the site.

4 season in the middle of the three:

The weather over the last few weeks has been dominated by a lack of rain and a constant drying wind. This has required lots of attention with the watering can as no hose watering is allowed in our site.

The stand pipe and bath are around 100 yards from the plot so I have installed a water butt beside my shed to act as a resevoir closer to hand. We are allowed to use a hose to fill this luckily. With time I will also rig up guttering on the shed to collect water when it rains.

On the planting front I have added more french beans to suppliment those that were attacked by the pigeons. I have also re sown some Benjamin's peas as the mice got most of the first sowing. Next year I will soak in parafin to help reduce the problem. This week I aim to get the final brassicas in the ground and some giant asters that I have sown for cut flowers. This will see the plot full though I will sneak in some lettuce and spring onions here and there.

That will then free up a little time to work on the shed, it needs a coat of preservative as well as guttering, and to make sure I keep ontop of the weeds. So far, touch wood, few have sown thier heads as yet.

I will be posting new pictures soon I promise

Frantic activity

2005-05-31T08:23:00.000Z

This weekend saw a lot of activity at the plots in preparation for a few days away. The aim is to clear out the cold frames at home of as much stuff as possible and get it into the ground.

So, the plot is now fully dug over. The parsnips sown a couple of weeks ago have germinated as have Belinda’s carrots. These have been fleeced against carrot fly.

The French beans have suffered a little from the attention of the pigeons but most will be OK I hope. Back ups have been sown and are just about to germinate.

So what have I planted out? Well the list runs to: Sweetcorn, Borlotta Beans, Tomatoes (Alicante, Ferline, Sungold, San Marzona), Sprouts, Caulis, Mini Sunflowers and Anenome. There is still a little room on the plot and these will be filled with sone salad crops I expect.

We have had some decent rain over the last few days so the soil is nice and moist so all should be OK for a few days with out my attention.

Now, where is the Radox?
Jerry

Rain at last

2005-05-23T14:22:00.000Z

I must be mad making a comment like "Rain at last" so early in the year but we finally got some decent rain over the last week. We still could do with some more but think that may be it for a week or so.

I managed a little digging at the weekend and I also transplanted a couple of rows of French beans, one Kinghorn Wax and the other the name of which escapes me at the moment. These were all grown in root trainers and should be fine as forecasts say no frosts for a week at least.

I also transplanted two rows of chrysanthemum cuttings. These came from my parent stock over wintered. Cuttings taken in February and brought on in a cold frame. They do have a touch of white rust but this is about under control now fingers crossed.

In the kids garden the peas Benjamin sowed have started to germinate but Belinda’s carrots are not due to show their heads just yet. The fleece is in place already though against the fly.

The plans this week are to complete the digging and if the long range forecast continues to show fair weather I will be planting out a couple of rows of Dahlias, Pompom and Cactus types to be followed by sweet corn. This should see the plot just about full for this season.

Work Moves On

2005-05-15T21:18:00.000Z

The weekend did not look like a huge gardening opportunity, what with an iffy weather forecast and a full social calendar but in fact it turned out very well on Sunday at Plot 2.

No new digging but a row of “Gladiator” Parsnip sowed in a compost drill went in soon to be followed by Calabrese (Trixie), Sprouts (Trafalgar and Peer Gynt), Cauliflower (White Excel), Cabbage (January King), Dwarf Kale and Purple Sprouting Broccoli. These had all been sown back in Jan/Feb in root trainers and look very good when transplanted.

After sowing they were all netted against pigeon and butterfly attack. Cabbage root fly collars were also placed around the stems!

As I have already said, both the kids have a section of the allotment as their own. Today we went to the garden centre to let them choose some seeds to sow. Benjamin decided on some peas and some corn flowers, Belinda on carrots and poppies. After a trip to Lindfield park we left for home via the allotment so they could sow their seeds, lots of fighting over the watering can but all seeds sown. (Just hope they come up!!!!!)

I must say though, the ground is very very dry at the moment. The lack of rain coupled with a steady breeze and reasonable temps in the day means the soil is drying out a pace.

Roll on some decent rain fall!!!!!

Jerry

The starting point.

2005-05-12T19:59:00.000Z

Here is the new allotment, I call it site two but in fact it is Plot 5A.

This view is looking north, the plot runs from the yellow post to the shed:

This is the shed, small but ideal for my needs. I have also inherited a small double compost bin and an open shelter to store canes and other bits and bobs:

This view is looking south, again the plot ends just before the bean canes. My original plot is just visible in the distance close the the oak trees at the edge of the site, the blue water butt is at the northern end of my old plot which I still manage:

As you can see the ground has been left in very very good condition. This is a close up of the ground before and after a rough dig:

Little or no surface weeds and just a few dandelion roots to worry about as I dig. I am about half way through the plot as of today, the rest should be cleared by the end of the weekend, weather permitting.

Planting plans for this allotment are flowers, (Anemone, Sunflower, Aster, Dahlia, Chrysanthemum) and veg, (selection of brassica, some root crops, tomatoes, butternut squash)

I want to rig up a water butt to be fed from the shed roof and a bench will be added in honour of the previous tenant.

I am still very please with the plot, the soil is in good condition and there seems to be a very low weed load.

Jerry

Allotment Gardening and More

2005-05-12T14:58:00.000Z

This is going to be a record of how my new allotment develops over the coming months/years.

I have held an allotment for just over 12 months after gardening at home for a number of years and requiring more space. In May 2005 I have taken a second, half allotment, to supplement my growing space.

This second plot was under continuous management by a single couple for some 48 years. They have left it in immaculate condition and I feel honoured the site committee allowed such a new comer to take it on and continue it’s development. If I make it 48 years I will be pushing 90!!!