Another Busy Sunday

Lots to do today so made a full day of it, took lunch and headed off to the allotment.  Simon had dug over the last quarter of plot 120 and we filled it today.  More brussel sprouts - Fillbasket variety, and Greyhound cabbages.  Couple of rows of Snowball turnips, Duchess parsnips and some more Swiss Chard, Bright Lights.



Just about run out of planting space now, still have to work out where I'm going to put the beetroot..... little bit of land left in front of the polytunnel perhaps.

Simon picked up five wooden planters off Freecycle during the week which we have put to good use, pansies in one, strawberries in another and two different types of carrots in two others.  One still empty and maybe for flowers.  Not sure yet.



Picked some rhubarb today to make some rhubarb wine as well, and also a few leeks to have with our tea, nice to be able to bring something home for a change instead of planting things!



 

The "Super-Hot" Chillies

Well all the super-hot chillies have now germinated, even the Dorset Naga which I had given up on has sprung into life.

These five plants are all still living on the windowsill for the time being. These are all the seeds that The Chillees gave me ages ago. Habanero long hot, Habanero paper lantern, Naga jolokia, Bengal Naga & Dorset Naga.

These will all go down to the Allotment in a week or two along with the Birds Eye and Loco F1 which are also still on the windowsill here at home.

I have also now given away the Demon Red chilli pepper plant, nice plant, but I already have a small ornamental chilli growing well so it's been struck off the list of peppers to grow next year.

First pepper harvest (green)

The peppers seem to be doing ok in the greenhouse, most of the capsicums are in flower and some with quite a few fruit on them, so to promote more flowers I have harvested the unripe fruit from some of the plants.

Of the sweet peppers that have fruit on I've picked one Redskin F1, 2 Peperone's and a single Anaheim hopefully this will make these plants produce higher yields later in the year.

The hot peppers that have been picked "green" so far are Masquerade, Gusto Purple F1, Apache F1, and Superchili.

29 fruits harvested already and we only in May, not a bad start to the growing season. The Redskin F1, Peperone's and a single Anaheim have been eaten in an omelette and where very nice even at their green stage.

More diggin', more plantin'

Simon went down to the plot during the week and dug over some more of the new part to get ready for the brassicas.  Hard work!  Lots of thistles and comfrey, two nightmare plants.  Just one quarter left to dig now and the whole new plot will be dug over.  Broad beans have picked up after being transplanted last week and everything is starting to take off now.  Even got some spuds poking their heads up.  Also all the asparagus have come up, not for picking this year though.



Simon filled the flower beds under the hop arches with sweet peas he had grown from seed and some white cosmos that I had grown, also a couple of Wahoo sunflowers, grew them last year and they were lovely.



Planted up the brassica bed with two different types of kale, dwarf green and Starbor, some Jersey Wakefield cabbages and Brussel Sprout 'Brilliant'.  Had some left over to give the allotment neighbours too.  Still got some more bits and pieces growing in seed trays at home for the last quarter to be dug - turnips, more brussels, more cabbages, kohl rabi and celariac.

Filled the raised beds that were empty too, kale Nero di Toscana, carrots Nantes II, 2 types of Fennel and swiss chard Bright Lights.  Just got to figure out where I'm going to put 4 rows of beetroot.........

Also planted out my 3 mammoth pumpkins, my marketmore cucumbers (in the polytunnel) and my giant sunflowers - growing them for the seeds for my chickens!