Busy Day down 'lottie

Sun's out birds are singing, and I spent most of my time digging.

But before that got a few more seeds in the propagator, Pumpkin, Courgettes, and Squash all sown and nice and warm in the Brewshed.

 Then a walk in the sunshine down to the allotment. To start the harder part of the day.

Dug over the bed ready for the Pumpkin,Squash, & Courgettes, smashed up the lumps of earth and raked it over. Planted two rows of early direct sown Courgettes (All Green Bush) two seeds to a hole and watered them in.

Then onto the Hop plants, they are doing quite well, winding their way up the strings. I have now pruned the hops back to 2 bines per line, so 6 bines per plant. I hope that 2 bines for each line is not going to be too crowded.



Gave them a good watering with added Super Tomato food (Free with a Sutton's catalogue) after a good old weeding.

Weeded around all of the plot 119's paths, all around all of the fruit, felt like I was working on a hectare not a standard allotment plot. Seemed to take forever.

Greenhouse next, check on the ol' Chillies after a cold snap last night. The Telimena sweet peppers didn't like the cold and are looking a bit sorry for themselves but all the others are doing fine, even with a -2.5'c cold snap.  I have now covered the Telimena's with a layer of fleece to try and save them.



Weeded and watered the Elephant garlic and Solent Whites.

They seem to be holding up okay after all the floods and now a very dry spell. I really hope we get a good crop from these as I would like to keep hold of quite a few of the cloves for replanting next year if possible. We will save a few quid if they do, always a bonus, mind you, we ended up eating all of last years crop.

Back to the digging!! Where the digger compacted the area on plot 120 the whole section is now like concrete.

Started digging a new veg bed, very hard going indeed and it is also a bit stinky from all the rotting material that was plowed in. Should be good for Jane's runners when they get planted.

It's all looking a lot better now on 120, I still need to rake and smash quite a few more clumps of solid earth, but it's almost ready for the climbing beans that Jane is going to direct sow.

Finished my 5 hour allotment session with a bit of hoeing and weeding around the onions, got a good chunk of it all done, I've got about a third of the onion patch do finish, but I had to call it a day due to running out of fluids and getting a little sunburnt.

The allotment is looking loads better, and I feel better being down there again after all the troubles, my enthusiasm has returned.

Busy in Garden at Home #2

Well the back garden is slowly getting there now, The brewshed is now up. Took all day to do it, but it's looking good, at least it was a dry day when it was put up, makes a change what with the weather over the last few months. The ground is still soggy as hell out there still.

I really need a few dry days, so I can go over the whole brewshed with a preservative. It has been done once already but because it's a ex-display unit I want to go over the whole lot again.

This coming Thursday we will lay the decking, where the blue tarp is, but until then I have plenty to do on the inside. Most of the brewing equipment is now in the brewshed, I still have to bring the ready to drink wines and beers up from the garage and some old furniture that I'll be using.

I already part built two kitchen units and along one of the walls and laid a 2 meter worktop on the top. Still all needs leveling and finishing. (My birthday present from the good lady wife).

Time for the 1st beer in the brewshed. A pumpkin ale, lovely ..

We will rebuild!!!

Well at least the sun was out today, can't say that it was dry because as Jane posted the plot is pretty much been turned into a mud pit. So now the task of rebuilding and sorting the mayhem out has begun.





After five and a half hours I have managed to tidy the plots up quite a bit, still loads and loads to do. Had to shift so much rubbish that the digger had dug up from the banks, old pallets, metal poles, and loads of plastic bags and sheeting.

I'm getting there now slowly, I'll be rebuilding the pallet compost heaps in a new location and are now stacked ready for the new build on plot 120.

Still have to move the shed back into a proper location, but it's still to muddy to do that and I'll need plenty of help to shift it anyway.

We have also had a good news from the Allotment committee, in that we will NOT be charged next season to plot 120 and this was confirmed by the Allotment chairman on site today. 

As well as the good will gesture of not having to pay for plot 120 next year, Our site Plot Secretary has had a phone around and some of the other site holders have given us permission to harvest kale and Brussels from their plots to replace what was plowed into the ground.

So all in all I'm feeling a little better. Once the shed is moved back and the pallet compost bins are rebuilt I think I just might be able to forget about the whole nasty situation.

New Polytunnel

Busy day on Sunday, off to one of our local garden centres in the morning to pick up a roll of heavy duty weed suppressant material and 5 growbags.  Had a £5 off voucher to use so that helped.  Then down to the allotment to put up the new polytunnel we had bought the weekend before.  Again, had a £5 off voucher to use last weekend and put it towards a half price polytunnel.  We weren't sure whether we were going to replace the big old polytunnel we had before as the crop we had from it last year was poor in relation to money spent out on growbags etc, however this new polytunnel is a bit smaller, wont be leaking like a sieve, wont be like a wind tunnel and we may have more success!  So we raked over the top left hand corner of the plot and then dug it over and levelled it.  Put down the weed suppressant - we did think about planting direct or building up raised beds but for its first year we are just using grow bags.  If we have more success this year we may invest in a bigger, better quality one, we shall wait and see....

The polytunnel went up and so far so good.  All seems very sturdy and plenty of room for at least 7 or 8 decent sized growbags.  Got some tomatoes, cucumbers and aubergines started off at home so they will have a home to go to now.  Also started off some courgettes but expect they will grow outside as they tend to take up a lot of room.  Will see how things go.





 

 

Had some 'help' from a new little friend that joined us for the day.... young male cat with lots of energy and enthusiasm, more energy and enthusiasm than we had by the end of the day!



........... And we harvested some January King cabbage to take home to have with tea.

 

 

Goodbye Plot 69... Plot 119 continues!

A beautiful sunny Sunday and first of all we went up to Plot 69, took all the canes and put them in the car and also all the metal mesh sheets then handed in the keys.  Sad in a way to be leaving that site as it was our first allotment and we put a lot of hard work and effort into it, however having two allotments split over two sites just isnt working very well, two sets of tools, splitting our time and not giving 100% to either.  So we said our goodbyes and headed off down to Plot 119 to soak up some sun.  Definitely made the right decision, Plot 119 works so much better for us and has so much more to offer, it is always such a pleasant place to be, except when its flooded!



Had a chat with the new plot secretary and discussed the possibility of taking on another half plot next to ours, would be lovely, and give us a bit more room to grow some potatoes and fruit bushes, will have to wait and see.  The plots either side of us haven't been really cultivated at all this year, one due to illness, so it may be that one will be available for us to take on.  Apparently there are at least 18 vacant plots so far that the committee are aware of, and that is prior to rent day.  Rent day may bring a few more, guess the dreadful weather has put a few people off this year.



Did some more digging today, got the last of the right hand side dug over.  Will do it once more before planting season, soil is looking excellent though, full of worms and goodness, bit damp but not many weeds at all.



 

Polytunnel Eviction Day!

Had some sunshine today for a change, long time since we've seen it!  So headed down to Plot 119 for a busy day.  First of all we cleared out the sad looking polytunnel which has not really survived the winter very well, more like a big fishing net with all the holes in it.  Got rid of all the junk and cleared out the shed to put in all the things worth keeping.  Moved out the big planting table as well, will keep that as quite useful.  Cleared some of the woodchips from the floor to make another path then took the polytunnel apart.  Keeping some of the metal work, will find a good use for it I expect.  Now we are left with another good sized planting plot and it has really opened up the whole allotment, really pleased.  Wish we could move the shed behind the greenhouse now to tidy things up but expect it would fall apart if we tried to shift it!  Planning to buy a new one eventually.  Simon had a good clear up in the greenhouse, getting ready for the chillies, made sure all his new huge plant pots fit.  Nice to be working in the sun although still pretty chilly.  Also Simon went and saw the chairman who was on the site, managed to get a big water storage container for £2, perfect for collecting rainwater and even better when Simon puts a tap in the bottom  Bargain.  Met a few more allotmenters last night as we went to the AGM, good to get involved.

 

Water water everywhere!!

Popped down to the bottom allotment plot (119) after work yesterday, just to give the plants tomatoes a watering in the green house  and was confronted with a lake.

After sploshing through the water and stepping into water a good 6 inches deep, filling my work boots with water I got to our plot.

Looks like we faired pretty well over all, as about 70% of our beds where still above the water line. Not so good news for alot of the plots at the bottom of the site as you can see from the photo. A lot of the plots are completely underwater.

We have about 4 broad bean plants underwater, one sunflower, a rhubarb  and about 6 strawberry plants taking a swim.

One plus point though, I didn't have to go very far to fill up the watering can to water the plants in the green house.

Finished Digging

Finished the last of the digging today, so that is Plot 119 all dug over.  Lovely to stand back and see it all done, has taken a couple of weeks and glad it is done now!

 

Simon found a lovely old clay pipe when he was raking the soil over too, a few hundred years old he reckons.  Good to find something interesting other than weeds!  I did find the other missing bit the other day when I was digging but didnt realise what it was and think it went on the compost heap!  Will have to keep an eye out for it.

Apart from digging, Simon prepped the plant pots for the grow bags.  We found some in the garden centre and were astonished at the prices, after all, they are just plant pots with no bottoms!  So he made some from old ones we inherited with the allotment.  Think they will work just as well.  And free!

Gently Ticking Over

Had a day off today so split the day between the two plots.  Plot 69 is ticking along quite nicely, few carrots poking their heads up, the broad beans I direct sowed are also being brave.  Onions and shallots are doing very well.  And the beetroot is emerging.

Gave the whole site a hoe, amazing how quickly the weeds come up after a week of sunshine then a day of rain!  Yes, rain!  We had rain!  Nice to see the ground all damp without the effort of watering!   Then over to Plot 119 and not very happy......  we last went on Saturday and since then our two big water butts have gone, as has some of the greenhouse staging and a few other bits and pieces.  All we can put it down to is the previous tenants coming to take some bits away.  Wish they had left a note or something to let us know.  We took over the plot a couple of weeks ago and it looks almost fully cultivated now, we cleared all the rubbish away (a whole car full) and had the allotment looking pretty good, bearing in mind it was in a bit of a state before.  No sign of the previous tenants all that time, then what must have been on their final tenancy day I think they must have come down to take the bits they wanted.  If it was me, I would have seen that someone had taken over the plot and just left them to it, especially as we were allowed to have  it for 2 weeks now.  People can be funny....  So now we have to find some water butts.  Not impressed.  And then to top it all, 3 of my tomato plants were in a draught in the poly tunnel and died.  As they forecast some cold weather now and my greenhouse at home isn't very warm I decided to take all my other tomato plants down to the proper greenhouse on 119.  Always really warm in there, even when the weather is cold, seems to retain its heat really well.  Also took down the rest of the grow bags.

Then managed to get a bit more digging in before it started to rain again, only this last little corner to do now.  Dug up some fruit bushes and transplanted them, not sure what they are yet, will have to wait and see when they fruit!

Spuds n' Sunshine

Gorgeous day here today, had been away for a nice weekend by the coast and came back to do some hard graft today but think we spent a bit too long out in the sun!  Shattered!  So what did we do today?

Plot 119

Simon put up the arch which will hopefully have sweetpeas growing over it and bushy sunflowers at the bases, will make a nice feature.  And a bargain, found it for £4.99 in a sale.

I dug trenches for the maincrop spuds and put them in, Cara, King Edwards and Sarpo Mira, 50 of them altogether, not the straightest of rows but they will taste the same, wonky lines or not!  Also the beanpoles went up for the runner beans today.  Simon used the old canes instead of having to cart some across from our other site.  Still room the other side of the beans for a couple more rows of broad beans too which I'm very pleased about.  Managed to start digging the other side of the plot today too but just got to hot to carry on.

What else on plot 119 today?  Had to move the tomatoes into the polytunnel as the leaves are looking slightly scorched in the greenhouse, I suppose it has been really hot over the weekend and they didnt like the direct sun.  Polytunnel is a little more shady and cooler so put them in there, the cucumbers too just in case.  In the seed bed in the greenhouse however, the aubergines and peppers are doing really well.  Planted some more sweet peppers today, and 30 courgette plants, and filled the rest of the space with calendula.

So then up to.....

Plot 69

Forgot to take pictures of 69 today but all doing ok, onions and shallots are looking healthy, fruit bushes have lots of new growth, broad beans are surviving and herbs are still alive!  Just lots of watering needed up there today, everything really dry and dusty.  Gave it all a good soaking, especially the newly planted rhubarb which was looking a bit sorry for itself.

Home

So finally, after dropping off a car full of rubbish from plot 119 at the local tip we went home but the work didnt stop there.  Planted up my Root-trainers, 32 runner beans and  32 climbing (Blue Lake) beans.  Then started off 28 more broad beans and began soaking the sweet pea seeds overnight.  Watered all the seedlings, all doing ok, despite a cat knocking the cabbages over and nearly causing a catastrophe.  All in all a very busy and productive day.  But tired now!

Day One on Plot 119

Started the day checking up on Plot 69, nothing much to do there today, just a bit of weeding and poking around, broad beans are looking healthy and onions are starting to look a bit more lively.  Then headed over to Plot 119 for our first day of sorting it out.  Simon got to grips with 'life behind the greenhouse', lots of pallets, canes, rubbish, compost heap and odds and ends to sort out.  I tackled the polytunnel first, lots of litter, old compost bags and general debris, bit of a mess but soon had it sorted.  Brilliant to have a polytunnel - will have room for aubergines, cucumbers, tomatoes and courgettes now and will take some of the pressure off the plastic greenhouse at home!

Bob, the man that sorted out our paperwork yesterday came over with two garden forks, a rake and a hoe for us to keep in our shed and we had a lovely chat with a fellow allotmenter who offered us all her strawberry plants as she is moving plots and doesnt want them, also had an offer of a cup of tea from someone else, everyone really friendly.  Including a lovely fluffy cat who kept us company and did lots of purring and enjoyed a cuddle.

The greenhouse didnt take much tidying at all, lovely compost all ready to receive some seeds...... and relatively intact, only one pane broken, but we are calling that the ventilation system!

Tidied up all the general debris lying around on the plot then managed to get a little digging in before we had to come home, pulled up all the veg that had been left behind and had gone over and dug over the spud bed.  Lots of jobs left to do tomorrow but think we have done enough for one day!   Already looking so much better.

Dug the last bed.

That is the last bed all dug and with a little space left for somewhere to sit and have a cupper. Once the rain has stopped another good raking over to help level it out and that is all the ground work all done.



Weeded the paths to get rid of the dandelions and re-raked the other empty beds to break up some of the larger clumps of earth and level them off a bit more.

Removed any weeds that where growing in the beds as well as any grass shoots that where missed the first time around. Picked up all the stones that made their way to the surface and stacked them by the flower bed.

Prepping for Beans!

Finished work at lunchtime so home to pick up wellies then we went up the allotment and Simon put up the bean poles in preparation for our runner beans and Blue Lake beans, still plenty of room in the bed for the broad beans (which still have not poked their heads up in their pots at home yet) and the dwarf French beans.  Might even be able to get a row of peas in too.

 

 

Not bad I think for a first attempt at bean pole architecture!  Just waiting for the beans now.  So what was I doing whilst Simon was being constructive?

 

The final bed!  Putting in a semi-circular area for the bench (when we have made it!) and this bed is going to be our 'experimental' bed, basically a bed for things that won't fit anywhere else, one offs, special things, odds and ends and maybe our pumpkins and marrows...  Dug over half of it but pretty hard going, lots of plastic and bits of general garden debris, will hopefully finish it on my next day off.

Before..... and After.... 13 days on

Our first set of before and after pics, done in 13 days

 



 

The Hard Work Continues...

Two more days of hard work up the allotment and it really is starting to look a lot tidier and loved.  All the main beds have now been dug, Bed 5 was a nightmare, looked reasonable on top but underneath was a bit of a problem, stones, bricks, bits of wood, old nails, plus weeds!  Took all of our Sunday session to clear 3/4 of it, dumped some well rotted manure on it after it had been dug over as that corner is definitely going to need a little bit of help.  Still digging up little potatoes from that area though so the previous tenant must have used it in its poor state.  Whilst I got on with the digging, Simon did a brilliant job with some old stones and slabs and made a recycled rhubarb bed.  Very pleased with it and got some manure in it and a rhubarb straight away.  He planted some comfrey seeds in the first raised area, good for compost and liquid fertiliser.



Went back for more punishment today, armed with a roll of roofing felt for the little shed and while Simon got on with that I finished Bed 5.  Still had some energy left so tackled the flower bed next to the path and planted 3 dahlias, a little early, it said plant March on the packets but its almost March and has been very warm this week so fingers crossed!

 Dug up some more strange bulbs again and put them in the first planted bed - not sure what they are.... any suggestions?  Weed or worth keeping?



 

 

So, the main digging done now and really satisfying to see the before and after pictures.... will be even better when theres green stuff growing - got one garlic up already!

 



 

Other jobs done today - ordered the 8ft canes online for the beans

- planted some celeriac seeds and popped them in the heated propagator

- took pumpkins out of propagator and put them on the kitchen windowsill

- planted the anemones in the tubs at the allotment and had lots left to do the front border in the garden at

home where all the spring bulbs are looking fab

 

Will be glad to go to work tomorrow for a rest!