With such wonderful weather for the whole weekend, it was lovely to spend so much time at the allotment and continue to prepare everything for sowing time.
By Sunday afternoon, the framework of the polytunnel had been reconstructed, with all the polythene sheeting removed. It looks and feels stable and should be fine to cover in mesh netting in order to protect plants from birds and butterflies.The soil is also in good condition there and is all set to use.
Meanwhile, Linda did a large amount of digging on Saturday to help prepare large parts of the vegetable patches, leaving just the potato patch to completely clear and dig, which definitely needs to be finished by the end of March at the latest.
The fruit bushes and fruit canes have all been pruned and trimmed, along with the 'fruit hedge', and Linda has also painted butterflies on the garden shed, along with our initials, to make it definitely ours.
At home, more seeds were planted in pots and trays, including sweet peas, basil, tomatoes (Gardeners Delight). Yellow onion sets (Centurion), red sets (Red Baron) and garlic (French ..... ), are also in pots in the greenhouse with the intention of getting them rooted and make the planting into the allotment easier and more sure of them becoming established.
Sunday, 9 March 2014
Sunday, 2 March 2014
First full season at Victoria Road
After the frustration of almost non-stop rain since Christmas, it is finally possible to start some proper planning and preparation for Spring 2014.
We have drawn up a planting scheme and bought 4 different types of seed potato which we hope we'll be able to plant before the end of March.
So far we have:
6 each of Swift, Estima, Arran Pilot (all first early or early varieties)
10 of Charlotte (a second early salad potato).
They will be planted in the patch of land behind the polytunnel, next to last year's potato plot. In fact, depending on how preparations go, we may fully plant this whole area with potatoes.
I have already planted 2 varieties of broad bean (10 each of The Sutton and Aquadulce) in pots in the greenhouse in the hope that they can get a head start before being planted out into the allotment.
Indoors, I have planted 2 varieties of chilli (Prairie Fire and Ring of Fire - the latter being a good success last year) and in due course they will be planted up into pots for the greenhouse). They are both hot varieties.
Later on I'll plant some tomato seeds in a similar way - Gardeners Delight and one other variety - as yet unchosen!
Hopefully I'll be able to do some more digging and clearing up by Wednesday this week and get close to having everything ready.
We have drawn up a planting scheme and bought 4 different types of seed potato which we hope we'll be able to plant before the end of March.
So far we have:
6 each of Swift, Estima, Arran Pilot (all first early or early varieties)
10 of Charlotte (a second early salad potato).
They will be planted in the patch of land behind the polytunnel, next to last year's potato plot. In fact, depending on how preparations go, we may fully plant this whole area with potatoes.
I have already planted 2 varieties of broad bean (10 each of The Sutton and Aquadulce) in pots in the greenhouse in the hope that they can get a head start before being planted out into the allotment.
Indoors, I have planted 2 varieties of chilli (Prairie Fire and Ring of Fire - the latter being a good success last year) and in due course they will be planted up into pots for the greenhouse). They are both hot varieties.
Later on I'll plant some tomato seeds in a similar way - Gardeners Delight and one other variety - as yet unchosen!
Hopefully I'll be able to do some more digging and clearing up by Wednesday this week and get close to having everything ready.
Saturday, 26 October 2013
Final cropping of the year?
After what seems like weeks and weeks of rain, today was finally a dry day. I was nervous again about what I would find at the allotment after a four week gap since my last visit.
I needn't have worried too much as things looked pretty tidy. The poly tunnel had been cleared out on my last visit, and I had done a bit of digging and clearing of the main plot too.
The squash plants had withered away but had left some fine fruits, as can be seen in the photo.
Back at the greenhouse I was able to pick the remaining chillis, (bought from the South Devon Chilli Farm) a mixture of red and green Ring of Fire, which certainly live up to their name. A single chilli gave plenty of heat in a recent chilli con carne, and will certainly add some heat to a chicken curry I'm making later today. The quantity of chillis produced this year is definitely similar to the very first time we grew them, and far better than the last couple of years. Whether it's due to a better variety, or more suitable growing conditions, it's hard to know, but I'll certainly try the exact same ones next year.
Once the weather steadies down a bit, and the soil can really start to dry out a bit, I'll go back to the allotment and try to finalise the clearing up and pre-winter digging. With luck also, I'll get some manure spread over the plot, and cover with sheeting to suppress weeds until things start over again in the early Spring.
I needn't have worried too much as things looked pretty tidy. The poly tunnel had been cleared out on my last visit, and I had done a bit of digging and clearing of the main plot too.
The squash plants had withered away but had left some fine fruits, as can be seen in the photo.
Back at the greenhouse I was able to pick the remaining chillis, (bought from the South Devon Chilli Farm) a mixture of red and green Ring of Fire, which certainly live up to their name. A single chilli gave plenty of heat in a recent chilli con carne, and will certainly add some heat to a chicken curry I'm making later today. The quantity of chillis produced this year is definitely similar to the very first time we grew them, and far better than the last couple of years. Whether it's due to a better variety, or more suitable growing conditions, it's hard to know, but I'll certainly try the exact same ones next year.
Once the weather steadies down a bit, and the soil can really start to dry out a bit, I'll go back to the allotment and try to finalise the clearing up and pre-winter digging. With luck also, I'll get some manure spread over the plot, and cover with sheeting to suppress weeds until things start over again in the early Spring.
Saturday, 27 July 2013
Harvest time!
After 2 weeks away with the caravan in Vendee we were a little nervous about the state that the allotment would be in, especially as we understood that there had been a real heatwave in our absence. We had had a couple of kind offers to water our plot (Paul and our 'next door neighbours'), but had not expected so much to have been done. Virtually everything had thrived, unlike last year when our former plot had more or less come to a standstill.
The polytunnel had lots of cabbages ready to pick, the courgette plants are growing well, along with the cucumbers, tomatoes, beetroot (exceptional this year) and leeks. First impressions, comparing the polytunnel with the rest of the plot, suggest more leafy growth but with flowering and setting of fruits somewhat behind. This may give us different options for the future in terms of crop succession and so on.
On the main plot we picked our first potatoes - Swift First Earlies which produced 1.23 kg of very nice potatoes from only 4 seed potatoes. We tried them the very same day of digging them up and look forward to eating more. I also picked one plant of the next crop - Arran Pilot - which seems to crop more heavily with 462g and we look forward to trying them tomorrow.
As for the remaining plants, we should be able to pick them as we please from now on and enjoy fresh new potatoes for some weeks to come. They are also leaving the soil in a far pleasanter condition which short term will be good for quick crops such as radish and salad leaf, and longer term for more general crops, especially when we've been able to add some soil conditioner and manure in the Autumn.
Also on the main plot we picked lots of French beans - 700g, with many more to come - and broad beans - 2.2kg, with more to come too.
We also picked some onions, both red and white - 542g with more to come - and they found their way into a ratatouille tout de suite.
The fruit situation is very interesting also. There were already a lot of fruit bushes on the plot, top which we added some of our own raspberries and a black currant bush. Today Linda picked 492g of raspberries, 757g of small black currants from existing bushes, and 213g from the bush we moved from our former plot. The latter were also larger fruits and demonstrate, we think, that new stock can definitely add to productivity as well as flavour.
With more uncertain weather ahead for the next few days at least we'll need to still make sure we continue to harvest little and often to fully enjoy the fruits of our labour. It's very exciting and definitely makes clear just how difficult a task we had with our former plot.
The polytunnel had lots of cabbages ready to pick, the courgette plants are growing well, along with the cucumbers, tomatoes, beetroot (exceptional this year) and leeks. First impressions, comparing the polytunnel with the rest of the plot, suggest more leafy growth but with flowering and setting of fruits somewhat behind. This may give us different options for the future in terms of crop succession and so on.
On the main plot we picked our first potatoes - Swift First Earlies which produced 1.23 kg of very nice potatoes from only 4 seed potatoes. We tried them the very same day of digging them up and look forward to eating more. I also picked one plant of the next crop - Arran Pilot - which seems to crop more heavily with 462g and we look forward to trying them tomorrow.
As for the remaining plants, we should be able to pick them as we please from now on and enjoy fresh new potatoes for some weeks to come. They are also leaving the soil in a far pleasanter condition which short term will be good for quick crops such as radish and salad leaf, and longer term for more general crops, especially when we've been able to add some soil conditioner and manure in the Autumn.
Also on the main plot we picked lots of French beans - 700g, with many more to come - and broad beans - 2.2kg, with more to come too.
We also picked some onions, both red and white - 542g with more to come - and they found their way into a ratatouille tout de suite.
The fruit situation is very interesting also. There were already a lot of fruit bushes on the plot, top which we added some of our own raspberries and a black currant bush. Today Linda picked 492g of raspberries, 757g of small black currants from existing bushes, and 213g from the bush we moved from our former plot. The latter were also larger fruits and demonstrate, we think, that new stock can definitely add to productivity as well as flavour.
With more uncertain weather ahead for the next few days at least we'll need to still make sure we continue to harvest little and often to fully enjoy the fruits of our labour. It's very exciting and definitely makes clear just how difficult a task we had with our former plot.
Saturday, 8 June 2013
June update
There's been more acvtivity on the allotment than on the blog - fortunately! So where to start?
In no particular order - the polytunnel is now a coupe version, open to the sun and rain but surrounded by a fantastic protective plastic windbreak that creates a real micro climate but will reduce the need for daily watering.
The soil is very dry and quite poor in the ploytunnel so bit by bit it will be necessary to add manure and other soil conditioners to condition it. Definitely it will benefit from a good amount of manure in the Autumn but for now we'll make the best of what we have or can buy pre-packaged.
Currently the polytunnel contains
8 tomato plants, 2 vines, 2 cucumber plants, around a dozen onions grown from sets and a dozen cabbage plants. We have already had an immense crop of radish which were all beautiful and tasted perfect. I just need to persist with the aim og sowing for succession. Did I say the same thing last year? Hmmm. As space permits we'll keep adding to what we have in the polytunnel but know that next year will offer a bigger potential. Part of the problem is that a good quarter of the surface area of the polytunnel is covered in burnt wood (for potash?) and sundry other rubbish that needs clearing out.
The potatoes in the plot are all growing well with though they will need watering if they are to achieve any great size of potato.
Also growing well are the broad beans (ours and some given to us by Paul), onions and shallots, with disappointing progress being made by the garlic.
The climbing French beans just need to start climbing, but otherwise look healthy enough, but I need to sow more Chard if we are to get enough of what we really love both to eat and for its appearance.
Next time I'll post some photos but at this stage we're feeling quite pleased with progress so far, despite everything being around 3, maybe 4, weeks behind what you would expect for the time of year.
In no particular order - the polytunnel is now a coupe version, open to the sun and rain but surrounded by a fantastic protective plastic windbreak that creates a real micro climate but will reduce the need for daily watering.
The soil is very dry and quite poor in the ploytunnel so bit by bit it will be necessary to add manure and other soil conditioners to condition it. Definitely it will benefit from a good amount of manure in the Autumn but for now we'll make the best of what we have or can buy pre-packaged.
Currently the polytunnel contains
8 tomato plants, 2 vines, 2 cucumber plants, around a dozen onions grown from sets and a dozen cabbage plants. We have already had an immense crop of radish which were all beautiful and tasted perfect. I just need to persist with the aim og sowing for succession. Did I say the same thing last year? Hmmm. As space permits we'll keep adding to what we have in the polytunnel but know that next year will offer a bigger potential. Part of the problem is that a good quarter of the surface area of the polytunnel is covered in burnt wood (for potash?) and sundry other rubbish that needs clearing out.
The potatoes in the plot are all growing well with though they will need watering if they are to achieve any great size of potato.
Also growing well are the broad beans (ours and some given to us by Paul), onions and shallots, with disappointing progress being made by the garlic.
The climbing French beans just need to start climbing, but otherwise look healthy enough, but I need to sow more Chard if we are to get enough of what we really love both to eat and for its appearance.
Next time I'll post some photos but at this stage we're feeling quite pleased with progress so far, despite everything being around 3, maybe 4, weeks behind what you would expect for the time of year.
Monday, 22 April 2013
Update on 22nd April
There's been a lot of activity on the new plot, as well as on the former one. On Sunday we moved the lavender plants, rhubarb and vines, along with some wood (for future deep beds), garden canes and other bits and pieces. There's still a little left there to move in due course but the main things are already at the new plot.
Most of the garlic, onion and shallot sets are now in the ground, as is the rhubarb to be followed soon by the broad beans which are looking very strong and healthy and the vines (in the poly tunnel).
I planted the early potatoes this afternoon in mini rows from the poly tunnel to the fruit cane direction, as follows:
4 x Swift
5 x Arran Pilot
5 x Nadine
3 x Nadine
To try to deter badgers I followed Paul's advice and covered the rows with horticultural sheeting so hopefully that will allow the potatoes to establish themselves undisturbed.
Most of the garlic, onion and shallot sets are now in the ground, as is the rhubarb to be followed soon by the broad beans which are looking very strong and healthy and the vines (in the poly tunnel).
I planted the early potatoes this afternoon in mini rows from the poly tunnel to the fruit cane direction, as follows:
4 x Swift
5 x Arran Pilot
5 x Nadine
3 x Nadine
To try to deter badgers I followed Paul's advice and covered the rows with horticultural sheeting so hopefully that will allow the potatoes to establish themselves undisturbed.
Sunday, 7 April 2013
More removal work .....
This morning we did a lot more in terms of moving things from the old allotment to the new one.
This included moving and replanting: an apple tree and a plum tree (both carried by Linda!), and a blackcurrant bush. We also moved all the blue tubing (for fleece protection of plant rows in early Spring, the weed suppressing membrane (to help warm up the soil before planting certain crops), and all the remaining tools and bits and pieces. The garden canes and a few pieces of planking for raised beds can be moved in due course.
There are still a few plants to move, in particular around 30 small lavender plants, and we'll have a good final look to see if there is anything else we can take with us when the moment finally comes to give the old plot up.
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This included moving and replanting: an apple tree and a plum tree (both carried by Linda!), and a blackcurrant bush. We also moved all the blue tubing (for fleece protection of plant rows in early Spring, the weed suppressing membrane (to help warm up the soil before planting certain crops), and all the remaining tools and bits and pieces. The garden canes and a few pieces of planking for raised beds can be moved in due course.
There are still a few plants to move, in particular around 30 small lavender plants, and we'll have a good final look to see if there is anything else we can take with us when the moment finally comes to give the old plot up.
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