More things from the greenhouse to the allotment

After hardening off at the bottom of the garden more and more plants grown in the greenhouse - including beans, sweet corn, courgettes, leeks and various flower seedlings, over the past couple of days I have planted out the courgettes and runner beans at the allotment. Last night there was a slight frost scare so I covered everything in fleece but this morning everything looked fine and I don't think there was a frost anyway!

I also took a couple of rosemary bushes and some lemon balm and they also looked fine today.

The asparagus continues to look impressive though we shall not be able to harvest any until next April. At least we've proved we can do it though, and the deep beds look good.

Finally we may get the netting draped over the fruit cage very soon now as Kryssy has managed to find some at SCARF which sounds ideal - large enough, but of a type of netting which will drape easily over the fruit cage structure. Once that's in place all the brassicas can go in and no pigeons or butterflies will be able to get close!

Almost mid-May but still frost alerts

It's a strange kind of weather at the moment - often fine in the day but with a cold wind. We've also had some frost warnings for the coming week so I've earthed up the potatoes and placed fleece on the earlies which have grown so much that they're impossible to earth up totally now. I don't think they should come to any harm though.

Seedlings which had been hardening off at the bottom of the garden ready to plant out either in the garden or in the allotment will now have to be held back a bit. I'll put most of them back in the greenhouse at night for the next 3 nights and will have to consider a bit of heating too for the more tender ones such as peppers, tomatoes, squash and courgettes.

With any luck, from next weekend it will be possible to get more things planted out and we can start enjoying a more spring-like Spring!

Greenhouse update

By 21 April we had a range of seedlings growing - all from seed. They include tomatoes, courgettes, kohl rabi, broccoli, peas, pick-and-grow-again salad leaves, sweet peas, nicotiana, California poppies. The French beans and runner beans should be germinating in the next week or so and once we reach May it should be possible to sow seeds directly into the soil for a range of vegetables. The risk of frost at night remains a real risk though, so there's no point sowing too many seeds which will just lie there in cold soil and either rot or get eaten by the birds!

News on the fruit cage is good - all the structures are finished and at the allotment. Linda and I will get the central support in on Thursday evening and then I'll put the gate and the wire mesh 'fence' round the perimeter. As soon as the netting arrives (I had to order it online) it should be a simple task to drape it over the structure and fix it as and where necessary.

Greenhouse update - plenty growing but still risks of frost at night

Asparagus and rhubarb update!!

Finally the asparagus arrived and fortunately I had virtually finished getting the raised beds ready. A further batch of manure from the stable near the end of Bhylls Road was really useful, and I also decided to buy a couple of bags of sterilised loam for the finishing touches as I didn't want to use any soil from the allotment that might in any way contain perennial weeds or impurities.

The rhubarb also arrived and I got that planted the very same day, once again using plenty of manure and watering the plants in really well. With any luck we'll have lots of rhubarb every year now though this first year (as with the asparagus) is really a time for getting the plants established for the future.

The 10 or so broad bean plants that I brought from home are looking sturdy and I don't expect any problems with them until black fly season arrives (when apparently the main thing to do is pinch out the flowering tips and spray with soapy water at the first sign of them).

It's been so dry for the last 10 days that I watered everything on the plot - including raspberry canes, strawberries and onion and garlic bulbs. It's so dry and sunny now that it really feels like summer and the barbecue we had last night and the breakfast we had this morning at the bottom of the garden, signalled our intentions for the year!

Seed and seedlings update

We have made recent sowings of penstemon, petunia, nicotiana and poppies and all have now germinated and have been taken down to the greenhouse to grow them on a bit.

The greenhouse is now pretty full with trays of seedlings and lots of individual pots all growing on until they're able to be hardened off outdoors and then finally put into the ground either at the allotment or in the garden.

In growing bags in the greenhouse we will concentrate on tomatoes, chili peppers, cucumbers and pick and grow again salad leaves (which have already started fair growth though we could do with a bit more daytime sun and warmth to really set things off).

Construction work - and more potatoes!

Yesterday, in unexpectedly warm and sunny conditions, Stuart was able to join me and we could make a start on the fruit cage. With spirit level and sledge hammer in hand, and the previously sharpened 'pencils' made from fence posts, we hammered in the four corner posts of the cage and then started on the centre piece. Amazingly, there were two thrown away fence posts (from one of the adjoining houses, probably) and with part of one added to the whole of the other post that will make sure that the final piece is long enough (ie high enough), once it's planted, to support the netting. Stuart made rapid progress and it will just take a final visit to the allotment together (probably one fine evening after work) to fit everything together, screw or bolt it tight, and hammer it into the ground.

Whilst Stuart was doing that I finished planting some fruit plants that Linda and I bought some months back on one of our caravanning trips - 2 raspberries, 2 blackberries, 2 strawberry plants.

Today I went back to the allotment on my own to complete the potato planting. We now have 20 each of Swift, Charlotte and Sarpo Mira on the allotment so we look forward to good crops over quite a long season.

The over-wintered onion sets don't look too bad. Not all survived, but most did, and I expect them to start growing quite strongly from now on. I bought some Spring planting onion sets as well so we can add to the existing ones, filling in the gaps, as well as plant up another small section of the plot with the remainder.

We're off to Herefordshire tomorrow for a couple of nights in the caravan and that will be a lovely break before the allotment saga continues.