Misplaced optimism or misguided?

I haven't been able to spend time at the plot in the past few days as husband and daughter have been away.  I just managed 10 mins a little earlier when the baby was seeming fairly agreeable.  He was very patient as I finally got around to planting out the garden centre-bought purple sprouting.  Will it grow and sprout in the summer?  Ummm, we'll see.  One day.

On the way off the plot, I bumped into my new allotment friend and he was checking his mature purple sprouting for signs of sprouts.  Nothing quite yet.

The weather is set to be less than favourable for gardening for the next few days.  If I do get chance to pay a visit then I'll do some more speed weeding.

I am trying...

We tried to get me an hour or so on the plot last weekend but our very little one wasn't having it.  I eventually snatched 10 mins so did a bit more hoeing but focused on the area I'd been clearing.  Weeds are still germinating so I'll need to keep hoeing that patch for a while.

On Wednesday, which was a wet day, I sowed some winter salad leaves and was ably assisted by our daughter.  I thinly sowed 4 fruit punnets - the number of seeds in the packet was disappointing so I'll hunt down a more economical supply in future.  They have germinated already but I worry they might get a tad leggy in search of the light.  They are on a windowsill upstairs but I might move them the the mini greenhouse outside to join some winter lettuce, spring onions and corn salad that I managed to sow the previous week.  A quick peek today shows that they have all started to germinate.  This might be the first spring onions to germinate for me.  Not for a lack of trying.

It has been a lovely mild day today so I managed to get out for a walk with the little one.  I hoped to get him to sleep for a bit so I could do something on the plot.  He gave me 10 mins before reawakening having noticed that his buggy wasn't moving.  In that time, I moved a few strawberry plants to sit along the top perimeter of the plot, leaving space for a long row of something across the full width of the plot, and had a chat with a fellow plotter who had joined the site recently.  Then I had to head back home for a feed.

My plan is to plant out the purple sprouting plants I bought recently (very late but the label says that they are to be planted in autumn), garlic, elephant garlic and broad beans in the clear (ish) patch at the top.  If I can do that planting this week I'll be happy even if it has to be done in 10 min bursts between feeds and rain showers.  Then I can focus on clearing the next third of the plot, moving the carpet from the bottom third to that middle third and replanting the raspberries right at the bottom.  Clearing the bottom third should be fairly straightforward having been covered for months.

Wish me luck...

So close...

When I have managed to get a few minutes on the plot, I invariably leave it with 7/8 of a patch cleared leaving a corner of weeds in an otherwise clear square metre.  When the baby starts expressing discontent, all tools get thrown to the side and the bucket of weeds left for next time.  I got an hour at the plot the weekend before last and the same happened (the baby was asleep but the toddler was being delightfully high maintenance).

Still, I got loads done.  I weeded the last bit left from the previous session and tore down the 3 bamboo cane wigwams that supported the peas and beans that got abandoned.  I ruthlessly cut most of the old leaves away from the comfrey and added them to the compost bin.  I then weeded around the strawberry plants that were overgrown by the comfrey.  A few runners had formed some new plants so they had been busy under the shade.  Finally, I then set about hoeing the several square metres at the very top of the plot.

So now there is almost a 1/5 to 1/4 almost cleared.  Next time, I need to clear the little patch remaining (which had been covered by carpet to smother the couch grass), and move the strawberries and chard.  2 or 3 cabbages can be removed leaving a good bit of space.  I may move the raspberry canes up to that end too.  They don't look well though so ?I may need to replace them.  I've got a bag of manure in the garage to mulch all the fruit with while the ground is nice and wet.

Fingers crossed I'll get 10 mins there tomorrow to do more weeding and hoeing,  Every little bit helps.

Abnormal service resuming

Cripes, it's been a while.  Since my last post, I came down with a nasty bout of bronchitis at 7.5 months pregnant and that stopped my trips to the plot more than the bump itself.  I made it over a couple of times and could only watch as the weeds took over.  Weatherwise, this summer has been scorching at times.  Had I been able to keep up with the plotting, there could have been bumper crops.

The bronchitis and bump both disappeared by late July and we've been blessed with a new little member of the family.  He has joined me at the plot and handful of times but is not so cooperative yet.  I've had about 3 sessions of speed-hand weeding.  The plan is to clear some ground ahead of a quick forking or hoeing over.

I have a comfy moon chair at the plot so I can sit and feed the baby there.  A nice lady with a nearby plot who hadn't spoken to me before came over to me while I was feeding him to say how lovely it was to see a baby being changed and nursed on the site - something she hadn't seen before.  That was wonderful to hear.

Everything gardening-wise got neglected at the peak of the year so I have few successes to speak of and a few failures.  On the downside, the garlic completely failed.  It may have been the weeds crowding around them or the mild winter we had (so they didn't split into clove) or both.  On the upside, I did harvest my first squash (spaghetti) and the chillies on our windowsill have fruited well despite neglect.

Onwards and upwards.  I've just ordered some Moorland Gold multi-purpose compost and some seeds to sow in the mini-greenhouse to get the next season started.  I will keep trying to get to the plot every now and then even if it is only for 10 mins weeding.  I would love to have some shallots, garlic and broad beans on the plot before Christmas.  I'd love to have the plot cleared, moreorless, before the spring.

I have considered, in the last couple of weeks, relinquishing the plot and just opening up a few more square metres of soil in our small front and back gardens.  However, they are just too shady for many vegetable crops.   As there is no waiting list for plots, I don't think I'm holding anyone else up.  Gardening is my main hobby and aerobic exercise so I will it keep up and hope that the kids will be happier for me to spend time there (with or without them) in the years to come.

A bean post

I had the day off work today (last minute decision) and decided to go over to the plot in the afternoon to make a dent in the weeding.  It was too hot for me so it was a bit uncomfortable.  I weeded around the strawberries and poppies and went home with a large carrier bag crammed full of broad bean pods, a handful of radishes (some of which were not nibbled by something) and 6 scapes from the elephant garlic.

Back at home, I got on with podding the beans.  I weighed them (yay me) and it turned out that 6.844kg of pods lead to 1.892kg of beans.  The bonus was that I had a helper.  Our 2.5 year old helped really nicely.  She liked the popping sound the pods made when breaking and the fact that they sprayed her in the face when she broke them.

For a quick dinner just now, I cooked a veggie stir fry involving some of the beans and half of the scapes.  I plan to cook some broad bean fritters tomorrow.

Getting behind

The weeds are non-stop and I am way behind on pulling them out.  I hope to get some time over there on Friday evening and sometime on Sunday to do some therapeutic hand-weeding.  And to harvest some broad beans before they get too big.

I had the day off on Tuesday but only managed an hour of speed-transplanting.  My lovely husband made 4 120x40cm mesh tunnels and I finally took them over and planted some brussel sprouts, calabrese, purple sprouting and cabbages under them.  I also planted out some chard.  Getting very pushed for space though as digging isn't an option currently.  I didn't manage to plant out the celeriac but it is looking good.

The peas are growing now having been nibbled by something or other.  The Spring cabbages may be harvestable sometime soon.  The parsnips are growing nicely but I need to thin some of the stations out and fill in a few gaps.  The calendula has sped up and is bigger that the plants in our back garden.  I also need to thin out the beetroot and see if the carrots and beetroot have germinated at all.

The weeding needs stepping up in a major way.  The strawberry patch is being overtaken so is the priority.

Giving peas a chance (sorry)

I had half a day off work yesterday of which I spent 2.5 hours on the plot.  Bliss.  It was forecast to be wet and unsettled in the afternoon but it was lovely.  After 2.25 hours there, there was a brief shower, but not enough to put me off.

In that time, I erected 3 small wigwams at the top right of the plot and planted peas against one and mange tout against the other.  In the case of the peas, there are 1 or 2 plants per cane but there are exactly 3 plants per cane.  The third wigwam will be for the French beans.

I also hand-weeded the garlic patch.  This was long overdue and I just hope that the garlic hasn't been knocked back to much.  I did give them a water and feed before leaving for a boost.

Not sure if there are signs of parsnip seedlings yet but there are a couple of stations showing 3-4 seedlings so I'll need to keep an eye out.  I sprinkled some more slug pellets over that patch to protect them in case they are coming through.  Not sure there are many so I might attempt another sowing soon.

Next to the potential parsnip patch, I planted out some calendula seedlings in a row.  Again, I sprinkled some pellets down (the rest of the seedlings have just gone out into our back garden).

Broad beans are coming soon but I really need to sow some salad crops and basil.

At home, there are lots of seedlings to transplant.  Chillies, tomatoes, various brassicas, sweetcorn and French beans (need to sow a few more of those last two though), celeriac.  Dearest husband has made me some wood-and-hope frames which I need to cover with mesh for some of these and I hope I can convince him to make some more.  I need two small ones for the blackcurrant and gooseberry plants that are fruiting.

Taking it easy - yeah right

I was looking forward to a spell at the plot and I got 2.5 hours over there before I needed a break.  I dug over the patch right at the top on the left, next to the compost bin in the corner and nestled next to the broad beans which are continuing to flower nicely.  The mares tail is starting to come through and there were some nice fat roots in there.

For next weekend, I've uncovered the next patch to dig over having removed some carpet.  It looks nice and clear, apart from some bleached mares tail roots on the surface, though it is compacted.

I noticed some strawberry plants in what was the brassica bed last year, lost in among some keen weeds.  I was just going to hand-fork around them but decided to replant them in the bed I dug over 10 mins before.  Some of them look like there are about to start flowering so I gave them a feed and water.

The garlic looks good though there are some yellowing leaves.  I finally gave them a feed and water before snipping off a small number of slim broccoli shoots and going home for lunch.

Later this afternoon, I sowed the following:

• French beans (Cupidon)
• Mange tout (Golden Sweet)
• Pea (Meteor)
• Sweetcorn (Sativa Early)
• Calabrese (Waltham)
• Cabbage (Greyhound)
• Squash (Vegetable Spagetti)
• Squash (Patty Green Tint)
• Courgette (Black Beauty)

The Calabrese was a resowing as the previous lot got very leggy on the windowsill (lack of light I think).  On Wednesday, I also resowed some Brussels sprouts and red cabbage. The former had got leggy while the latter had failed to appear due to damping off.  I also translated the chilli seedlings into 10cm pots.

It feels like I am relatively early with my sowing but I need to look back at previous years.  

Fingers crossed I'll get some time next week to continue the digging.  I should also look at pinching the tops of the broad beans before the blackfly get any ideas. 

Another gorgeous day

After a chilly week, Saturday was a lovely warm but breezy day.  I had a couple of hours in the afternoon to myself so I potted on the tomato seedlings (5 of Moneymaker and 14 of Harbinger) and watered the sweet peas.  At the plot, I spent an hour or so hoeing around the garlic patch and the neighbouring soil around the gooseberry and blackberry bushes.

Four of the purple sprouting plants had a slim, central sprout and I asked one of my neighbours if I should harvest them.  We thought that perhaps I should.  Later, I read up on it and it seems that picking the central sprout will stimulate the side shoots to grow.  I'm such a broccoli-growing novice.

At home, I sowed some Brussels sprouts and some calabese.

I nipped over for just 10 mins this afternoon so I cut the sprouts and had the very modest pickings with my dinner.  I think I cut one of them too far so that one may not sprout any more.  We'll see.  No sign of any sprouts on the white sprouting plants.

I took a couple of piccies on my phone.

The broad beans are short but looking good.  There are flowers on a couple of the plants already.

This photo shows most of the right hand side of the plot.  The garlic is in the foreground with (starting from the bottom) 1 row of Lautrec Wight, 2 rows of Early Purple Wight, 2 rows of Solent Wight and 1 row of Elephant Garlic.  Beyond those is the rhubarb clumps, gooseberry and blackcurrant bushes.  Beyond that are the brassicas under the mesh.  Messy but productive for this time of year.

My next tasks are to feed and water the garlic and to dug over some patches on the left hand side.

Back at home, 5 tiny celeriac seedings have made an appearance on the windowsill.

Sowing update

Just a quick note to remind myself (in future years) that on Wednesday I sowed the following:

• Leek (Bleu de Solaise)
• Celeriac (Prinz)
• Cabbage (Marner Early Red)
• Pak Choi (White Petiole)
• Swiss Chard (Fantasy F1 Hybrid and Lucullus)
• Mizuna
• Spring Onion (White Lisbon)

The Celeriac and Pak Choi are indoors while the others are outside on the patio.

On one of the windowsills upstairs, the tomatoes have germinated ok and the 3 types of chillies are coming through well (no sign yet of the Iranian ones unfortunately).  I may transplant some of the tomato seedlings today as some look big enough with tiny true leaves.  

Not sure I'll sow anything today but I may get an hour or two for some gentle weeding and clearing this morning.

First session of the year

I had my first proper session of the year on the plot on Saturday.  3 hours in all.  Bliss on such a gorgeous Spring day.  I badly needed to get back in touch with it after such a long, enforced (it felt like that) break.

The priority was to freshen up the white and purple sprouting plants in the top right corner.  They still had tunnel nets covering them and I was hoping they had started into growth.  They had indeed (slightly) along with the neighbouring Spring cabbages. I weeded, fed and watered them all and recovered them with the enviromesh that had been covering the Brussels sprouts to hopefully allow more light in.  I may change that for wider gauge netting soon.  Surprisingly, it was the purple sprouting showing more promised, with 4 or 5 plants sprouting tiny purple heads in the middle, despite my expectations (set by the labels) that the white sprouting would come first.

I took one of the 2 compost bins I had been using for pernicious weeds at the bottom end of the plot and placed it (emptied) at the top left corner to restart the compost heap.  Into this, I tipped the Brussels sprout plants, tired chard plants, and foliage from the leeks and parsnips (which I dug up, taking home quite a haul later - a whole carrier bag full for making curried allotment soup).  I'll now need to take the old weeds to the tip as I can't seem to "do" bonfires.

Near the main gate to the site, just one plot away, there are plans for a concrete standing so that plotters can bring on trailers if needed.  Two reliable sources informed me that the crowns of rhubarb there were for the taking (or destined for the compost heap) so I forked up 3 small crowns with healthy looking buds and put them on my plot where the chard had been.  I figured that my craving for rhubarb crumble (currently satisfied by expensive trips to the lovely greengrocer in town) needs more than the single young crown I had.

I finished off by weeding, feeding and watering the broad bean patch.  Hopefully they'll soon get away.

I was a tad worried that I just don't have room for anything else to go in but now the parsnips and leeks are out there is some space immediately freed up.  There are also 2-3 patches of plot that have been covered over Winter so are ready to by dug over (slowly and carefully).  There should then be room for tomatoes, summer brassicas, courgettes, sweetcorn, leeks, parsnips, beans, Brussels and other things.  Maybe even flowers (I've a free packet of poppy seeds to use to attract bees).  I've decided to forego spuds and onions this year as they are easily bought but will do those next year.

Next weekend, I hope to have time to weed and feed the garlic patch as it is all up now and the soil seems capped so needs opening up (or perhaps the capping is a good thing?).  I also plan to sow lots of seeds at home including chard, celeriac and brassicas.

Talking of home, I stubbornly dug up a 0.8m-wide strip of lawn in our small back garden to give me some sunny-ish space for planting (much of the lawn is in shade) and forked in some well-rotted manure.  While little one was napping on Wednesday, I planted some yellow tulips, daffs and mixed sweet peas purloined from the local farm shop and a "hedge veg" stall (a term I picked up in Guerney where they are very popular) on the side of the road in the next village along from us.  Since then, I've nipped in a bay tree (which was over a foot high and very bushy and a snip at £3.75 from a nursery) and some bronze fennel.  The colour scheme I am aiming for in our back garden is bright yellow, orange and green (our wedding colours) while there will be a focus on pinks, purples, whites and blues in the front garden.  Little one has since announced that pink, purple and white are her favourite colours.

Starting the new gardening year

I've come to regard March 1st as the start of the new gardening year when I can start sowing seeds.  I've tried sowing seeds before March in previous years but they didn't come to much.  The sight of gorgeous drifts of daffs around the village and down in Cornwall (where the little one and I ventured in the week) gets me thinking about sowing seeds.

The weather has been a bit grey and drizzly today but I did get the main job of the week done - turning the contents of one of my compost bins over to the other.  A couple of weeks ago, I managed to empty one of them onto the two beds in the front garden.  The compost was lovely with just a few egg shells showing.  The hellebores and snowdrops look happy for it.  The other compost bin was mostly full of the turf I'd removed from the front garden to make the second bed (with added veg waste from the kitchen).

Just before the harder rain set in just now, I managed to sow some tomato and chilli seeds.  I think this may be the earliest I've sown tomatoes for a while (will need to look back) so fingers crossed I'll get a crop before the blight.

I've sown Moneymaker and Harbinger tomatoes and Serrano (free from a Wahaca restaurant but not stored terribly well subsequently in various handbags - oops), Iranian (from seed saved a few years ago), Westlandse (ditto) and Lemon Drop.  I wasn't successful with Lemon Drop at all last year so I'm giving them one last chance.  The tomatoes are on an upstairs windowsill while the chillies are covered with a carrier bag and sitting in the airing cupboard for some extra warmth.

My plan over March, aside from tidying the gardens up after winter and sowing more seeds, is to lift up some turf in the back garden to give me some space to put pots out on the sunnier side of it.  I may also plant some flowers too in yellows and oranges.  This is why I had to get the compost bins turned - I'll be filling one up with turf again.

Missing the plot

Nothing more to say about the weather...I'll bore myself.

I did pop over to the plot for the first time in 2014 a couple of weeks ago for 10 mins just to take a look. I was expecting carnage but the only thing amiss (literally) was the compost bin I had started filling with veg leftovers.  Then I had an hour last Sunday to plant the 20 raspberry canes (10 Polka and 10 Glen Ample), 1 blackcurrant bush (Big Ben) and 1 gooseberry bush (Invicta) I'd bought from Blackmoor Nurseries.  I had to work fast and just plonked them in really.  The canes were a bit close together and had been bare rooted for 4 days in a bag but hopefully they'll live.  

Soon it'll be time to starting thinking about sowing seeds on the windowsill...