The last couple of weeks have been light on the gardening front with lovely visitors coming to stay and a cold knocking me a little bit. I'm now back onto it though. I have managed to get the spuds in (8 rows of 10 or so) where Beds 5 and 7 have been combined. Today, I planted out some sweet peas in the garden, potted up chillies, tomatoes and rhubarb (the aubergine and peppers which finally made an appearance need another week methinks) and sowed some kale, cauliflower, perpetual spinach, oregano, cabbages, Brussels sprouts, nasturtiums, poached egg plants and sunflowers. The flower seeds area bit out-of-date so they may not come to anything. Still, you've got to be in it to win it.
Over to Plot 35 tomorrow...
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Photo meme
I was asked by fellow plotter mangocheeks, of Allotment2Kitchen, to pick a photo meme. This was a while ago and I have been struggling to find one ever since. Sorry about that. Nice idea though. Ideally, I'd have found one of me as a kid with my paternal Grandfather which whom I spent many a happy hour in his greenhouse taking in the scent of the tomatoes and making mud pies. He grew amazing leeks which were cooked in lashings of butter. The scents of tomato plants and freshly cut leeks are probably my two favourites and I think I always knew even from very young that I'd have an allotment, just like my Grandad did, when I grew up. Unfortunately, I don't think I have any photos of all that. I found the following photo which I like:
This is me a few years ago pottering around in our back garden. Our two cats were always "helping" me whenever I was pottering. I just like the fact that this photo captures them looking a bit like trouble. Sadly, the one on the left is no longer with us. The one on the right still likes to "help" though. I think this just captures how chaotic my gardening normally is.
This is me a few years ago pottering around in our back garden. Our two cats were always "helping" me whenever I was pottering. I just like the fact that this photo captures them looking a bit like trouble. Sadly, the one on the left is no longer with us. The one on the right still likes to "help" though. I think this just captures how chaotic my gardening normally is.
Back to work
Sorry for the lack of photos in recent blogs - I really need to get a new camera.
I spent a couple of hours over at the plot yesterday and cut down the rest of the brambles. Result! Now I can start digging the roots up and plotting a nice bonfire to get rid of all heaps of debris from previous seasons.
Today, the sun was shining so I spent longer over at the plot. Still chilly mind. I dug over Bed 4 and part of Bed 6, removing the grass path between them. I dug up the Jerusalem artichokes and gave some of the best looking tubers to my neighbour to grow. My back certainly feels like it has had some exercise. I removed a barrow-load of stones from the beds as I went along.
My main task next week is to plant out some spuds. I've got visitors coming the weekend after so it is next weekend or the last weekend in March. Either way is fine but I'd like to get them in asap. I plan to dig over Beds 5 and 7, removing the grass between them as well, to make 1 larger bed for the potatoes. It has been 3 years I think since I last grew spuds in that spot so this should be fine, although blight is still to be expected.
And I've got some sweet peas to plant out. It is due to dip below 0C tonight so I'll wait a few more days before setting those out to catch the sun. However, today has been so nice and sunny that someone went up in a hot air balloon.
I spent a couple of hours over at the plot yesterday and cut down the rest of the brambles. Result! Now I can start digging the roots up and plotting a nice bonfire to get rid of all heaps of debris from previous seasons.
Today, the sun was shining so I spent longer over at the plot. Still chilly mind. I dug over Bed 4 and part of Bed 6, removing the grass path between them. I dug up the Jerusalem artichokes and gave some of the best looking tubers to my neighbour to grow. My back certainly feels like it has had some exercise. I removed a barrow-load of stones from the beds as I went along.
My main task next week is to plant out some spuds. I've got visitors coming the weekend after so it is next weekend or the last weekend in March. Either way is fine but I'd like to get them in asap. I plan to dig over Beds 5 and 7, removing the grass between them as well, to make 1 larger bed for the potatoes. It has been 3 years I think since I last grew spuds in that spot so this should be fine, although blight is still to be expected.
And I've got some sweet peas to plant out. It is due to dip below 0C tonight so I'll wait a few more days before setting those out to catch the sun. However, today has been so nice and sunny that someone went up in a hot air balloon.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Drier than expected
Today was not half as wet as it was forecast though it was grey for most of the day. Yesterday had sunny intervals and was quite mild at 7-8C. I nipped over to the plot yesterday to cut down some of the brambles at the bottom of the plot. It was amazing how much I managed to cut down in 2 hours. Another session should do it and then I can start digging some roots out.
While I was over there I met my new next door neighbours - 2 couples who seem to be sharing their plot. They seem very nice and I look forward to talking more to them over there.
I came home with a bag of leeks and turned them into soup along with some potatoes from last year.
At home, the sweet peas need planting out but there is no sign of the broad beans. 1 of each of the chilli varities has germinated and the onion seedlings are getting longer (poor germination rate of the white onions). No sign of the sweet peppers or aubergine. 1 rhubarb seedling beginning to sprout. I am putting the poor germination rates down to the light and me sowing too early.
If next weekend is dry then I can cut down the rest of the brambles and dig over one of the beds. Quite frankly, I need the exercise.
While I was over there I met my new next door neighbours - 2 couples who seem to be sharing their plot. They seem very nice and I look forward to talking more to them over there.
I came home with a bag of leeks and turned them into soup along with some potatoes from last year.
At home, the sweet peas need planting out but there is no sign of the broad beans. 1 of each of the chilli varities has germinated and the onion seedlings are getting longer (poor germination rate of the white onions). No sign of the sweet peppers or aubergine. 1 rhubarb seedling beginning to sprout. I am putting the poor germination rates down to the light and me sowing too early.
If next weekend is dry then I can cut down the rest of the brambles and dig over one of the beds. Quite frankly, I need the exercise.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Happy Valentines Day
It was much milder today than it has been of late. About 7 degrees Centigrade. Oooo. The sun came out too.
Yesterday, I tidied up some of the pots on the patio at home. They had got into a right mess. Now I have more room for new plants.
Today, I started slowly by sowing some seeds: rhubarb, aubergine, peppers and chillies. I have put the chillies into the airing cupboard to keep them warm. I also sowed some salad leaves and Paris Market carrots in pots on the patio. I covered these with a pane of glass lent by a neighbour. It's good to get an early start.
After that, I headed over to the plot. The soil was almost perfect for digging. I dug over and weeded the bed where the parsnips were - about 4x2m. I found some small parsnips as I went along. It seems that the ones I chiseled out before Christmas were the largest there were. I also dug up some Jerusalem artichokes from the neighbouring patch of soil.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Sunny but cold
It was deceptively chilly today as the sun was shining and there wasn't much cloud in the sky. It must have been noticably sunny because our cat spent a while catching some rays.
I started the weekend's gardening by resowing some onions. I sowed some a few weeks ago and most germinated but perhaps the light levels weren't quite enough for them to really get going. Then I sowed half a packet of Aquadulce Claudia broad beans into seed trays and put them in the mini greenhouse on the patio. I'll sow the rest of the packet in a few weeks so the beans don't all arrive at once.
Bit of a nice surprise in the post this week - some Santero onion sets. I think they must have been a free offer as part of a seed order I placed back in October. Nice. It'll be interesting to see how these compare to any seed-sown ones that get planted out.
Finally headed over to the plot and it was a lot wetter on the ground than I expected so digging wasn't really an option. I found some cauliflower plants growing well under some tunnel cloches. A few of them had bent stems, probably because their growth had been restricted by the low cloches. I decided to remove the cloches, replant the caulis a bit deeper and cover them with netting.
In the piccie above, they've got that sad-sack look that just-moved plants have. Fingers crossed that they'll perk up. I decided not to water them in as the soil was wet and I didn't want it to freeze around them.
I had 5 elephant garlic cloves at home which I had potted up with the rest of the garlic just before Christmas. 4 of them had developed roots so I planted them all out next to the other cloves planted out 2 weeks ago.
Before leaving the plot (my fingers were getting frozen with all the cold mud on my gloves), I put the sodden brassica plants from Bed 7 (from which I removed the netting to use for the caulis) onto the compost heap. They were joined by some of the rotten leaves around the base of the globe artichokes.
I started the weekend's gardening by resowing some onions. I sowed some a few weeks ago and most germinated but perhaps the light levels weren't quite enough for them to really get going. Then I sowed half a packet of Aquadulce Claudia broad beans into seed trays and put them in the mini greenhouse on the patio. I'll sow the rest of the packet in a few weeks so the beans don't all arrive at once.
Bit of a nice surprise in the post this week - some Santero onion sets. I think they must have been a free offer as part of a seed order I placed back in October. Nice. It'll be interesting to see how these compare to any seed-sown ones that get planted out.
Finally headed over to the plot and it was a lot wetter on the ground than I expected so digging wasn't really an option. I found some cauliflower plants growing well under some tunnel cloches. A few of them had bent stems, probably because their growth had been restricted by the low cloches. I decided to remove the cloches, replant the caulis a bit deeper and cover them with netting.
In the piccie above, they've got that sad-sack look that just-moved plants have. Fingers crossed that they'll perk up. I decided not to water them in as the soil was wet and I didn't want it to freeze around them.
I had 5 elephant garlic cloves at home which I had potted up with the rest of the garlic just before Christmas. 4 of them had developed roots so I planted them all out next to the other cloves planted out 2 weeks ago.
Before leaving the plot (my fingers were getting frozen with all the cold mud on my gloves), I put the sodden brassica plants from Bed 7 (from which I removed the netting to use for the caulis) onto the compost heap. They were joined by some of the rotten leaves around the base of the globe artichokes.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Worth the wait
Today was a lovely day for gardening on Plot 35. At last! The sun was shining and it got up to 10C at one point. Barmy!
A couple of days after Christmas, I covered over Bed 1 with some clear plastic to keep it snow free with the idea of planting the garlic some time in the New Year. Since then I have been waiting for the opportunity and today was the day. It was lovely to do a spot of digging after so long and the revealed soil was damp but nice and crumbly. After digging and raking, in went the 9x9 cloves of garlic that had been in the lean-to in seed modules since a few days before Christmas. Some of the cloves had started to sprout while almost all of them had developed roots.
So in order of transplanting, there are:
Albigensian Wight
Wight Cristo
Early Purple Wight
Iberian Wight
Lautrec Wight
Messidrome
Germidour
Picardy Wight
Chesnok Red
The Picardy cloves had rooted the least and are tiny cloves. It'll be interesting to see if they catch up, and indeed if any of them survive the move. I also have 5 cloves of Elephant Garlic in pots at home so I'll plant them out another time.
On the way home, I nipped over the garden centre to check out the spuds on offer. I have always ordered these from catalogues but this is relatively expensive and you never quite know when to expect their delivery. The garden centre had a great range so I bought loads and I'll put them in the lean-to to chit now that there is space. I purchased the following:
1st early - Swift
2nd early - Wilja
Main crop - Cara
Late main crop - Pink Fir Apple
Just before I left the plot today, one of my fellow plotters came to say hello. We got onto the subject of potatoes and he mentioned that he had been recommended Wilja by a farmer as they are not so readily attacked by slugs. I have grown Cara before and they worked well. I was a bit disappointed by last year's harvest so fingers crossed for a good one this year.
I hope everyone else has had a good day gardening.
A couple of days after Christmas, I covered over Bed 1 with some clear plastic to keep it snow free with the idea of planting the garlic some time in the New Year. Since then I have been waiting for the opportunity and today was the day. It was lovely to do a spot of digging after so long and the revealed soil was damp but nice and crumbly. After digging and raking, in went the 9x9 cloves of garlic that had been in the lean-to in seed modules since a few days before Christmas. Some of the cloves had started to sprout while almost all of them had developed roots.
So in order of transplanting, there are:
Albigensian Wight
Wight Cristo
Early Purple Wight
Iberian Wight
Lautrec Wight
Messidrome
Germidour
Picardy Wight
Chesnok Red
The Picardy cloves had rooted the least and are tiny cloves. It'll be interesting to see if they catch up, and indeed if any of them survive the move. I also have 5 cloves of Elephant Garlic in pots at home so I'll plant them out another time.
On the way home, I nipped over the garden centre to check out the spuds on offer. I have always ordered these from catalogues but this is relatively expensive and you never quite know when to expect their delivery. The garden centre had a great range so I bought loads and I'll put them in the lean-to to chit now that there is space. I purchased the following:
1st early - Swift
2nd early - Wilja
Main crop - Cara
Late main crop - Pink Fir Apple
Just before I left the plot today, one of my fellow plotters came to say hello. We got onto the subject of potatoes and he mentioned that he had been recommended Wilja by a farmer as they are not so readily attacked by slugs. I have grown Cara before and they worked well. I was a bit disappointed by last year's harvest so fingers crossed for a good one this year.
I hope everyone else has had a good day gardening.
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