Allotment

A few sunny days and we have at last summoned up courage to start work on the allotment .

Not too bad a condition - some wet patches for which I have dug a shallow ditch in order to attempt to drain the water away.

Hopefully we'll be able to plant out our potatoes and onions early next month.

Allotment - more news

This is the first year that we have used these tunnels - bought cheaply from Wilkinson. Underneath lie cabbage,cauliflower and broccoli seeds now germinating we hope. The tunnels are easy to use and far better than trying to protect the crops with netting and bamboo canes.

Raspberry plants below have run riot and seem to be spreading rapidly / hope for a good crop within the next few months.

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Allotment June 2012 1

This has certainly been a bad year for growing veg due to the cold and wet Spring.

Peas and sweetcorn seed have failed to germinate and many things are late developing. However the rhubarb and the soft fruits seem to like this weather. A good crop of red currants is on the way and gooseberries are doing fine so I suppose we should not grumble.

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Allotment 24

Many of the roses this year have been damaged by the heavy rain - this one at the allotment has managed to survive and is looking quite good.

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Allotment 23

The crop of courgettes was very good last year - 2011 has seen a 100% increase in planting so hopefully we'll get a good yield.

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Allotment 22

Not all is well at the allotment - the onions have rather thick stems - caused by too much nitrogen in the ground I understand. Hopefully they will be OK but not store too well . In our house they will soon be eaten so that should not be a big problem.

The potatoes ( lower picture ) are now being harvested and the good news is - "no slugs this year"

They taste really good - very earthy ...

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Allotment 21

Below are Maris Peer potatoes chitting away - it was a lovely sunny Saturday today and these were planted out in the allotment.

All the potatoes and onions have now been planted plus a few rows of seeds - Beetroot Parsnips and Spring Onions

A few days ago we planted Courgette seed out in the open - I misread the instructions on the packet and I think we have planted too early. Perhaps the weather will be kind and they will survive.

The problems with running water seem to have passed and the plot is now dry - tomorrow will be a busy day netting fruit bushes - signs of fruit on the Gooseberries so it is important they are covered PDQ especially as we have seen a little mouse moving about.

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Allotment 20

Another year down at the allotment is starting.

We have purchased our seeds.

Potatoes are now chitting and awaiting planting late March or early April. Last year was a disaster for main potato crop - they were eaten by slugs !! This year we will concentrate on early varieties and hopefully the crop will be lifted by July/August before the slugs hatch. The favoured types are Pentland Javelin and Maris Peer.

Onion sets are planted in trays and as soon as they have developed roots will be transferred direct into the ground. We understand that if the sets are planted with roots then the birds will have a harder time trying to pull them out of the ground - that is one of the major problems with onions.

Imagine our dismay to find the allotment plot covered in water. Our plot is surrounded by steep slopes and during the winter heavy rains the water has drained down onto us and the ground has become soaked.

With the aid of some well dug channels we have managed to drain some of the water away and the land is now starting to dry - let's hope for a spell of dry weather.

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Allotment 19

These Runner Beans are looking fine with their bright red flowers .

One of the success stories this year has been French Beans which have produced a really good crop and at the moment bags of them are cluttering up our freezer.

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Allotment 18

Cosmos - looking very pretty. We have grown these from seed not all of which have managed to germinate.

We're not happy bunnies at the allotment at the moment - club root has developed on the cauliflower and some of our potato crop has been ruined by slugs.

The answer is to carry on with strict crop rotation and next year perhaps we'll just grow early potatoes and miss the explosion of slugs in August.

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Allotment 17

Last Sunday was the Allotment Open Day with BBQ, stalls and a band. Luckily the weather was kind and the sun actually shone.

Open day is an opportunity to wonder around all the plots and have a look at what is being grown by our neighbours.

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ABC Wednesday - E

ABC Wednesday E for Eyesore .

This was what our allotment looked like when we first took it over - very much an Eyesore.

A lot of work from all the family in the last 18 months has cleared the area up.

I guess that the general impression is that when you take an allotment over it will be nice and clean and just ready for planting out the veg - I'm afraid that's not so.

Normally the previous owner may have got older or lost interest and let the plot literally go to seed before deciding to give it up.

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Allotment 16

This must be the most productive time of the year on the allotment - now just waiting for all our efforts come to fruition.

Disaster at the weekend - our cheapy plastic greenhouse was blown down the plot in the wind. This has now been removed and taken home where we can keep an eye on it.

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Allotment 15 - Disappointment

Something has been nibbling our courgettes and squash!!!

We were very proud to see squash and courgette growing - our first attempt !!

This morning we could only find eaten stumps where the fruit was - I guess this is why people grow potatoes.

We've put down slug killer but I think the culprit may be a mouse.

Hopefully as we still have flowers more fruit will appear ...

Yes allotment working is a " learning curve ".

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Allotment 14 - Potatoes

Hopefully one of the more successful "plantings" this year will be the potatoes - here we have Duke of York and Arran Pilot - both now coming into flower.

We are expecting great things ..

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Allotment 13 - Greenhouse

A new buy for the allotment ..

Well not a great expense - the greenhouse came from ALDI and was around £20.

I was not prepared to spend the money for a permanent glass greenhouse - so we'll have to see if it's a waste of money. At the moment we have tomatoes and chili peppers - which all seem to be growing. Time will tell !!!

Allotment 12 - Cleaning up

It may still be winter but down at the allotment people are starting to tidy up and prepare the ground ready for the coming year.

In 4 weeks time we will need to plant potatoes and from then on we'll all be pretty busy.

This is an area that was cleared this weekend and eventually will house a small hut.

Luckily this is not our allotment ... the owner has started to clear this rubbish away already and I'm sure that soon it will be all spick and span.

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Allotment 11- Sprouts ...

One of the great hopes for this year was growing sprouts both at home and at the allotment as I'm really partial to their taste and they are so expensive in the supermarket.

Well you could say that I've wasted my time - a great disappointment - the sprouts at the allotment seem to be bolting and at home the plants have produced nothing.

One plant that has been a great success this year has been turnips - eaten with everything.

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Allotment 10- Lots of digging needed ..

Now we've taken over more land a lot of digging is needed to clear the accumulated weeds - hopefully this will be done before the end of November .

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Allotment 9 - End of season ..

It's nearly the end of the growing season down on the allotment - fees now have to be paid for next year and the plots tied up for the coming season ...

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