Meet the neighbours...

I thought I’d show you what the plots around mine (number 26) look like.
To my left is:


The one to my right has been worked by the same person for over 30 years:


A guy took up plot 26A below me at the same time as I started plot 26, as they used to be worked as one by the previous tenant.


I’ve got my name first on the waiting list should he wish to give it up, and wished now that I’d taken both last year. Realistically though, it would have been too much to cope with all at once, but now I’m established, I’ve a hankering for more space for fruit trees, and permanent fruit bus beds- not to mention HWDD’s favourite- Rhubarb!

Visitors.....

A fairly typically wet Bank Holiday weekend just gone, but I do have some photos to update you with. HWDD’s parents visited (MIL & FIL!) and requested a visit to my plot. We managed to get there and back on foot before it rained, then packed up ‘The Boys’ and went off for lunch.

‘The Boys’ are HWDD’s family tortoises ‘Speedy’ and ‘Wally’, who had been staying with us while MIL & FIL were on holiday. At home they have the run of the garden and obviously didn’t like being penned in with our makeshift chicken-wire enclosure, as Speedy escaped TWICE and Wally once. It’s just the worst feeling to come home, find them missing, dredge the pond fearing the worst- but a HUGE relief to find them happily asleep under a plant! They certainly enjoyed a visit from my two eldest nieces last week.


I needed to work of the delicious lunch, so spent a couple of hours on the plot Saturday afternoon. I finished weeding & digging bed three (above) ready for the peas & beans and strimmed the pathway and edges. There just 2 more beds to weed, but I really don't have much enthusiasm for it! I don't want to dig them, as it's where the brassicas will go, (keep the soil fitm) but will have to do something soon as by greenhouse is bursting at the seams with broccoli & cabbages!


We’ve been eating some of the broad beans that were sown in October, and strangely just one of the 15 or so plants is being attached by black fly!

Happy (not so old) woman!

The 2nd free Bosch battery for the strimmer has arrived! I just need it to stop raining long enough to get out to the plot and try it out!

Grumpy old woman?

Grrrrrrrrrrr I'm beginning to feel like one of the above as I'm now having a run-in with B&Q. I bought a cordless strimmer for the Lottie & garden which they are marketing as having a "Second free battery for longer cutting time".

Open the box- only one battery- ring store- ring Bosch- ring another Bosch number- office closed grrr!
Next day- ring B&Q- make complaint- ring Bosch again- ring a third Bosch number- finally told to send in a letter with receipt- draft letter- go to post office- send recorded as receipt is proof of 2 yr guarantee.

What's next- things always happen in threes?

Reply to complaint to T & M

"Thank you for your recent e-mail.

The plants are cuttings from the parent plant and these will have the appearance of being wilted due to the time lapse of the plants leaving our warehouse and being delivered.

We would advise customers to plant them up immediately following the cultural instructions and we are confident these will produce a good root system in the next 3 to 4 weeks and go on to become healthy plants."

I've already done what they suggested, as per instructions that came with the plants- so will have to just wait & see!

Fruit, carrots & parsnips

I took Friday off work to make an extra long weekend and spend time on the allotment while HWDD was at work (Sunday too, as he also had to work)

I dug and raked the bed for the carrots & parsnips in 30 minute bursts, interspersed with 'rests' to plant the fruit bushes and enjoy the sunshine!

Sunday the weather was much colder and greyer, but I didn't mind as I still had bed 2 (peas & beans) to dig. I had soaked both the beds the day before and covered with carpet, to soften the clay crust, so it was pretty easy going.

I sowed 4 rows of Parsnip Javelin and one row each of carrots: Early Nantes, Autumn King & Health master. The other 3 rows of each will follow in succession.

We've started eating the small broad bean pods- steamed whole -yum!

Only managed 1/2 of the bean bed before retiring to the garden after lunch and planting up my previous veggie plot, used for sweet peas last year and left bare since then.

I noticed this fern (type unknown- donated by dad) and was compelled to take a picture. I was taken by it's lovely shape when viewed from directly above!

Sweet potato disappointment

Copy of complaint to Thompson & Morgan 3rd May 2007

Dear Sir or Madam,
I wish to make a complaint about the produce I have just received: 10 slips of sweet potato Beauregard- photos attached.

As you can see they are very wilted and probably beyond saving.
I am not at all impressed with how they were packaged: just loosely in a plastic bag without any moisture retaining tissue.

Having paid £11.49 for them back in 2006, (more than £1 each) I wish to inform you that I am requesting a full refund (not a credit note) as I will, in future, be taking my custom elsewhere.

RSVP
Regards,

Construction completed!

Boy, am I feeling knackered today. No one would seriously contemplate doing 7 hours of hard slog in the gym, so why do us gardeners do it on the allotment or in the garden?? (Because it is more enjoyable of course!)

One final push yesterday, saw the completion of the last two wooden raised beds. The last four at the southern end of the site (beds 6, 7, 11 & 12) have been made with bought pressure treated timber, as Freecycle did not have anything to offer.

The area was rotivated a week ago (2 hours) and 2 beds constructed. (2hours) I hired the allotment association’s rotivator for the bargain sum of £2 per hour and spent 2 hours wrestling with it as I tried to force it through the solid crust of clay. Although a cheap loan, there was no reverse facility and I had to keep the throttle full open to stop it stalling, so the peace of the Sunday morning (from 10am) was shattered for the allotment’s neighbours- sorry!

Yesterday I worked from 9.45 until 17.30 with only an hour off for lunch built the last 2 beds, laid the pathway fabric and planted 70 organic seed potatoes, leaving a gap for the sweet potatoes which have yet to arrive from T&M.
10x each of varieties as follows:
Charlotte, Orla, Valor, Desiree, Sante, Sarpo Mira, Pink Fir Apple.


I now have to stand up from sitting very slowly, as my muscles creak and cry out in protest!

83 Onions – started in modules- have gone into bed 9; 51 Red Baron and 32 Centurion. (30 spare Centurion to be fitted in else where)


The permanent fruit bed is made but not dug and my 2x redcurrant, 2x blackcurrant and 2x gooseberries are waiting to go in. The raspberry bed has been neglected and I might just see whether they crop this year. If not I will cut my losses and start again in the autumn with fresh new canes and re-conditioned soil



Bed 2, with over wintered garlic, shallots and broad beans is doing well, but has cracks in the clay that I can fit my finger into! It’s strangely exciting to see the pods forming on the beans, so I will have to start watering, if it doesn’t rain soon.

All we need now is some rain- whatever has happened to the ‘April Showers’? We’ve had no rain here in the south of England for the whole of April!

I’ve also been pretty busy in the garden at home, dividing perennials and filling in the gaps where last year I grew my wedding sweep peas. I’m aiming for a low maintenance garden with no pots which require watering daily.

We are planning on having the patio levelled, but can’t agree on exactly what to do! We can agree on the type & colour of the paving, but not on whether to keep the patio ‘L’ shaped or turn the far most bit in front of the camellia, into a raised bed.

Happy 1st Anniversary to Plot 26 and SWD

I’ve now been an allotment tenant for one whole year! I’ve yet to harvest anything except weeds, weeds and more weeds, but the construction of the wooden raised beds is almost finished and the over wintered broad beans, garlic and shallots are all doing well.

Just as a personal reminder to me more than anything- here is a picture of what it looked like this time last year and after a full day’s hard graft last Thursday.


Athough taken from different angles, it reminds me on how far I've come clearing the soil of weeds and building what I hope will be an imensely productive and not too time consuming plot in the future. My crops are all planned in a four year rotation with the spuds chitting on the north facing window sills at home- waiting to go in.
I plan to do 45 minutes of digging on my way home from work every day this week as the weekends just aren't long enough to fit everything in!

Sunshine & fishes

We’ve swapped Egyptian sun for English sun, but it’s not as warm here as it was in the Red Sea. We both needed a well-deserved break and both did some diving in Zarbagad- easy house reef diving for me as a novice, but enough to keep HWDD (a Rescuer) interested.

I’ve only managed to get over to the plot once, last Sunday. I built the 7th bed and started to dig over the bed where the onions will go. It’s still pretty wet but the heavy clay has already crusted over and cracked on the surface in the sun, so I’ll have my work cut out improving the soil quality. Forgot to take the camera, so sorry no photos.

Sunday morning in the garden....

SHD: “Honey, I’m off to the shops- will be about an hour. I’ll leave you in peace to trim the hedge”
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One hour later……
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Argggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh!

Don’t panic, only kidding, this was all planned, although it looks rather harsh. We’re really, really hoping that with some manure and TLC the privet hedge will regenerate a good as new. We are planning on having our mish-mash concrete patio levelled and needed to cut it back before work starts.

Please grow!!

What annoyed me greatly was that the previous owner had left so much rubble behind when he constructed the patio. I dug out 8 (liftable) sacks of broken paving slabs and clusters of bricks. I will offer them on freecycle before recycling them at the tip. ( I know it's a 'he' as I work with his nephew!)

There are now signs in the garden that spring will soon be upon us:

Pussy willow in bud.

A baby newt found hiding in the soil under the (now bare) hedge.

The camelia which has been in flower since late January!

And the frogs must have known that it was Valentines Day last week!

Winter hibernation.

I feel a bit like I’m in hibernation with this blog at the moment, but promise to start posting a bit more regularly when things start getting sown in spring.



I have been able to get onto the plot and continue to make the raised beds, even though it is squelchy and very wet. The carpet pathways are slowly being replaced with woven landscape fabric, as the beds are constructed – 6 down, 6 to go!


The rhubarb from the garden has been transplanted into bed 4, along with a bargain £1.99 plant from ESK Warehouse.


The broad beans, garlic and shallots are all growing well and each time I visit, I can’t help but pick a shallot leaf to taste the intense flavour- much to the annoyance of HWDD, who now avoids kissing me hello, when I get home!

Tag!

I’ve been tagged by Greenmantle so must share with you 5 things about me that you probably don’t know:



1. I have three sisters and HWDD thinks we look like this. (I’m the youngest, so must be third from the left!)

2. My paternal family tree can be traced back to 1699, but the family name will not continue now that I’ve married HWDD. I have gone from having a unique, frequently annoyingly miss-spelt name to proudly belonging to a new family whose name is blissfully easy to spell and even linked to vegetables, in a roundabout way!

3. The highest point on earth on which I have stood upon is the Kalihari Pass in the Himalayas at 15,000 feet above sea level.

4. The lowest point would be –18m, on the bottom of the Indian Ocean while diving off the coast of South Africa during our honeymoon.

5. Earlier this week I took my Mum & Dad to see ‘The Sound of Music’ at the London Palladium theatre, for mum’s birthday. It was a fabulous show and the songs all gave me goose bumps, evoking happy memories from childhood and of a previous trip to see it with Granny, back in 1982!



I shall Tag Lily Marlene, Petunia's Garden and The Balcony Garden

Happy New Year!

The sun shone all day today- what a wonderful way to welcome in the New Year. I hope to be back on the allotment at the weekend after having some time off while busy with Christmas. WHDD has agreed to help me collect some more wood to edge the beds with, from a local Freecycler but has has chuckled at me for preparing an Excel spreadsheet with all my seed details on it. It will help me plan and make sure I don’t buy any more of what I already have! It’s a quiet time of year for growing, but I’ve got lots of plans for spring and have ordered my spuds and sweet potatoes in readiness.

Smoke without fire?

Not exactly smoke, but I had to do a double take when I opened the kitchen blinds this morning and saw the steam rising from the fence and bird table!



The robin on the washing line pole has become very friendly and happily loiters close by when I'm out there digging- hoping for a worm or two.

One month after 1st planting......

There is life on my plot- in addition to the worms & weeds!






One month on and the broad beans, garlic and shallots are all doing well.
The plastic cover to my cloche blew away in high winds and although my plot neighbour and I both searched, it has vanished without a trace!



With a little help from Erica from Freecycle, I now have a stack of old floorboards to finish off the raised beds. Four beds done- only eight more to go!!

He Who Does Dig (with machinery only!)

As you can see from the photos, HWDD & I were out on the plot early Saturday morning to take delivery of a rotivator for 3 hours. The site looked magical with the sun glinting off the frost & dew!

We moved the carpet off, dug out all the docks that were pushing up underneath and relocated three frogs that had been hiding. I was amazed at how long the dock roots were- some nearly 40cm and as fat as a large parsnip!

HHDD was more than happy to fire up the rotivator and get stuck in. He has, like many men, a fondness for powered tools and much prefers using mechanical things to manual ones!

I have a strange fondness for the look, texture and smell of freshly dug earth. It’s cleanliness (of weeds!) and freshness inspires me to want to sow, nurture and care for all the lovely things I plan to grow to feed us next year!

The weeds will probably grow back with vengeance in spring, but for now I feel very proud of what we have achieved together, and it was lovely to have some help and company from HWDD to achieve it! I couldn't have done it without him!



Once the machinery had been collected, I raked & levelled the plot, measured and marked out the other 12 beds and cut the carpet into strips to cover the paths temporarily. This will allow me to work through the winter building the wooden beds without getting plastered in mud! The carpet will be replaced with weed control matting as they are constructed, as I’ve found it’s best to tuck this under the wood, and secure with homemade metal staples.

Boy did I ache on Sunday!

Finally the seeds are sown

It was actually quite exciting and very satisfying to actually plant something in the ground, rather than just weed, weed & weed!

I planted Grovelands Jermor - Long shallot onion (over wintering)
Organic gardening catalogue GARLIC Thermidrome and
Wyvale T&M Broad Bean Aquadulce Claudia


I cobbled together a cloche structure out of canes and old hosepipe, to cover up the broad beans to help them germinate. If it doesn't blow away it should keep the worst of the weather off!
I'm contemplating hiring a rotivator and doing the whole plot and then leveling it out to make the beds- covering back up with carpet where necessary. It is actually on quite a slope, which I didn’t realize at first, but is apparent now I've started the third bed.

Hopefully this clear, cold sunny weather will hold for the weekend and I will be able to do a bit more on both the plot & in the garden.

I haven’t forgotten that I’ve got an allotment and BLOG, it’s just that we’ve been so busy with friends visiting and family gatherings, I’ve just not been able to keep up with it all! Regrettably I’ve not been able to do any more on the allotment, but have managed to clear some more dead sweet peas from the garden, plant some daffodils and get some bargain perennials for £1 each at a local nursery!

The passion flowers have been fantastic this year and there are lots of ripe fruit on them now. This one was already partly open when I came to photograph it, but I’m not sure whether it had split open, or something had helped it!



The Clematis armandii which I thought I’d killed after flowering back in April is actually in flower this week! (Look closely!)Is this global warming on action I wonder?

Had rather a domestic day Saturday as I managed to get the washing dry outdoors, the second bed weeded and made 6 pounds of ginger & marrow chutney! Love it when a plan comes together. The weeding took me 90 minutes solid and was rather boring, as I had forgotten to take my new digital wind up radio with me! (birthday present from WWDD as my old one was worn out!)
I think most of the weeds were broad-leaved dock (Rumex obtusifolius) whose seeds apparently contain a chemical that inhibits microbial decay and are capable of surviving in undisturbed soil for over 50 years! Eeek I’d better not let them establish!