During the week have been down several times and erected the covering over the brassica bed and planted 15 broccoli plants and 15 sprout plants. Covered with wondermesh and watered in over the weekend, most are ok although a couple of broccoli's have fallen down in the wind, firmed them in a little should be ok.

Sunday put in 2 more rows of Cara's and weeded the onion and garlic beds. Earthed up my earlies for the second time.

My beetroot leaves are disappearing as soon as they germinate which is annoying so I've put some slug pellets down. Carrots are a little more worrying as my earlies have not germinated very well at all, I wonder if it's been too dry. Watered them to give them another week but will replace if not germinated by then.

Broad Bean pod's have appeared on most of the plants regardless of the bean weevil so happy about that as one of my fave's. I caught a weevil on one of almost every plant so there are alot of them around. My neighbours peas are getting attacked too.

At home the Strawberry's are flowering nicely so will get some fruit soon and the chili plant (I bought) is growing well. None of my chili's germinated. Will try another kind next time and from another supplier. Tomato's fed. Got about 50 Cauli's which are 6inch or so high, will plant some of these out this week and give some away as I dont want that many as they'll all come at once.

Sowing my Runner Beans tonight.

Not a great deal done today, planted some main Cara's, in fact two rows but am worried about the couch grass ruining alot of them. Will wait and see.

Earthed up my earlies which are growing nicely now.

Carrots, both early and main are showing, as are the beetroot and spinach. I am particularly worried about growing root veg because of the stony ground but I will try nonetheless.

At home, got lots of toms growing along with cucumbers which are only 2 inch high, chili's which are now growing and lettuce growing in various pots. I chose to grow these at home so I can pick when I want.

Enclosed is a pic of my brassicas growing at home in my unheated greenhouse. Sprouts are starting to struggle so have moved them to the bottom shelf and will leave zippers undone a little from now on.

The rest are my own garden which is still a mess but at least some colour is there...

Weekend just gone dug some more of the allotment with my brothers help, I reckon I have about another 10ft long patch to dig until the plot is finished, so a good days work to remove couch and nettles properly.

That is digging done then so not bad for the first year. Missed alot of couch but to be expected, can sort the rest as I go. Annoyingly the allotment next to mine has not been cultivated at all and will soon be high in nettles as the council do not mow it often at all. I have some Glysophate left which I may use to spray the section which is close to me, but will have to be very careful as it's a little close to my crops.

Didn't plant a single thing which was annoying but dug some trenches for my main crop spuds, got Cara's mainly and another than I cant remember. Carrots are showing (Autumn King), as is my spinach (Bloomsdale), new pots (Annabelle) and beetroot (Globe 2). Garlic is growing very fast but I think I may have planted this a little late to get bulbs formed properly, will wait and see. Had another onion set turn up which I had forgotten about, will give most of these away but will also find room for some of them myself.

Could not water as some lady was filling 4 water butts with a hose and our site is short of standpipes. Asked her if I could fill my watering can a few times and she actually said I would have to wait until she was finished. I was too tired to bother with her but I wont let this happen again. Nothing got watered so went monday night and did it instead.

Got pond in and filled, now I need somewhere to get frogspawn from, not sure where yet, I suppose will have to find someone with a pond so I can take it. I had no idea you could not purchase it anymore.

At home, some brassicas are ready to put out, prepared bed with lime a few weeks ago so I'm going to plant some of them out this coming weekend, although sprouts and cauli's not ready for planting yet the Broccoli will have to be as I'm out of room at home ! Had some wondermesh arrive which I'm going to cover the bed with and will probably use my fleece which is spare to put a barrier around the carrots.

Gor far too many Tomato plants growing so have given some away, cucumbers (F1 Burpless) are just showing and chili's (suprise suprise) not germinated. I will try with 2 more seeds but I have actually bought a chili plant as backup.

Got 50 Salvia plants and 50 pot marigolds all germinated. No idea why I grew so many, pots will go to the allotment, salvia will get planted at home and given away.

Thursday night going down late to fill my butts when no-one around so I dont annoy people at the weekend.

April 9th (Easter Monday)

Lovely Easter weekend with a couple of long visits to the allotment. Although early morning the weather is stifling when trying to rid the ground of couch grass and nettles and no matter how many stones I clear away, another million rise to the surface when digging and raking.

Something had been eating my broad beans and one was decimated. Figured this was slugs so put down some organic pellets (I know I know). When I went back Monday to see what was left I found alot of the small black slugs lead under stones dead so I must have got them, looks like troubled times ahead and talking to other people slugs are a problem on our site.

So, I have planted my early carrots and beetroot. Still unsure how well the root veggies will grow given how stony the ground is but cant really have an allotment without at least trying to grow some carrots.

Took my 10 year old son down on Saturday who quickly got given a job of moving the timber from the vacant allotment to mine, got half way through this and got bored and worn out so I set him the task of transplanting the sunflowers into bigger pots and a few into the ground. This it seems was more enjoyable for him. pics attached although the picture of him with a rake is clearly a pose and not one in the midst of hard work !! Look in the picture at how disgruntled he is carrying the watering can...

Got some water butts together under the shed and now just need to get some guttering for the next downpour, although at this time am unsure when that might be.

At home the broccoli is pretty ready for planting out, I'm just waiting for some wondermesh to arrive before I plant out any brassicas as I fully intend to grow all these under cover. I did however dig in some lime to the brassica bed to ready it.

I have 50 pot marigold which are all now gladly showing. Tomato's are coming on a treat although growing so fast I am running out of places to put them. The chili's have yet to germinate but I'm not worried about them as they will take alot of time.

Not planted any lettuce outside yet but in the g'house got lots of plants growing so wont be long. Sowed some cucumbers but it's my first time trying to grow them so not sure how I'll get on.

Next task is a difficult one, have to clear enough room for 5 rows of main crop potatoes, which may sound easy but in fact it's ground that has not been dug for 7 months and is now sprouting nettles and docks. Will be hard work and not much time to do it in. One hour per week day after work should make a nice dent in this.

The nice man next door lottie is going to bring me 3 compost bins from an old lady he knows who doesn't want them anymore. Result.

Click on the pics to see full size.

April Fools Day

Lovely sunny day today on the allotment, windy which managed to keep me a bit cooler while digging up yet more perennials.

Swiped a compost bin from the neighbouring plot which has been there about a year, the plot is not owned yet, the council simply keep running a mower over it. In fact, the council have been doing alot of work on the site, apparently there are 15 un-cultivated plots which have been taken away from their current owners and re-leased. Hopefully we can expect a little more acitivity down there soon. To my annoyance the council also chopped down a very large apple tree which fed many a crumble last year, surely they cant do that ?

Council are emptying the plot at the bottom of mine which has been given back to them. Next week I'm taking the water butts and some pots from it (family said I may) and put on mine which will save some water in the dry months. Unfortunately no wheelbarrow which I'm desperate for so looks like I'll have to invest in one.

Anyway, replanted a bunch of onions that the blackbirds had uprooted, actually decided to cover in fleece for a while to stop this happening. Did some general weeding between rows and planted a few more broad beans. Sowed my carrots although I did my lates by mistake so will have to plant my earlies next week. Also sowed a row of Spinach.

At home potted on 50 cauli's from a tray to roottrainers, took a while and very fiddly. Planted some lettuce and a couple of Tomato Plants a 2 Cayenne Chili seeds. Not had much luck with Chili's so will try hard to get them right this time. Seperated 15 broccoli plants which were growing together in small pots, these will be ready to go out in a few weeks.

Planted 50 Salvia and 50 pot marigolds to take down the allotment later in year. Sunflowers are already 4 inches high and will be planted out next chance I get.