Sebbster's Allotment

2007-09-23T04:26:00.000-07:00

Did loads more weeding and a little digging where the weeds were starting to creep onto my plot from next door. In the pic I have planted some late peas which have since started to flower so might get a crop from them.

Also put in 2 rows of spring cabbage yesterday but didn't have the camera so will get a pic next time when they've hopefully established a little.

Kale is looking really good now, sprayed with soapy water to get whitefly off and crushed all eggs from white's. Chard next to it is established but not growing much as yet. A few swede's are ready for picking going to try one next Sunday. Spinach and beetroot also ready for picking but haven't needed it yet.

At last I have ripe tomato's although the plants dont look too healthy, not bothered so long as I get a crop.

Will get some more pics Monday and do a proper update as going out for lunch now....

2007-09-10T14:06:00.000-07:00

Today did a bit more weeding and planted out 2 rows of Chard. So the picture here is pretty much all winter veg - From right to left - Swede's, Chard, Curly Kale, Beetroot, Chard, Perpetual Spinach and Carrots.

Land is looking a little more full now although the picture doesn't show the spare space where the potatoes were.
Harvest some more Calabrese, runners, Sprouts for dinner. The runners are tasting stringy now, no idea why I'm not leaving them on the plant to let grow, picking them quite young but not tasting very good.

Carrots are getting some slug damage so I'm going to lift all good sizes at the weekend and put into sand for storage.

I also plan to erect a net and plant out the Spring Cabbage which are at 2 leaf stage so can be put out ok.

The new carrot bed, top left of pic is growing ok although
germination doesn't seem all that great. I remember thinking the same when I last sowed out so will give them some time.

The Turnips, middle bed, are almost ready to pick and use. Will sow some more at the weekend these grow very quickly.

The top right bed are Sprouts and calabrese, both of which are giving a great harvest.

Messed up on my sprouts as I planted out an early variety without realising. I am having to pick some now as they are blowing, I only hope enough will be left for winter.

Quick Review / Re-cap

2007-09-10T03:41:00.000-07:00

Here is a little review of what I've had so far out the plot, what crops didn't do so well and what varieties I wont be using next season :

Beetroot Globe 2 Wont be using again, supposed to be quite large but never happened, only really golf ball size with a few a little larger.
Beetroot Pronto Not harvested yet but germination good and growing well.
Broccoli Summer Purple Definitely growing again, prolific harvest and still picking. Not real broccoli though it grows as spears.
Sprouts F1 Brigitte Early variety and been picking already although not many. Very strong taste but not too much to be said until they are all ready in the winter.
Kale Nero Di Toscana Precoce Not tried any yet as not quite ready to start picking. All growing well though.
Cabbage Savoy Not ready to pick yet, only planted a few to try.
Cabbage (spring) April Still in modules at home almost ready to put out.
Carrot Autumn King Excellent harvest, good sizes even in stoney ground and good germination. Would grow again very tasty.
Carrot Early Nantes Less impressed, didn't grow as fast as I expected for an early, but germination was good and tasty. Will grow in a tub next year to see if better.
Cucumber F1 Burpless Tasty Green 3 cucumbers from 2 plants. Produced lots of cukes but most were eaten by something.
Onion Forum F1 (set) Good Size all harvested and hung, strong flavour. See no reason to try another these are very good.
Spinach Bloomsdale Bolted too easily, only had 1 harvest. Am growing perpetual now.
Swede Ruby Not ready yet but great germination and swelling nicely, easy to grow.
Broad Bean Giant Exhibition Longpod Very nice bean but ok harvest. Might change next year. Suffered from bean weevil, blackfly and choc spot.
Runner Bean Butler (stringless) Grew slowly but great harvest from them, although stringless the last couple of bags have been very stringy. Will be changing variety.
Potatoes Annabelle Early Would never consider changing. Not the biggest harvest but the best tasting variety. Will be growing next year, and more of them.
Potatoes Cara main Good harvest, blight resistant and a lovely flavour. Not much to say as the slugs have devoured them all.
Swiss Chard Bright Yellow Only just planted out from modules.
Turnips Not harvested yet but almost ready. Cant remember variety

I wont be changing varieties of those I liked because I believe in tried and trusted but I might expand a little and grow another variety of the same thing. Once the end of the plot is cleared will have alot more room.

Going to the plot tonight to water etc, will get some pics.

2007-08-28T14:02:00.000-07:00

Haven't a great deal to tell really, been weeding alot and spending time getting my onions dry and bagged. Pictured here although have just dug up the last lot so drying them during the nice spell. Got another bag at home so wont be short of onions.

Swede's are swelling up very nicely now, and Kale is growing well, although has suffered a little this weekend due to lack of water. I went down tonight (Tuesday) and watered them, they really needed it. To the left last beetroot is growing and to the left of that the Spinach is looking great. In between the Spinach and the beetroot will be the Chard when I plant it out.

And to the left of the carrots, where my main spuds are, will be the Spring cabbage, but I'm going to put these under nets.

Turnips are doing really well also, thinned for the last time.

Harvested another bag of runners, another bag of Calabrese, some carrots and more sprouts. Was going to leave but some had blown. I have sown an early kind which is why they are ready.

Below is a random picture of our little garden prior to a party we had Saturday night, it's about all I remember....

2007-08-22T14:19:00.000-07:00

Well I took delivery of a trailer load of horse manure yesterday and she wanted the trailer back before the weekend so had to shift it from the trailer to the end of the plot. The end being the other end from trailer. Luckily my son came and helped, against his wished but he helped nonetheless.

This is the trailer that was full and below is a rather disgusted Alex

stood next to the deposits.... Mind you, I loaded most and shifted via the wheelbarrow, my arms do ache..

So what did we do today....

We weeded endlessly, we checked out the growth in the pond, following the plants my parents gave us, which are now starting to grow nicely, there isn't much sign of life. I'll get some spawn next year but for now, nothing.

Thinned the turnips for the second time, these are growing really fast which is good, look forward to using them in some stews and casseroles. Dont like them roasted, too strong.

The last carrot sowings have not germinated at all well, not yet at least. Weeds may have strangled some seedlings as they are growing strongly in that bed.

Showed Alex how to harvest runner beans. I picked one and then said "ok over to you". He then picked about 10 more and said "ok thats it, there are no more". Of course we gardeners know better so I took him around again. By then end of it we had a carrier bag full of fully grown beans.

Then showed him how to harvest broccoli and I thought the idea of using my penknife may have given him cause for excitement, but by then he had had enough so I did it myself and we called it a day.

Took the runners and broccoli and donated to my neighbours who love their veg. After all, my freezer is full of beans and if I eat another broccoli spear, I swear to god I'll end up looking like an oompa loompa.

At home I have ditched my courgette plant. Started out well but the last 6 courgettes have all rotted after reaching around 3 inches. It also looks unsightly on the patio and we have a party Saturday so binned it. Next year will grow them on the allotment.

Spring cabbage coming along nicely as is the Chard. Neither will be ready to plant out for 2 weeks yet. Chard is looking great, the bright yellow will be nice.

No ripe tomatos although one is slightly pink, but that could be because its embarrassed.

Chili's fab.....

Now, before I sign off, this is a couple of pictures of Alex, who is stood by the sunflower he planted earlier in the year, it was 6 inches high at the time....

And for perspective, this is the dung movement we did today....

2007-08-15T06:12:00.000-07:00

Squashed a load more cabbage white eggs and found a few caterpillars which I got rid of. Checky blighters have started laying the eggs actually on the purple sprouting now !

Harvested enough veg for the week, broke my runner bean slicer so ordered another one, although I have grown the stringless variety I still like to remove the sides and slice them, these tools work great.

Last carrots showing nicely now, as are turnips which I thinned for a first time. Swede's bulking up well even though they are surrounded by weeds.

Dug up some cara's. They are all red which is unusual as they are only supposed to have red eyes. Taste great though so not complaining. Still a little small and they are a late maincrop so will leave a couple more weeks before I dig them up.

Bright yellow chard at home is growing fast and the stems look great. When I water then they fall over though, and although they aren't leggy, they seem weak at this stage.

Next job, string the onions which are now dried out, that's for the weekend if it's nice.

Tied up the sunflower which is about 10feet high because we are now due high winds, typical.

Still no ripe tomato's.....

2007-08-08T13:02:00.000-07:00

Plot is looking a little sparse but there is plenty growing. Carrots are showing nicely in the bed and the turnips are also growing well.

My son planted the sunflower on the right a couple of months ago and I cant even touch the top of it now.

Weeds are coming in from the plot next to me which is annoying, the council say the plots are all let but I dont believe them as many are untended. Apparently if they are left like this they will be let again but they aren't even mowing them regularly anymore.

My sprouts are ready for picking which is a bit wierd, well the ones at the bottom anyway. Picture here shows they are a nice size. I picked a few to try but will leave the rest til later in the year, unless the birds take a fancy to them.

Kale shown here is growing well now, although at every visit I'm
picking loads of cabbage white eggs of them and they are not covered. I may need to cover them if this keeps happening as it's very tiresome. Slugs have had a feed too, pests are everywhere.

Savoys are growing fast next to my main crop carrots here, which are ready for eating now, in fact tried a few they are Autumn King and taste very nice. Some pretty strange shapes though as my ground is very stoney.

Picked a bagful of runner beans today, some of which I had for tea and the others I have put in the freezer. Really going to have a big harvest from these.

This is a pic looking back from the runner beans. As you can see there is some spare ground between the Kale and the carrots. There is some Perpetual Spinach growing there and there will soon be 2 rows of Bright Yellow chard which I've set at home in the greenhouse. I also have around 50 Spring Cabbage to put in which are also at home so the space wont be empty for long. Just past the Kale you can see my Swede's which are a bit of a mess, the weeds are really surrounding then and I need to let them grow a bit before I can weed properly. The broccoli is lovely I've had shed loads from it already and still growing like mad.

This believe it or not is the floor of my shed. There are about 140 onions, doesn't half smell ! I will be stringing these when they have dried out completely.

Picture here of the veg I harvested for tea, missing the carrots that I also had. Didn't eat all the beans though, froze lots.

Quick picture of the pond, Dad divided some of his pond plants and gave me some to put in, will hopefully grow nicely next year for the frogs, because at the moment I've not seend one.

OK, below is at home....

These are my two Chili plants, on the left Hungarian Hot Wax and on the right the hot ones - Apache.

Cant wait to get cooking with these but not quite ready yet.

This is one of my Cherry Tomato plants at home, loaded with trusses of tomato's but as yet not one has ripened.

2007-07-31T11:50:00.000-07:00

OK my plot is looking somewhat empty, I've pulled all the onions, new pots, early carrots and broads. My leeks died in roottrainers, dont know why but they did. I have replaced the onions with more carrots in the bed to the right below, and the bed in the middle I have put in Italian turnips, they grow flatter and wider therefore suiting my stoney plot.

This is one of 12 broccoli plants I have in, took out the centre stem a couple of weeks ago and now producing nicely.

Some peeps think my cucumbers looked nice last time, well I've had one from them and the pic on the left that's the same one that was growing last time ! It's been fed and all but not really happening. The pic on the right below shows the plant producing but it only has 3 cukes on it.

I have sprouts ready to pick and runners not ready to pick, someone please tell me what has happened to the growing season ?

At home still waiting for spring cabbage and chard to germinate but only been in a few days so not expected yet. Cabbage can take almost 3 weeks.

I have a row of beetroot showing now which will please Mrs and a row of spinach under the soil somewhere, yes I forgot to mark it. Oops.

Now Mrs doesn't like hot chili's, little does she know my chili plants have gone mad and one has 7 upgrowing chili's on it and the Apache has 9 down growing.

2007-07-30T01:29:00.000-07:00

Harvested some but not many runners, lots of calabrese, carrots, Cara potatoes, and unbelievably sprouts. No idea why they are ready, but some are - strange year.

Cleared one of my onion bed of weeds and set some more carrots in it. Cleared the other which will be used for some Spring Cabbage which I set at home in modules.

Set some Bright Yellow Chard, at home to start with else the slugs just murder them before they can establish.

Swede's really struggling with slug attacks and also weeds, should have weeded properly before I set them.

Kale growing really well but also getting slug damage, seem to be coping though.

Did a little digging where couch was starting to get too well set and spent the rest of the time weeding the rest.

One cucumber plant doing well and setting well, but the other has one fully grown cuke on it but none set, looks as though will die off but I dont know why.

At home have loads of chili's on my two plants now, going to get a massive crop from them. Will dry most of them and freeze the rest. Tomato plants are full of green tomatoes, but none that have ripened - hoping the nice weather we are due this week will help.

2007-07-26T04:02:00.000-07:00

Lifted the last of my early carrots, most of those left were not doing well at all.

Picked two massive bags of broads, chopped the stems down and composted them and dug the roots in.

Since the floods everything is getting munched by slugs and my Savoy's had several large caterpillars on them so discarded. The swede's are struggling with slugs and the Kale are also getting stripped of leaves. Put some organic pellets down as the only recourse.

Dug up the first main crop haulm to see what was under and found a nice crop of Cara. Still a little small so will leave the rest for a while yet.

Runners setting nicely now but not growing all that fast yet.

Sowed a row of perpetual spinach and a row of beetroot. Had some carrots to sow but it started
to chuck in down so will have to wait for the weekend now.

Harvested some calabrese and beetroot and along with the spuds, gave to George who was clearing up his 2 allotments after flooding. He has lost everything.

2007-07-11T14:18:00.000-07:00

Harvested Broads, pots, carrots, broccoli and at home courgette.

Checked the runners and I can see a few pods forming so looks like I'll get a crop. The feed obviously did some good.

Only got 4 early potato plants left and told my brother to harvest them all at the weekend. I'm away for a few days and they need eating the slugs are really tearing into them since the rain washed them all onto my plot.

Covered my Savoys as the cabbage whites are laying on them, even though they are still very small.

Cleared some more eggs from the brassicas and a few small caterpillars. Not been too bad although quite alot cabbage white fly. They are established enough now not to worry too much and I'm getting a massive crop from the calabrese. Sprouts are now forming on the stems but only just.

Cucumbers, which I planted in a spare grow bag by the shed, and growing on a trellis I made from canes and build a balls. They look great, about 6-7 inches and will be harvesting the first of them fairly soon.

Broads still cropping well and the choc spot has not affected them at all. Some pods showing the brown but beans are fine.

Main carrots looking really good now, will need to harvest some as earlies to make room for the others to grow. Been eating Early Nantes now for about a month and still loads left.

Kale is starting to grow well, spaced them a little close together but we'll see how they do. Leeks almost ready for planting out and once the pots are gone, I'll stick them in.

Some General pictures below of the plot.

2007-07-10T07:41:00.000-07:00

Weeded for ages, I've neglected that a little bit so paying the price now. Dug up all of the Spinach which had all gone to seed as usual, no point trying to salvage it I've had enough. Mrs wont be happy but not much I can do. Perhaps plant some perpetual under my runners and see what happens...

Harvested alot of new potato's as the slugs are really taking a liking to them now. The foliage has completely died back, frost speeded this up. Need to harvest the remaining half a row quite quickly before moving to my second earlies. I am going to replace half the row with Leeks and the other half with Christmas potato's. Well in fact they are main crop's but I'm going to plant them now and cover them as advised by the dad-in-law. Not much else to put in that space so worth a go.

Also harvested early carrots, calabrese, broad beans.

Swede's growing well although I wish I'd started them in roottrainers as I normally do. They have all germinated and thinning them out is a real pain.

Cabbage have been gotten by the slugs but seem to be growing ok.

Sprouts and in particular the calabrese are starting to get eaten by caterpillars. Spent half an hour checking the leaves and squashing eggs and removing 1/2 inch long caterpillars.

Runners looked weak so fed with a soluble general purpose feed.

Planted some beetroot.

Kale is growing well, next visit down I'll net this.

Next job is to put some more carrots in.

2007-07-03T08:49:00.000-07:00

Didn't get much done after work, spent half the time in the shed sheltering from the persistent rain. Did see a fox about 20 feet away eating something and strolling around the site, so had a cuppa and watched him for a while, no camera unfortunately so no pics.

Had the last potato plant from the first early row so decided to plant out the Kale in it's place. No time to cover it but I will net the next chance I get.

Dug up half the Spinach and binned it, once I had the leaves off.

Planted the last beetroot for this year in place of that I have taken and a few elsewhere also. Pinched out the runners.

Harvested carrots, broads, spuds and some broccoli spears. Noticed the cabbage whites have started to lay on the brassicas so will keep a close eye on those, crushed the eggs that I could see. Also noticed alot of very small white flying things around them, too big for whitefly so will investigate. The only thing they seem to do is leave a small white circle on the underside of the leaves, dont look like eggs so not sure yet.

Couple more weeks and the onions will need lifting, starting to die down now but not quite there. Lifted a garlic to see what was happening, growing nicely but not splitting into sections - not really suprised as I planted them very late. Boy did it smell strong, I put it next to my latest carrots to put the carrot fly off the scent... In fact I will sacrifice my garlic if no good to this cause and will plant a couple more rows of late carrots..

George's allotment has risen in water again after the downpours we've had. My guess is his whole plot is now gone for the year. Cant believe the council have done nothing to help him. Had a walk around the rest of the site and still alot of untended plots, masses of onions bolting on a few plots and 5 or 6 still under water. I think most are fair weather gardeners, or those that have been put off by the recent break in or floods.

2007-07-02T02:30:00.000-07:00

Harvested some more early carrots, a few broads, beetroot, early spuds and some spinach.

Spinach really suffering now, still bolting like crazy and I'm not really getting a large amount of leaves from it, seriously considering digging it up and putting it down to experience. Could use the row to plant my Kale or some more carrots.

Runner beans flowering away and have reached the top of their 8 foot canes. Will pinch them out later in the week.

Harvested my first broccoli so removed the central stem. Will now wait for lots of spears. Have grown far too many but hey ho.

Put it some beetroot "speedy seeds" as we are using quite a lot of the few I have grown.

Cucumbers now about 3 inch long but growing like boomerangs even though the plants are tied up. Doesn't matter though, they will be nice.

Had my first courgette and got lots more growing. Only got 1 plant as the wife doesn't like them.

Onions very large now, Bedfordshire Champs from memory, another few weeks and they'll be ready for lifting and drying, assuming we ever get some sun.

Not sure what the garlic is up to, will lift one and see next visit.

Poor guy who was 2 feet under water is still 2 feet under water and no signs of it going anywhere. Worse than this it flooded his shed and took the petrol and oil from the rotovator and spread it around his plot. Looks like he may lose the lot, pots already rotted. Feel sorry for him, next time I see him I'll dig him some veg from mine.

Poor Ole George

2007-06-27T13:56:00.001-07:00

I feel for George, he's been there years and the water is not dispersing....

What a difference a day makes...

2007-06-27T13:24:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday at 4pm I got disheartened 'cause my whole allotment was under 2 feet of water and I didn't know what to expect. Went down tonight and that has gone, still boggy but largely gone. I was stunned it went so fast.

But then I walked around the site and some peeps are still under 2 feet of water. I actually took a pic (below) of George getting his rotovator out the shed to dry it out. Poor guy put corrigated iron 2 feet down to stop weeds and it's stopped the water draining.

I got some veg out today which made me real happy.

Pic of veg above.

2007-06-10T10:54:00.000-07:00

Weeded, weeded and weeded some more.

Took the cover off my brassicas as they were getting too large for it and there was no give on the wondermesh. They are large enough now not to worry about birds etc.

Broads are almost ready for picking, maybe another 2 weeks.

(see pic) Picked a beetroot and a new carrot to see how they were doing. Well the carrot I could have used as a toothpick but the beetroot was ok, small but will taste sweet and nice. At least I now know the carrots will be ready soon.

Spinach continues to bolt but once flowers removed it grows very fast indeed. Thinned out the swede's which have pretty much all germinated. Runner beans now established and growing nicely. All main crop carrots are a couple of inches and all main pots up and growing. Some are getting flowers already, not sure why that is or whether its normal.

At home 1 strawberry is ready for picking although its grown a strange shape. Tomato's are growing well but I'm not sure whether the flowers are being pollinated or not. Used a brush on them so hope they'll be ok. Courgette's are now growing and about to flower, looks like courgette on toast for Sunday brunch for a while.

Curly Kale almost ready for putting out but it's in roottrainers so there is no rush. Leeks also ready for putting out and both of these will go in place of new pots once they are eaten. And I've been eating alot of them, they are lovely.

2007-06-04T11:47:00.001-07:00

These are before I strimmed so it does look better now, I'll post some more tomorrow....

2007-06-04T03:56:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend....

Frost on Monday and Tue has hurt my new pots and they are dying off on the top. I dug one up to see what was under and found a lovely batch of Annabelle ready to pick, so have been eating them ever since. Got enough for a couple of months but not sure how the plants will survive with the frost damage.

Pretty much all my Spinach had bolted so removed the emerging flowers. Took a cutting from the Spinach also as the leaves were fairly large around the outside. Not tried it yet but shall tonight, it's Bloomsdale.

Thinned the beetroot to their final positions and added the leaves to a salad, tasted quite strong for such a small leaf.

Broad bean pods are now 4 inches on my first sown batch so will have some soon, all plants are over 3 feet and the ones I've not pinched out are still growing so put some more string around as my plot is fairly open and windy.

Sprouts and Broccoli all getting large will soon have to remove the wondermesh as it's not big enough to give it more height. I'll stick some cabbage collars around then I think but the biggest worry is blackbirds, they've really hit my neighbours.

Put my runner support up and planted the beans. Glad I left it til now as most beans already out on the site have died with the frosts.

The half row of cabbage I put in has not germinated very well, not yet anyway but the row of Swede has almost all come up.

Strimmed down the sides of the allotment and around the shed, it really was getting quite bad but looks alot better now. Have some weed suppresser to put down but didn't get the chance this weekend.

At home, Thinned the Kale in my roottrainers as had put 2 in each. Not much else growing there now, except chilli's and salad bits.

I'll add some pics to the blog later today.

2007-05-24T13:11:00.000-07:00

Weeded, weeded and hoe'd :)

Watered everything as even with the rain we had, the ground was dry.

Got first flowers on my early potatos so I reckon another 4 weeks and we can harvest some. In fact it will be nice to harvest something. I hope the slugs have not eaten them !

Broads are full of flowers and small pods, gave a good water. Onions going a little yellow at the tops but not bolting and gonig to seed so left them alone.

Main crop pots all up now so earthed them up.

Went around the whole plot with garden shears cutting all sorts of perennials down, some were completely out of control and 4 feet high. Very hard work but satisfying seeing it looking a little nicer.

Brassicas are almost 3 feet high now so might have to remove the netting as its only 4 feet itself. Got some cabbage covers which I will put around them as alot of whites flying around.

Runners at home have grown so fast had to remove a shelf from the greenhouse. Will plant these out next week once I've made a few wigwams.

Tough day in all, had to chase kids who had come in the allotment through the gate and I'd not seen them. The oldest said his Step-Dad would come and beat me up ! I'll risk it :)

2007-05-21T04:01:00.000-07:00

A nice sunny day yesterday at the allotment, although I only had a few of hours to spend there.

Mainly did weeding which was becoming a little out of hand, the surrounding area around my plot is very overgrown and looks like I'm going to have to buy a petrol brushcutter to control it. Can borrow off other people but dont want to be asking them all the time.

Thinned out my carrots, or what remains of them as alot have either not germinated at all, or have been even by the slugs. I forgot to pellet them but have done so now. Sowed some Spinach in the half row of missing carrots as this will grow fast and we eat lots of it.

Weeded the enclosed brassicas which really are growing fast. Have only lost 1 complete broccoli to slug damage and as I have 15 plants, not too worried. Re-pelleted the enclosure, I have no problem using pellets to kill slugs, it's the only non-organic thing I've used so far.

Broad Beans are now all flowering, in fact the second row which I sowed direct have caught the home grown seeds up so I may get these all at once. I have pods on most which are only about 2 inches long at the moment, but should be able to harvest some fairly soon.

Early spuds not flowered yet so looks like I have a little while to wait before I can get any of these.

Spinach is growing really fast, I can harvest this now I think, but will let them establish a little more first. Have a full row and a half now and Mrs Sebbster loves it so she will be happy.

Main Crop pots are mostly all through now, already earthed up and they were planted 8 inch down so no need to worry about them.

Sowed half a row of Savoy cabbage, had the seeds so put them in but I'm not overly keen on them. Will see how they grow and use it as experience. Saw alot of cabbage whites around the allotments so they will need covering.

Sowed a row of Swede's.

At home, 3 growbags in action. 1 full of salad onions and 1 Courgette plant, 1 has 2 tomato's (Burpless Tasty Green) and a few lettuces and the other will be planted with 2 cucumbers and a chili plant.

Set 2 trays of runner beans last week and already 6-8 inch high. They do look a little leggy but shouldn't be as plenty of light and warmth. Wont be long before I put these out as my little greenhouse cannot house a quick grower for long.

Curly Kale is all showing.

Potted 2 Comfrey plants which I received a few days ago. This stuff grows very very fast so I'm not sure whether I'll plant it in the open on the allotment or in a big tub.

Lettuce covered in Greenfly so sprayed them all with washing-up liquid water.

2007-05-11T01:47:00.000-07:00

Potted on a couple of courgettes, thinned out my Spinach, weeded the onion beds and checked the Wondermesh covering the brassicas. In fact something is eating the wondermesh which is a worry, got very small holes in a few places around it but will still do the trick.

Took the weevils off my broads, they really have done a nasty job on them. All are flowering now and the first in were covered in black fly so pinched the tops off. They are high enough now. Cant stop the weevils though, the whole allotment seems to have the same problem as I checked out a few others and they have the same problem. Also attacking my neighbours peas now.

Only half a row of beetroot has germinated so planted some replacements after making the soil a little easier with some sharp sand and compost.

Early carrots are showing nicely albeit a little late, still covered with fleece. Main Carrots also showing, not covered yet but soon will be.

Went to Poundland which is now the place for cheap gardening, I picked up a wooden full size dibber, 4 rolls of 5m x 1.5m weed supressant, 3 more rolls of 6m x 1m fleece and a multi hose attachment. Less than a tenner !

At home tomatos have been outside now for about 3 weeks and are growing well, still watching out for frosts. Chilli's have their first fruits on and the strawberry plant has flowered and will be bearing fruit soon. Only have 1 as I just wanted to try them.

90% of my 50 Salvia's have germinated but are growing really slowly, I guess this must be normal. The 50 pot marigolds are all germinated and are now growing well.

Waiting for 30 Runner Beans to come through, not in a rush for these still a little early.

Piccys

2007-05-02T11:35:00.000-07:00

Earthed up and watered, not much else....

I did check out other peoples Broad's though, they are all getting munched by weevils so it's not just me. I have pods though :)

2007-04-30T03:32:00.000-07:00

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.

2007-04-24T14:19:00.000-07:00

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...

2007-04-19T01:26:00.000-07:00

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)

2007-04-09T13:29:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-02T03:38:00.000-07:00

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.

Planting at last

2007-03-25T12:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went down the allotment and found out that the old chap who hold the plot at the bottom of mine died over Christmas. Apparently he has given his plot back to the council and his son came out and asked me if I wanted anything from the plot. Sad news, I didn't take anything because they were still clearing the house and it seemed wrong but I may take some water butts next week while I am down there.

Well I planted 150 onions, 40 garlics and my Annabelle early pots. Broads are growing nicely and I uncovered them with the promise of decent weather this week.

My Broccoli is growing nicely at home along with Caulis and onions, and the sprout seeds are just showing.

Clocks are forward so now I have time to get to the allotment after work, if I can face it.

March 18 2007

2007-03-19T08:44:00.000-07:00

Well here are some pics of the allotment, the 2 beds you can see are laid out for onions, main and salad and I might put another down for leeks. Dont have enough wood yet to put all the rotation beds down I would like.

Under cover are my broad beans and I covered the Saturday morning because of the bad weather warnings. In fact as I type it's snowing, and Channel 4 reckon global warming is a farce, pah !

The Beginning

2007-03-19T05:35:00.000-07:00

This will hopefully tell the story of my allotment.

I got this allotment at the back end of 2006 and at that time is was about 4feet high with Nettles and various other weeds. I had the plot ploughed to assist and have since dug two thirds of it.

At the time of writing I have 2 beds down and have a few things growing, I will take some pictures and post here to show progress.

I am fairly new to this so it should be a great experience and hopefully I can get some lovely veggie's out of it this year and the years to follow.