94a - The O'Kill Allotment

Just in time

2011-12-08T14:18:00.005Z

Amazingly, I've just realised my last blog was all the way back in July when we were picking the strawberries as I've barely had a chance to get down to the plot and get things all cleared up ready for winter.

Well, taking the chance to 'work from home', with the weather being kind, I set out to tidy all the strawberries, which had provided such a massive crop this year. I had so many runners and new plants that the original section of rows had become a massive clump. Not one to want to throw much away and knowing we love the strawberries so much, I set about rescuing as many as I could and replanting them in other parts of the plot. In addition, as there were plenty of wood chippings, I covered most of the established area to help protect them over the winter and keep the weeds down.

As you can see from the photo's I have now extended the original strawberry plot on one side, as well as an almost identical sized area on the other side and although you can't see them, I also have some right down the bottom near the compost bins.

In addition, I've cut down my summer fruiting raspberries, dug over some of the plot and cleared away all the remains of the tomato plants and cabbages, as well as tons and tons of weeding. I do still have some potatoes in the ground, but as we've so many at home already, I think I'll leave them there for the time being.

I was there fairly early on and even found time to use my Kelly Kettle, which brewed up nicely and gave me a great cup of tea. It was so windy I had to shelter in the shed with it and my treats.

So now with some awful weather on it's way and no doubt plenty of cold temperatures, I've done enough to keep me going until the Spring. I've only got about a third of the plot to dig and the soil is in pretty good condition still, so it wont be too hard. I even dug over the raised bed, as next year, I'm actually going to grow something in that, for once!

One final photo looking back up from the bottom of the plot. Even the scarecrow has managed to survive...just. He'll be needing some new clothes for next year!

Have a great Christmas all.

What a lot!

2011-07-07T12:00:00.003+01:00

I think the photo's tell the story. We have been really lucky this year with the strawberries and raspberries. This was just from one of our picking trips to the allotment over the last few weeks and although the strawberries seem pretty much done, the raspberries continue to ripen nicely. We've tried all sorts of recipes too with them, including raspberry cheesecake (well Karen did this one!) and raspberry and custard cake!

I caught up with the weeding this last week or so and as you can see the sweetcorn and tomatoes have established themselves and are starting to make some headway.

Also, all of the seeds I planted have really come on well. I picked my first lot of lettuce and have been digging up the new potatoes. I tried a different variety this year, not that I can remember the name, but they seem pretty good. The carrots, peas, dwarf beans and spinach all look good. Bit of trouble with the black fly, but hopefully it wont get too bad.

The courgettes are doing well too..........

Here's the view from the bottom of the allotment from the new potatoes up to the shed and raspberries at the top.

Here's Ricky looking out for the cabbages. Not that he was doing a great job, so I have now covered them with netting and with luck they'll stop getting eaten.

With the lavender starting to come into flower on the site, it all looks really good and with the mixture of sun and rain, I expect to continue to have a fairly good crop of most things.

All good. Long may it continue.

Strawberries, Strawberries everywhere.

2011-06-07T10:24:00.003+01:00

Strawberries looking good.

Wow, that's the best description I have. So far a bumper crop of strawberries, full of flavour. They smell just amazing and when you are working on the plot, it's great to smell them on the breeze. I've picked loads and if it hadn't rained so hard on Sunday, I would have got even more. Looking forward to getting down there one night this week.

Following my last post, we've been away for a couple of weeks, so thank you to Ali for kindly watering my plot during the dry spell. Thank you!! All seems well and as soon as we returned, we dashed to my parents and my Dad gave me the plants he had been bringing along in his greenhouse. It's little late, but what with going away and it being so dry, I didn't want to risk putting them in before we went away. I've planted sweetcorn, tomatoes, cabbage and some courgette.

You can see all of the plants I have put in below and from the other photo you can also see them behind the peas which are coming along well too.

Ricky is keeping the birds away from the cabbages!!!

The plot is filling up nicely and I still have a little more room for some additional planting, which is great.

The recent heavy downpour on Sunday and Monday should really help these plants and no doubt the weeds will love it too....gggrrrrrrrr. I'll see how it all looks this week some time and get down at the weekend to tidy it up and cover the raspberries with netting as they are starting to ripen too.

So all looking good and I expect to dig up a few new potatoes over the coming week or two as well. All good news. Long may it continue and hopefully this year the sweetcorn wont be ruined. I've put canes next to each one and as they grow, I'll support them. Lesson learned there.

Happy Days.

The strawberries are coming

2011-05-09T10:24:00.003+01:00

With our recent good fortune of the beautiful sunny days these last few weeks, followed by some nice showers over the last couple of days, I wanted to get down to the plot and see how the seeds were coming along and get on top of any weeds.

I was amazed to see 2 red strawberries, as you can see below and as a result dug out the netting I used last year and have now covered the strawberry patch, otherwise those birds will enjoy all of that tasty fruit. This took a little while in the wind, but got there in the end and with a little weeding, this is looking great. I hope we get a bumper crop this year.

In addition, I cut down some more of the grass on the paths edging the plot and will continue this next week, to get it looking respectable.

Other than that, I weeded around the peas and dwarf beans that have shot up in this last week, earthed up the Earlies and planted the last of my Mains. I was going to plant some other veg, but ran out of time, so will try that next week.

All in all, the effort I put in over the last few weeks has paid off and we are looking good, ready for the season. After a quick tidy of the shed, I then set off home to watch the Grand Prix. Excellent stuff.

Early May and it's looking good....

2011-05-03T13:14:00.003+01:00

As you can see from the photo above, I've really succeeded in catching up on the plot over the last couple of weeks and we are starting to make headway for this years growing season.

To summarise, having dug all the plot and spread 6 bags of manure over some of it, I planted the Early Pots and have now done most of the Mains too. Weeded and mulched the strawberries and raspberries and planted out over 12 new strawberry plants from the shoots to extend the strawberry patch. Cleared the grass and weeds from the shed and area outside, as well as some of the path, put down weed cover and used the shredded wood to cover the ground, so with luck this will keep the weeds and grass down a bit. On the growing front, I put in peas, dwarf beans and carrots and the kids came with me on Sunday to plant some of their plants and seeds in the raised bed, so with luck this will be full of colour over the summer.

Here's the raised bed with some netting and wire to try and stop the birds getting their beaks on the seeds.

Lots and lots of strawberry flowers and new fruits starting to grow. Once all the flowers have gone, I'll cover them with the netting and wait for those lovely red fruits to show themselves.

Ricky stayed up, even in all the wind, so we pushed him down a bit more. You can see the rows of potatoes behind him and the Earlies, which I had to start earthing up are behind him to the left. (his right)

Finally, here are my two helpers, happy to be out and about on their bikes, racing each other down the tracks.....luckily no accidents.
Next step is a little more planting, cut down the grass paths, stain the shed and sort the guttering out, all before I (hopefully) get some gifts from my Dad.

Happy Growing.

Ricky is on guard!

2011-04-21T13:38:00.003+01:00

Had an opportunity to go to the plot again on Wednesday, so managed to get a little bit more done, ahead of the Easter weekend. Also, 'Ricky', my scarecrow that we made last weekend was keen to get out in the fields and start having a go at the birds, so I took him down with me too.

Here he is!!

Cleared all around the shed and laid down some plastic sheeting and also covered some of it with the wood chips, so this is starting to take shape. The water butt has been moved to the rear of the shed in preparation for the guttering.

Finally, spent some time weeding and clearing the strawberries, as well as mulching them and also, doing the same for the last row of raspberries.

This leaves me to complete the strawberries, plant the potatoes and also some peas and dwarf beans at the weekend. I'll also try to finish off the area by the shed and weed the raised bed too. Lots to do, but we are getting there!

Back in the saddle.....finally

2011-04-18T12:08:00.002+01:00

View of my plot, facing West from the side of the shed.

Well I'll be honest, I just haven't had the time over the winter the prepare the plot for the coming season and with the knowledge that I needed to catch up and quickly, I set about digging, weeding and clearing up over the last few weeks, to finally get to a point where I'm just about ready.

I'm now at the point where I've dug over the majority of the plot and improved one half of the plot with the top quality manure provided by Nigel in the Trading Hut, to help the soil along. In addition, although I also failed to order my potatoes last autumn, there were extras for sale and I purchased some Early and Mains. My first time for Rooster's. I planted out 3 rows of Earlies the other week and will continue to do so as April turns to May.....

My strawberries and raspberries were getting out of hand and having sorted out the raspberries and cut down the old canes, I weeded and have mulched around the bases as I'm sure they'll need that this year too. The strawberries also need the same amount of work and there are plenty of new plants, which I am transplanting in the extra section I have finally got around to digging. This will increase the size of my fruit area, but as they are very popular, then I'm more than happy.

Over the coming week or so, I will complete this and mulch in and around these too.

I have a real problem with the grass, especially couch grass, which just takes over. I had hoped to avoid it growing around the shed area, but no luck, so I've had to completely clear this area again and am putting plastic sheeting and weed cover down, which I'll then cover with wood chips. With luck this will work a little better and stop it intruding on everything. Once this is completed, I'll put my water butt at the rear of the shed, buy and set up my guttering to collect some water.

I can then cut down the grass to a reasonable level on the paths around the plot, as I always take down my shears, but never get time to do this. Once day I will!

Anyway, feeling a little better about the situation now and am also looking forward to planting some lettuce, carrots, peas and dwarf beans over the coming weeks too. Oh and one last thing. Last year for my 40th Birthday, I was given a scarecrow kit and finally yesterday afternoon in the beautiful sunshine, I made it. (with a little help from my daughter). His name is Ricky.

Happy Growing.

Preparing for winter

2010-10-11T10:43:00.003+01:00

I haven't had a great deal of time, of late, to spend some time at the allotment and begin preparations for winter. However, having taken my Uncle down to have a look during his visit from Canada, I realised there was some urgent work to do.

With the weather improving, I took a day off and spent the morning, weeding the entire area previously occupied by the potatoes and around the remaining carrots. Also, I took all of the netting off the strawberries and raspberries weeded around the strawberries and lastly weeded the raised bed area by the shed.

So a good start, but still about the same amount to be done over the coming weeks.

Here's how it looked before I started;-

...and a couple of hours later, here's the result... oh and I got bitten by something too, so now have marks on my chest....a rabid spider or snake....well, something wanting a meal and not happy about being disturbed.

Now the strawberry bed. There are lots of tubers, so I will split them over the coming weeks too and put more of them elsewhere. There are some more coming too, so we'll see if they survive if the weather changes.

...and the final photo looking back at all of my hard work.

Looking a lot better, but still work to be done. With luck over the coming weeks, I'll get all of the clearing up and weeding done. I shall then sort out the strawberries, stain the shed (which I still haven't done), find some guttering to collect water for next year in my new butt and dig over the remaining grassed area to extend the strawberries. Let's hope we have a few more pleasant days or even a day or two off work to help me achieve all this.

Back from holiday....how's it been?

2010-08-09T15:31:00.004+01:00

After an excellent week away in Devon, I came back to see how the plot had fared, with some good and some bad news.

Unfortunately and much to my disappointment, all of the sweetcorn had either blown over or been pushed and were all sodden, destroyed and dead as you can see form the photo. It's a real shame as they were growing really well, but have now been ruined. Sorry Dad.

On the plus side all of the tomatoes have continued to grow and I was able to pick a tupperware tub full of a mixture of normal and cherry tomatoes and they taste delicious. with plenty more on the plants they should be good over the coming weeks.

The peas and dwarf beans have also had a really tough time of it with the peas drying out entirely and the beans under attack from the black flies, although I noticed the ladybirds were quite happy to be feasting on them. The slugs and snails ate their way through the young plants and now the flies...arrghhh. Once again a real shame as last year these were really good.

The lettuces were growing well, so I picked a couple and also weeded the whole area and generally tidied up.

Also, dug up some of my main crop of potatoes and we enjoyed these with our Sunday Dinner, along with the few dwarf beans that survived and nice sized carrots...so all is not lost.....

I anticipate digging up the remaining potatoes over the coming weeks, for storage, plating a few things for over the winter and continuing with the tomato picking. Also, there are still the Autumn raspberries, but the dry weather hasn't helped them too much, but there are a few at least.

It seems to me that this year has been very tricky with the weather and as I don't get the chance to come down each night to water, I do tend to leave the plants to the elements and this year, they've not done too well.....but there are some successes and I think I shall continue with the fruit and will look much more closely at companion planting for the peas and beans to see if I can help them. I have a great book to help me.

A little belated, but here's where we are now

2010-06-09T10:12:00.003+01:00

Originally, I had intended to update the blog a few weeks ago, following a lot of planting and preparation, but alas, then best laid plans of mice and men and all that.

However, to give you a guide and with a big thank you to my Dad once again, I was lucky enough to receive some sweetcorn, cabbage, tomatoes, cucumber and marigolds, which I planted just prior to our 2 week holiday. In addition, I had to spend some money on wood to make up a fruit cage for the strawberries and also supports for the autumn raspberries, which I'd also made up, so I was going to do a 'before and after' to see if they survived, etc.

Well, with once again a big thank you to Ali for helping with the watering while we were away, everything is looking just fine and after a few long hours of weeding, I also uncovered some good looking peas, spinach and lettuce and although the carrots, dwarf french beans and all year round lettuce grown from seed in the ground hadn't amounted to much, there were a few coming through, so with additional planting in the gaps, I'm still hopeful.

Also, the potatoes continue to do well, although some of my Earlies were affected by the frost, but I covered them with soil and will leave them to see what happens.

In addition to the weeding, my Dad also let me have a bag full of netting, which I fixed up on the frame to cover the strawberries as I already have a few turning red and I want to try and make sure the birds don't get to them first this year.

OK, so here's the photo's

1. Potatoes.
2. Sweetcorn, cucumber and marigolds on newly dug and cleared area I spent hours on this year.
3. Tomatoes and sweet peas in the foreground, with lettuce and spinach in the background. Also just see the sweetcorn on rear right.
4. Peas, carrots and dwarf french beans.
5. Strawberry fruit frame and netting, with raspberries in the background.

What a difference a day makes

2010-04-29T10:17:00.006+01:00

Conscious of the work that I needed to do and that time was moving on, yesterday I took the day off and spent it on the allotment getting those important jobs I really wanted to get done.....and what a pleasant day to choose. Not sure it turned out to be the warmest day this year, but it was warm and sunny, particularly in the afternoon, but thankfully I didn't get burnt.

My plan was to finally dig the area to the bottom of the plot, next to the compost bins, double dig it, get rid of all the roots and level it off a bit so that I could use it for planting this year. Well, finally after 4-5 hours of hard work, I managed to get it done...phhheeewwwww. My back is killing me now!

I'm so glad to get this done, as in my first year, I cleared the majority of the plot and this area was where all the turf, roots and rubbish was piled up in a mound and I now have a few bags to take to the tip. Great news.

Having got this done, I then cleared away the leftover cabbages and started my seed planting for this year. Yesterday, I planted the following;-

Peas (around the wire mesh, much like last year)
1 row of dwarf french beans ( we like those, so will plant more)
1/2 row each of Broccoli, Purple Sprouting Broccoli and Savoy Cabbage
1 Row of All Year Round Lettuce
1 row of Cos Lettuce
1 row of Tetona Spinach
1 row of Spinach Beet

I have plenty of room now and as I mentioned before, my Dad is busy growing a number of plants too, so if these seeds come on then they can supplement those I get from my Dad.

I repaired the Sweet Pea frame and was going to plant them too, but then realised I didn't have any....oooopps.

You can see all the planting in the following photo's.

Finally, I cut some of the grass and positioned my new blue water barrel, so thanks Dad, yet again, next to the shed and as you can see the strawberries are flowering nicely and the raspberries are shooting up. Excellent. Next job is to build the frames and get the netting to protect the fruit, so we can actually enjoy it this year!

So along with the frame, I'll continue planting and weeding, try to find some guttering for the water collection and stain the shed too. It's amazing when I look at the plot now to how it was at the start and the photo on the blog just makes me appreciate how much I've done, along with help from my family, so thank you. The last 2 photo's just show the plot from the top looking down. Oh, it's going to be a great year this year....I hope.

Planting in the sunshine

2010-04-19T11:25:00.005+01:00

It has certainly been a fairly hectic few weeks, but I have managed to visit the plot and continue with some of the jobs I'm trying to get completed before the real growing season begins.

As you can see below, I have finally reached the bottom of the pile and am now building up the barriers to hold the weeds/soil back and then I'll dig this over and level it off as best I can. I've moved some of the soil to the raised bed by the shed and as you can see it's nicely full.

The potatoes have been chitting happily and I planted a few rows 2 weeks ago. To finish them off, I planted the rest and now have 12 (and a bit) rows with a mixture of Earlies and Mains. I did have the fleece on the first lot, but with the weather having warmed up, I have taken that off and we'll see how they get on. Not much to see form the photo, but they are there!

I'd also weeded around the strawberry plants and raspberry canes and as you can see they are starting to look healthy and the raspberries are showing nice signs of growth. One of my jobs is to sort out the frame and netting to protect the crop this year, so the search for suitable wood is on.

I'm planning on trying to sort out a day off shortly to make a little more progress and having been to my parents at the weekend, there are some great looking plants in my Dad's greenhouse, so I need to be ready. Also, I want to start with some of the seeds and the children want to plant some stuff too. Not to mention staining the shed...and more......

As long as the sun keeps showing it's face, we'll all be happy.

Early March preparations

2010-03-04T12:56:00.004Z

I took a day off to start to get some more work done on the plot as time has been ticking along, the weather has been lousy and we've been so busy as of late. As you can see below, I've started to demolish the huge pile of soil/roots/grass/weeds left over from the digging of the plot last year. Also, you can see the fire in the background, which is the only way to finally get rid of the roots.

There is a fair amount of soil, so I have taken the chance to fill the raised bed area near the shed, as you can see below. Unfortunately, one of the wheelbarrows broke in the process, so down to one now, unless I can fix it.

So the potatoes are chitting away, I've done the digging in preparation for their planting, so with a bit of luck over the coming weeks I'll finish this area off, stain the shed and start building the frame and netting for the strawberries. Oh and I took a savoy cabbage home and it did look good. Let's hope it taste that way too!

Come on the Spring !

First update for 2010....

2010-01-19T12:56:00.004Z

First things first, the shed roof survived! Hoorah. So after all the wind and rain and then the snow I was pleased and pretty amazed that the roof had remained intact, ensuring it stayed dry inside, so that's all thanks to my Dad, his felt and black gooey stuff....oh and a few nails.

So here it is, now I need to stain all the wood this year to help protect it and make sure it lasts as long as possible.

Whilst having a look around the plot, I was also amazed to see we still had a few carrots left and the savoy cabbages had survived the birds and the weather, so with our Sunday lunch we were fortunate enough to have some fresh tasty veg. I've a few cabbages left which you can just about see in the photo's, so they'll last a while.

As for things surviving, Tom brought home a bean plant from school late last year and although it was the wrong season I just planted it out, more to get it out of the way and amazingly, although the original stem died, it has sprouted another one, so I've protected it and we'll see what it does. As Tom keeps asking about it, I'll have to try and keep it alive!

With a while to go before we start on the potatoes, I wanted to get all the beds dug and as you can see, they are all looking pretty good. Nice crumbly soil, even with it being quite wet and as I did the double digging last year, it was much easier this time around. Took no time at all.

I also wanted to start to get rid of the small paths dividing the beds and just leave myself with one single path down the middle. You can see below where I've started, but this took me right back to all those weeks in all weather, when I first got the plot, as this is covered in that awful couch grass ( I think that's what it's called), with roots everywhere, making it hard work to dig the soil, rid it of the roots and turn it over in preparation for planting. I got this one side done, but will need to do it once more to make sure I've got rid of as much as possible.

I'll be burning all those roots, just to get my own back. With luck, I'll manage to find the time to get all the other sections done too and then set to work on the large pile at the bottom of the plot next to the compost bins.

Finally, it was pretty quiet down there and Mr & Mrs Fox put in an appearance. Healthy looking too, so they must have plenty to eat. You can just see them between the sheds. By the time I got the camera, they decided to walk off....very camera shy!

Well lots to look forward to on the plot this year. I'm hoping for some nice days ahead in the spring and some more success in the harvesting. Good luck to one and all.

Fixing the shed roof

2009-11-04T10:22:00.002Z

Well here it is. Thanks to my Dad for supplying some roofing felt and bitumen, I got to work last Saturday on fixing one side of the shed roof as the previous felt had been ripped off.

It was a perfect size as it covered the whole side with enough to fold over the top and seal on the other side. I used plenty of tacks, bitumen and the batons on the sides to try and hold it whatever the weather. Sunday was due to be extremely windy and wet, so a big test.

I haven't been there yet to see if it stayed on, but here's hoping!

This coming weekend, I shall be getting back into the digging habit and making the plot ready for the winter. I've plans to expand the beds a little bit, so over the coming months that's the work schedule.

I'll keep the updates coming.........Have fun this Autumn.

Preparing for the Autumn and Winter

2009-09-28T13:11:00.003+01:00

Well, a truly lovely weekend of that late Summer/early Autumn weather, so although having trouble ridding myself of this cough and 'man flu' I wanted to make sure I'd got down to the allotment and sorted out the strawberries in preparation for next year, having done the raspberries last week.

First of all on the raspberries, I weeded, cut back the grass edges, tied up any shoots that needed it and used the huge pile of cuttings from the council to mulch all over the raspberry bed. With luck this will keep the weeds down and help them over the winter. Here they are below;-
...and a close up of the autumn raspberries. We've been lucky enough to have had a few from them , so that's always a good start.

Sometime over the coming weeks, my Dad will be coming up to check them over and make sure I cut the right stems away and make sure all looks good for next year. I have high hopes for them and look forward to getting a pretty good crop.

Anyway, on Sunday I set about tidying up the strawberries. As you may remember I've not had a great deal of luck with them, but thankfully from all the healthy plants that survived, there have been plenty of tubers and so, I set about cutting these new plants out and replanting them. As a result I have over 40 plants, which look pretty healthy, so there is always hope!

Just like the raspberries, I weeded the entire bed, cut off the tubers, cut the grassy edges and then used the council cuttings to offer the plants some help over the winter, as you can see below;-

I just hope they all survive and then I'll make sure I have proper netting and fingers crossed we'll have a great harvest. I know Tom will look forward to that.

Finally, We have had a few strawberries and as you can see below they are still trying.

Well, long may these weekends continue and I shall continue with the rest of the plot, clearing up, digging, etc. I have also to replace one half of the felt roof as it was destroyed, coat the shed with another layer of stain, demolish the large pile at the bottom of the plot, spreading all the soil everywhere else and burning all the weeds and roots as well as a few other things I've forgotten.

I've just been in to order the potatoes from the Trading Hut for next year, once again at an amazing price per kilo and I've curtailed a little to make sure I don't waste them.

That's all for now...Happy Autumn.

Post holiday Summer update.....

2009-08-24T10:58:00.002+01:00

Well I put a few of my Dad's sunflower seeds in and look at them now. What a picture. Now it's been a while since I posted an update as we've been on our holidays for a couple of weeks and the last time I went down to the allotment, I went with Ellie and Tom and they helped me with the harvest......and what a harvest it was too.

Ellie picked our first bag full of tomatoes and Karen has subsequently made a load of tomato sauce. I picked another bag this last Sunday, so this time we're ( I say we're of course, but really mean Karen) going to make a batch of soup as well. That is in addition to plenty of them that we're eating in the Summer weather and in my sandwiches! The tomatoes have been a great success, from the cherry ones right up to some really big one's. Tom was busy digging up carrots so we've also got a bag of them in the fridge too. All different shapes and sizes, but they taste good!

Also, before we went away I replanted the broccoli and sprouting, covered with netting to try and stop the pigeons eating them and just look at them now. I weeded all around them when we got back and it looks as if they should be ok now. So that's excellent news.

...and here's a close up of one of the plants.

Finally, the raspberry plants continue to grow and I've now started to tie them to the wires my Dad provided and helped me set up. We may even be lucky and get a little bit of fruit from them.

I finally finished digging up the rest of the potatoes and now have a very heavy hessian sack full of spuds for us to use, as well as bags of dwarf french beans.

There's not too much more for me to do now, apart from continuing with the harvesting and keeping the weeds down, whilst keeping notes on what worked well and what did not, so that next year, I can do even better.

As you look around the plots, there is plenty of growing and lots of harvesting going on so with luck lots of other people will be enjoying the fruits of their labour too.

Nature's lessons......

2009-07-27T09:39:00.009+01:00

I know it's been a while since I had a chance to update my blog, but we have been so busy these last few weeks, I've barely had a chance to dash down to the plot, keep the weeds down and harvest some of the produce.

It really seems to be the time when you have to keep on weeding, watching how the plants are coming on and trying to protect them from all the scavengers who just love to eat everything before you can get to it. I'm already learning a lot this year and am starting to understand what needs to be done and when, to make sure we have the type of fruit and veg we like and use.

First things first. I shall not be doing as many potatoes as this year as we have so many. Here's the load I dug up at the weekend, along with our first dwarf french beans and climbing french beans. We've got so many, I'm bagging them up and giving them away. I've got a hessian sack and will be filling that up too, for us to use over the coming months.

As for the dwarf beans, all I did was put the seeds in the bed and waited to see what they did, so all very easy. They look really good, just like the ones you buy in the shops, so I top and tailed them and we've put 2 bags in the freezer. They dont need any support and as we like these, I think next year, I'll do a few more. I got the climbing french beans for a present, but I'm not really sure what to do with them, but I've put a bag of them in the freezer too, so will need to have a look and see what you can make with them.

Here's the bed with the beans in, with the peas behind. The climbing beans seem to have taken a while to get going, although I was speaking with Les on Saturday and he was telling me that's the same for everyone this year. In the background you can see the peas. I really like them too and we have a bag full in the freezer, however another leasson for me there, as I should have thinned them out a little bit and I missed the first batch as I saw them almost ready and then left them too long, resulting in them being past their best. So, next year I will keep a much closer eye on them. All they needed was the support and that's it, so another easy one for the future.

The tomatoes seem to be coming along fine, even though I've not been watering them as we have had a series of hot days followed by nice downpours. I've had a look around and everyone elses are still green, so with luck over the coming weeks, we should be able to get plenty of tomatoes too.

We have already had about a dozen sweetcorn cobs from the plants my Dad gave me and very sweet and succulent they are too. Here are the 6 I picked at the weekend.

I've had a bit of difficulty with the cabbages and broccoli, with the caterpillars loving the cabbages and it looks like the birds having a feast of the broccoli. As you can see below they really have been battered. However, I put a net over them and hope that they'll come back. We'll see.

those pesky pigeons!

As for the rest, we've had some carrots and plenty of salad leaves. I must also make sure I thin the carrots and lettuce properly next year and also, not do too much and spread out the sowing a bit more.

As for the fruit, the strawberries were a bit of a disaster, but some of the plants are still ok and I plan to get some more this autumn, sort out a larger bed for them and make sure I have straw mulch and also proper netting. So, next year is the big one for them. Here are some of them that have survived so far, with the sunflower left for the church competition and also some of the seeds my Dad gave me, going like crazy!

Finally, the raspberries are continuing to find their feet and shoot up a bit more, so I'm hopeful we'll get plenty of fruit from them next year.

So, nature continues to teach me and show me how best to play things going forward. So far not a bad first year, with lots of optimism for next year and still plenty of produce to harvest over the coming weeks and months. All in all, going along nicely. Just need a little bit more time (and sunshine) to get down there....if only!

Harvest time....

2009-06-19T10:06:00.003+01:00

I kept forgetting to bring the camera in to the office, by finally I remembered and as you can see below I dug up quite a few potatoes and as it turned out, 7 bags of salad leaves, including some spinach and rocket.

....just look at these lovely spuds!!!!.....there were over 60 of them.

I'll have to find time to pop down this weekend and see how everything got on after the crazy hail storm we had in the week and make sure the weeds and slugs haven't eaten everything. Also, I'll need to dig up some more spuds and cut some more of the salad leaves for our visitors on Sunday.

More pictures and information on that next week.

It's all coming along nicely

2009-06-09T09:20:00.002+01:00

Last weekend I managed to spend a little bit of time covering the cabbages with netting as I think the birds were having their fill and also built a frame for the sweet peas with the last few bits of wood I had left.

As always there is always plenty of weeding to do, so I once again kept them down as much as possible to give the plants a chance to grow.

Here's one of the courgette plants from my Dad and they seem to have settled in nicely and are now flowering. Indeed, so are some of the tomato plants.

Also, the sweetcorn have clearly got theirs roots all nicely spread in the soil, the stems are thickening and they are starting to reach for the skies as you can see below. They really do seem to have shot up this last week.

.................and as you can see from this bed, the carrots which did seem to start off a little slowly have now started to shoot up, with the rocket and lettuce also coming along. I think I should have thinned this by now, so I will have to look at them next weekend.

....and finally, although the strawberries have been a bit of a disaster, we did have one! All four of us had a taste and it was delicious, so I only hope the other plants find their legs and start to improve, so we'll see.

After doing the weeding, I put in the 2 sunflower plants for Ellie and Tom, for the church competition, along with the 3 cucumber plants from my Dad and put all the sweet pea seeds in next to the frame, so most of the beds are pretty full up. Luckily, we are having plenty of rain, so all of these should do well over the next few weeks. I just need to concentrate on keeping on top of things and keeping it all alive.

On Sunday, I bashed together my shelf/table and took this down to the shed, to tidy things up in there. I plan to try to continue with the staining of the shed, weeding, dig up some potatoes and thin the carrots and lettuces this weekend. I need to make sure it's all looking good as we have some special guests coming the week after and I'm sure to have an inspection!

Dinner's on me!!!!

2009-06-02T09:40:00.002+01:00

We were at my Mum and Dad's on Sunday and looking at Dad's potatoes, I managed to work out which were my First Earlies and as he had a few nice looking spuds and I put mine in a week or so before him, I decided to dig a few up for our Dinner on Monday night, on my way home from work.

....and low and behold from 3 plants, I filled my sandwich box up, we had enough for our meal and for me to have some for my salad today. So what with this and the salad leaves we've been getting, all I need now is the tomatoes, cucumber and some fruit and that's lunch every day!

Anyway, it sure was a treat digging up the potatoes and getting something, almost like digging for gold.

It's all coming along now, so I just need to keep on top of it and finish a few things off this weekend, like stain the shed, build the frame for the Sweet Peas and keep weeding, then we are looking good.

All in all, not too bad...and there is even a strawberry growing, only one but it's a start!

Finally, the decorating is finished, now how's the allotment?

2009-05-26T10:25:00.007+01:00

Yep, after promising to redecorate the hall, stairs and landing in May, I have finally finished, so all looking fresh, with the walls, ceiling, skirting boards, door frames and bannister's painted. Phew, what a job. Also, this weekend, before making my way to the plot, I managed to power wash the deck and get a layer of stain on it, as it really needed it. I tell you, I'm stiff all over today and feel like an old man, but great to get it all done.

Now, I was a bit wary before going to the plot, as I'd not had a chance these last few weeks to get down there, keep on top of the weeding, etc so it was with some trepidation I set off on Sunday afternoon and sure enough I had weeds growing everywhere. I spent 3 hours weeding the beds and then on the holiday Monday I once again went in the afternoon to complete the job and get the tomato plants in the raised bed, that I had grown from seed.

Anyway, let's start with the potatoes. As you can see below they are coming on well and look like a tropical rainforest!

These were planted on the last weekend of March, so in theory after 10 weeks, the First Earlies should be ready for digging up. So either next weekend or the one after should be the time to test one and see what we've got....that is if I can get the right one's as I got them muddled up when I was chitting them. Not much else to do with them, just a bit of weeding, but now they are so big, they keep the weeds down themselves.

Next, I had to weed all around the raspberries and as you can see I'm starting to get a few shoots and behind you can see the sweetcorn still looking good, which I'm pleasantly surprised at, as we, had a lot of wind (which took off half the felt from the shed roof, so I had to make a temporary plastic covering, until I get some more).

Also, Dad's salad leaves have done really well after an early problem with slugs and for the first time I took some of the leaves and I have some in my sandwich today!...not to mention the 3 bags in the fridge!

The next bed had the carrots, rocket, little gem, all year round lettuce, spinach (both types) which I grew from seed and the marigolds, tomatoes and courgette plants from Dad. These last two have done well as we've had all sorts of weather and they have so far survived and look to be getting a bit of strength to them. Here's the carrots.....

and the lettuce and spinach...growing like crazy.

(i dont know how I got the underline for the next 2 sections, but I cant' get rid of it, sorry)

The next bed had the cabbages and broccoli seeds as well as some more potatoes and tomato plants. The plants look to be fine, but the seeds got a bit overgrown with weeds and although a few survived as you can see below, I shall have to redo the spaces and see how they get on.

The next bed has the peas, dwarf french beans and climbing beans in and as you can see the the Kelvedon Wonder have shot up, but the slugs really liked the Onward so I had to redo them and they will come a little later. Also, you can see the climbing beans just shooting up and the dwarf french beans just coming through, along with the marigolds I grew from seed.

One of the other jobs was to get the raised bed cleared of weeds, put in the bags of compost I get cheap at Lidl and put the tomato plants I'd grown in. So here they are. Ellie is going to plant some flowers in the area near the front and the Allotment Society are running some children's growing competitions, so I expect we'll be entering them too.

Lastly, my strawberries have not done well at all, so that's one thing that hasn't gone too well, but luckily when I was in Lidl I saw 6 plants for £3, so bought 2 packs and put them in and we'll see how they get on. Too embarrassed to show a photo of the poor plants in that bed!!

So now I'm back on top I've a few more things to plant, then need to keep an eye on watering, feeding, etc. Also, need to refix the shed roof, make my bench/shelf unit from the wood I collected and finish staining the shed too. But that's for the next few weeks....anyway very warm and sunny weekend to do all the work then a downpour overnight and this morning to water them all, I hope they are all ok!

Dad and Mum come laden with treats

2009-04-27T10:11:00.003+01:00

Well with the beautiful British weather all set to give us a pleasant weekend, my Mum and Dad arrived with a car full of plants Dad had grown in his greenhouse. As I said, I wasn't sure what he'd have, so you can imagine my surprise and delight to see the car full!

We set off late morning on the Saturday and set to work working out where they'd all go and with Mum weeding the patch for the sweetcorn while I planted the strawberries I'd bought from ebay and Dad began with the cabbage and marigolds.

As you can see below the sweetcorn look great and we managed to squeeze some of the lettuce and salad leaves around the edge too.

You will also notice the raspberry poles we put up in the afternoon, in the background.

From the following photo you can see the tomato plants, cabbages and marigolds we spread about in the brassica and root beds.

....and here's the small strawberry plants, with a little bit of room left in that bed for something else.

and here's a shot of the main potato bed. I did earth them up last week and now look at them. They just keep on growing!

You can only imagine my pleasure in seeing all of these plants in the plot, as it really looks great with lots of different vegetables, fruit and flowers at different stages of development. As my Dad has spent so long getting them from seed to nice healthy plants, I now have the responsibility of making sure I keep them alive, nurture them and try to get as much out of them as I can.

I've got to update my plan and research how I protect them all from the pests and frosts, so I expect to make preparations for that this week. However, I have promised that I would start decorating of the hall and landing in May, so I'm going to be a busy boy over the next month or so.

I also need to finish staining the shed, (I did do half of it on Saturday afternoon after we'd sorted the raspberry poles) and fill the raised bed with soil for some more tomato plants (which I'm growing from seed), Ellie and Tom's seeds and anything else. Not to mention all the weeding and watering depending on the weather.

Anyway, not only did we have a lovely day in the Sun, but Swindon beat Bristol Rovers and managed to avoid relegation, so all in all a BIG RESULT of a weekend. Keep it coming England, I'm having a ball.

It wasn't warm and sunny 11 years ago today......

2009-04-20T10:20:00.002+01:00

Yes, 11 years ago on Saturday 18th April , Karen and I got married and it was a cold afternoon that day. Not that it mattered of course as we had a brilliant day. Unfortunately, Karen picked up a sinus infection last week and is laid up recovering, at the moment and thus the reason I'm at the allotment with Ellie. Tom was invited to watch Crystal Palace play with one of his friends from school, so we are listening out for the score on the radio.

It's been a little while since the last update, during which we had a great week before Easter in Pembrokeshire with our friends and so with the sun and rain, the weeds and grass have grown with a vengeance, so plenty of work to do.

I have managed to pop down to do a little bit previosuly, but today, Ellie and I were planning on planting some peas and marigolds in one bed, some cabbages, leeks and broccoli in another, as well as see how the potatoes are getting on under the fleece, along with a bit of weeding.

As you can see from the next 2 photo's we've got plenty of labels in and not only was Ellie helping with the seeds, she also wrote most of the labels out too.

I took the fleece off the potatoes and by some miracle they are growing!!! Hoorah. I weeded the bed and 'earthed them up' as you can see below.

Of course, we deserved a break and Ellie got the chair, as she was supplying the mini eggs!

....and Ellie was keen to take a photo of me actually working so here's the proof.

We had a good couple of hours and have now got quite a lot of seeds in, including some carrots, lettuce and spinach which we put in last week. I'm hoping to get a few strawberry plants and put them in next week. Also, my Dad is coming over to help me with the raspberry supports and bring me some plants, with luck, so I'm excited to see what he brings!

It's all taking shape and as you may have noticed from some of the photo's a lot of the plots are being worked on now, so I expect to see more and more people around. Roll on next week.... from a happy gardener on his anniversary.

Thank you to the Boss

2009-03-31T09:51:00.003+01:00

...before we start.....it's a bit like 'Where's Wally?'...only 'Where's the plot?' !!

It takes an understanding wife when you spend every spare minute you have at the weekend down at the allotment and thankfully that's what I have. As we're away over Easter, I knew I'd miss 2 weekends and therefore, needed to get a few things sorted so between football, jobs around the house and church I was down at the plot trying to make as much headway as I could.

Here's what I wanted to get done;-

1. Nail/screw all the wooden slats I'd managed to saw to size during the week, in the evenings. As the clocks went forward in the US 3 weeks ago, I was finishing work at 8pm and had some spare time.

2. Fix the new latch and padlock to the door, which Karen found in Wilko's for under £3.

3. Clear the area outside the shed with the mattock and dig it over to get rid of the roots and weeds, etc.

4. Saw all the lengths of wood I had to make a raised bed area and also get some more if I needed it from Ali's plot, as she had some left over.

5. Nail/screw all these together and level it off.

6. Board up the side of the path leading to the plot and level this off so there is a proper path to walk on.

7. Plant a load of the potatoes, cover with fleece and sow some carrot seeds under the cloches.

Now it doesn't seem too bad, but it's amazing just how long these things take, with all the sawing, etc and of course the hail we had on Saturday afternoon, didn't really help matters. It took me back to the times I was there over the winter digging in the rain and freezing cold.

I spent all Saturday afternoon on the plot working away and although the weather forecast was supposed to be good in the afternoon, the hail proved that wrong and curtailed my efforts. So, after church on Sunday morning, I dashed back down to finish off the raised bed and there was even more urgency as the council had deposited a huge pile of wood shavings on the site and I knew this would be perfect for the area around the shed and the path. The huge pile was getting steadily demolished and I had to get in there fast!

Here's the rear of the shed all done.

Thankfully, I completed all of this and was back home for 1pm in time for a great Sunday lunch, before collecting up the potatoes and carrot seeds and heading back down for some planting. For the first time, I met my other neighbour, David, who was working up a sweat digging some of his plot over.

Here's the raised bed, path and area sorted by the shed, with the wood shavings on the ground.

I'd taken about half of the potatoes, partly because they were ready, but also as we needed the space in the spare room to get everything ready for our holiday. The rest have been moved to the garage until I get back. Now, not really knowing how much room they would take up, I took my new book, The Essential Allotment Guide by John Harrison, which Ali very kindly bought me as a gift and is really useful. His website is on the links on the blog. I followed his instructions on the spacing, etc, used my hoe to make the trench and then put in 2 rows each of my First Earlies(Accent), Second Earlies (Charlotte) and Maincrop (Cara)....and this took up the whole bed I had set aside for ALL of the potatoes...ooops. So I'll need to squeeze the rest in elsewhere. Ahhhh, also, bit of a problem, maybe, as I forgot to label the different potatoes when they were chitting and may have got a bit confused with the First and Second Earlies, so could be a bit of trial and error when I dig up the first one to see if they are ready. Silly me, but with luck I'll get away with it and have learnt that lesson for next year.

I was reading in the book all about the wireworm and apparently it's pretty prevalent in grassland, so with all the roots, grass and brambles that were on the plot, I'm just hoping these pesky little monkeys don't eat through all of the spuds before I get a chance to dig them up, but fingers crossed, as there isn't a lot I can do about it now.

Here's all the potatoes, nice and cosy under the fleece (thanks to my Dad for that).

Finally, under the cloches I sowed a row of Early Nantes 5 carrots, so we'll see if they do anything when we get back from our trip. A finishing touch was Ellie's rabbit plaster caste mould she had painted which nicely marked the row. Hopefully, that will be the only rabbit that gets near them!

Here's one final photo looking West down the plot. I took all of the photo's on the way home from work on Monday, as I forgot to take the camera with me on Sunday.

Well that's it until mid April when I plan to sort out the bed for the legumes, get some strawberry plants, stain the shed, make a table from an old pallet I have, fill the raised bed ready for some plants and most important of all get a chair to sit on and enjoy the sunshine with Radio 5 live on, hopefully listening to Swindon avoiding relegation......

Rome wasn't built in a day, but.......

2009-03-23T10:00:00.002Z

....the shed almost was!

What a lucky boy I am. Nice sunny day to erect the shed. After dropping Tom off at his football, I stopped off at a house on the way home to recycle some of the wood they had in their skips from the roof extension they are having done. I then dropped this off at the allotment and drove home to let Karen have the car and pick Tom up later.

So with my trusty Ikea bag full of all the tools I thought I'd need I set off down to 94a and began the Grand Design. The base was quite rotten, so having replaced some of it and used some of the wood to reinforce it, I then repaired some of the panels and then man handled it all up. As you can see from the photo below, I ended up with 2 ends with space for doors!

Then it was a case of screwing the roof panels on, using the felt Michael gave me to cover it and then use all the bits of wood I had to fix that on. Thankfully, I had just enough of the felt and pieces to finish it off. Also, I did have one door and screwed this into place...

Almost looks like new from this side! Ellie was making us all lunch today, so I had to dash off to make sure I wasn't late. In the afternoon, Ellie and Tom decided to come down and have an explore about as it was such a lovely day. I carried on with the fixing and also sawing and screwing into place some supports to fill in the other door space...and so this is how I left it on Saturday.

Just in time for the 'Inspectors' arriving on Sunday afternoon after our Mother's Day lunch!!

So, quite a productive Saturday and now I need to finish that end of the shed off next week, stain the wood and then set to putting the raised bed in by the shed too. I think I'll have to revisit those skips to get some more wood first! Also, I think I'll try sowing some carrots and maybe some of the potatoes that have been happily chitting away, before we go away for Easter. Plenty to do, but oh what fun!!!! Happy Springtime.

Sheds and bases

2009-03-16T10:27:00.003Z

Just a short update today after a great British Spring weekend of weather, with some of it spent down at the allotments, including the official opening of the Trading Hut by the mayor on Sunday afternoon in the warm sunshine.

I mentioned last time about the shed and the base, well Ali, my neighbour had a double shed she managed to get from that brilliant website,'freecycle' and decided to only use half and have a greenhouse as well, so she very kindly offered all the other bits she wouldn't need, to me. As a result, her good friend Jo agreed to come with his mixer and do both of the shed bases and also construct Ali's shed and greenhouse, with some help from everyone on the allotments.

I offered my limited services for some of the time, but Jo was an absolute trooper and with his two boys sorted out the shed bases on the Saturday and then on Sunday got Ali's shed up in no time and then started with the many pieces of the greenhouse. I was on hand in the morning, but had to leave him with lots of labelled pieces and plenty of nuts and bolts. What a job that is going to be. Ali's plot is really starting to take shape now as you can see from the photo's.

Please click on the link on the side of the blog, where you see Ali's allotment blog for Plot 144 and she has lots of photo's of the two days with all the activity.

Here's a photo of Karen, Ellie and Tom on Sunday afternoon at the 'official' opening with the shed parts piled up at the back....oh and my homemade cloches warming the soil before some early carrot planting.

..and here's the base with the bottom of the shed drying out on it....PPHHHEWWW..it fits!

So you can guess what the next job is going to be! I'm hoping to sort this all out soon , get the shed up and put a raised bed area next to it, as well as planting the potatoes sometime in April as they are happily chitting in the spare room at the moment...a few more beautiful weekends like this and we'll be sorted.

FINISHED !

2009-03-02T12:13:00.002Z

Well this weekend saw the completion of the digging, so after a full 4 months since my first visit to the plot, I have managed to clear it, mark it out and double dig it (with help from Mike of course). HOOOORRRRAAAAYYY. Here's the way 94a looks now.

I also found an old photo I took on the first visit and you can see how much it has changed from the next 2 photo's.

BEFORE

AFTER

It was a final push this weekend, with Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, just to get it done and also make some preparations for the shed too. I now have a clear plot and can look forward to the next test...the plants and seeds!

I've got a pretty good idea what I'm going to grow, but now need to get all the information together, to make sure I'm clear on when, how and where to sow, plant, etc each vegetable. So that's my next job.

In the meantime, with a little bit of luck, I'll be able to get rid of all the bags of rubbish and old carpet I don't need, down to the local recycle centre and then see about the shed, but more on that later. Here's the base for it anyway.

GOOD OLD BLIGHTY

2009-02-23T10:55:00.004Z

Now imagine it, the sun is going down after warming the countryside, you've been hard at work on the land, the Sports Report music is playing at 5pm on Radio 5, you've got a cup of tea in your hand standing in front of a fire.....and you hear Swindon have come back from 2 nil down at half time to win 4-2 (well of course, it doesn't have to be Swindon, but you get the idea)..Could there be anything more quintessentially British than that? What a nice finish to the day.

Another beautiful afternoon at the allotment on Saturday, with two worm hunters in tow again, enjoying the freedom of exploring the allotments, having worm races and generally mucking about with mud and water. So you can imagine the state they were in after an hour and a half or so when Karen came to take them home, dry them out and clean them up. Straight into a bath for them!

Unfortunately, my 3 prong fork (it did start with 4) soon became a 2 prong fork not long after starting, so it was a little laboured working with that and my spade. (I bought a new one on Sunday to replace it). But, I still managed to finish the final rotating bed and start on the 'strawberry' bed to finish all the digging. As you'll see from the photo's, I'm now about half way through the last one...so round the final bend and just about across the finishing line. PHeeewwwwwww.

I also bashed one of the old corrugated iron sheets into a protective 'brazier' type thing to start to burn away the roots I have been drying out and fully expect to keep this going until the huge pile of discarded mud/roots/weeds/grass, etc has been cleared.

So, now I need to finish off the digging, use the carpet for the paths and get rid of all the old rubbish down to the recycle centre...then we move on to the shed and getting ready for planting...All in all a great day. Nice one, good old Blighty!!!

So here we are from atop the pile of roots, etc looking East back up with the Sun setting behind me.

and here's looking back to the West, with the Sun going down and it starting to get dark.

...and finally the last bed to be finished off. You can see the section left to dig, so not too far to go now.

Two little helpers

2009-02-17T11:50:00.003Z

All geared up and ready for action........

' Have you found any more worms?'

Thanks to the US holiday on Monday and following our attempts at emulating the celebrities on Dancing on Ice at the ice rink in Guildford, the kids came with me to the plot as it wasn't freezing for once.

I'd managed a little bit of digging on Sunday morning, before we went to my Mum and Dad's as I wanted to see if I could get Dad's seed potatoes and let him have them. Unfortunately due to the snow recently, most of them were delayed, but I did get one lot for Dad from the new shop. However, at least I managed to finish off the bed Mike was doing and just dig the first 'spit' in the final rotational bed, before the shop opened.

Now on Monday, with my intrepid worm hunters/stone collectors I managed to get a fair bit done and think that on my next visit, I'll be able to finish this bed off and then just have the last permanent one to go...so about 75-80% of the way there in total I think.

Karen came to collect the children after an hour and a half or so and then I carried on until dusk, so here's the photo as I finished as it began to get a little gloomy. Just need to finish the one off on this side to make it level with the other one.

All in all, good to get a bit more done and over the next few weeks, I hope to complete the digging, then I can sort out the rolls and rolls of carpet, take all the bags of rubbish to the refuse centre and prepare a spot for the shed....before I need to get ready for planting.

At Dusk in the snow....

2009-02-04T09:46:00.003Z

Due to the amount of snow we'd had, all the trains around us had been cancelled. Having part hitched and got a different train from East Croydon on the way to work, I knew I'd be in for more of the same on the way home. So I made my way via East Croydon, then a bus to Wallington and walked the rest of the way home. As I was passing, I thought I'd stop off at the allotment to get a photo of it in the snow. I don't suppose I'd get too many of them.

It was getting dark by the time I got there, but here they are........

You can just see the tops of the raspberry canes in the foreground.

My double digging 'spit' full of snow, in one of the remaining beds left to dig.

Brothers in Arms !

2009-02-03T11:38:00.005Z

What a day, What a day. Michael offered to come and help me dig and thankfully the weather looked to be promising, so not long after 9am, a fit brother arrived for a day of digging!

We set to work on the rotational beds and figured we get plenty of digging done before lunch (with the odd cup of tea to keep us going) , then in the afternoon we'd do a bit more, but also burn the big pile of grass/brambles, etc I'd collected and also have a go with the Kelly Kettle.

It was a perfect day, cold but sunny and the ground had dried out, so it was better for pulling the roots up. Here we are both hard at work.

Ali and Gerty came to say hello and it did seem as if the good weather had got plenty of people out on their allotments.

Anyway, after lunch we drudged back with all our 'equipment' and the following photo's give you an idea of what we got up to !!!

Mike chopping the wood and getting the fire going before we put that big pile to his right on it.

A little bit of smoke(oops) and in the foreground, the Kelly Kettle almost ready to give us each a cup of tea!

Up close. The Kelly Kettle, so thank you to Karen's parents for the Christmas present.

Here we are taking it easy, admiring all our hard work and of course, making sure the fire burns down safely.

So after a great day's effort, the plot is now two thirds completed, which is superb. Here's the final photo's of the work. Well done to us.

Both taken from the West side of the plot, from each corner looking up to the East.

With luck the weather will give me a chance to complete all the digging during February, but if the last 2 days is anything to go by, after all the snow we've had, I'm not so sure. Anyway, fingers crossed...and THANKS MIKE !!

I'm reviewing the situation.....You got to dig a veggie bed or two

2009-01-20T11:06:00.006Z

Welcome to my Oliver! inspired update. Last night we went to see the show and it was a brilliant production, so thanks to my Mum and Dad for the Birthday present from last Summer. Rowan Atkinson as Fagan, pure genius.

With the new year well underway, I knew I had to dig on and try to get the beds sorted out, so I was lucky enough to be able to go down for a few hours on Saturday, Sunday and a little bit of Monday to see what I could get done. After the first few hours, my body began to complain and I think about 2-3 hours each day is as much as I can do without killing myself.

Thankfully I managed to finally get the 'Potato' bed completed after taking out wheelbarrow loads of roots and stones/flint. Here's a little of what I'm having to deal with.

But, here's the final result. Now just waiting for the potatoes to arrive from the NEW (!!!) Trading Hut, then a bit of chitting and we'll be away. You can see the 'Hut' in the background and very impressive it is too. If you look at the Stanley Road Allotment Blog, you'll see it being built and it's due to open in a few weeks.

I also managed to complete the last section of the bed with the raspberries in, so I may move the Autumn Bliss row, under advisement (!) as it will give them a bit more room and I'll still have spare room for something else to go in there too. Here's a photo of that too.

I have now started on the bed adjacent to the potato bed and will be doing my best over the coming weeks to get the other beds at least partially completed before the planting season begins. I'm just over a third of the way through the whole plot and although it doesn't look like too much is happening I can tell you, there is a lot of hard graft going into it. Especially for someone not used to manual labour!

Here's the latest view from the top of the plot, from the East looking West. Nobody else about today. Not too surprising as the soil on Monday was very wet.

I'm just starting to sort out what I'm going to grow and where, so I'm spending time making plans and notes to help me with the planting, etc so that I'm ready when the time comes and can organise to get the seeds/plants, etc.

All in all, going pretty well, so Cheerio, but I'll Be Back Soon!

New Year....still rooting around

2009-01-05T11:31:00.002Z

I've felt pretty guilty, as I've not had a chance during most of December to get down to my allotment and get some digging done, but with all the Christmas and New Year fun all done, I should be able to get a bit more done and try to rid my plot of all the roots in the soil and get the beds ready for planting.

Even with the heavy frosts, I knew I had to have a go on Saturday, so with Tom's football called off due to a frozen pitch, I set off with my trusty fork and spade, along with a cup of tea in my new thermos mug and a few left over treats to keep me going and was down in the sunshine by 10.30am. Now, of course it was pretty hard, but once I managed to get the top 3 inches off, the soil underneath was perfect for digging and getting the roots out. Regrettably, I'm left with a pile of frozen lumps of soil, but with luck, nature, will help me with those over time.

However, I did get a couple of my rows done, in what will be the potato bed, so we're well on our way.

With all the bad weather, I'm also starting to think about the shed and what I'm going to grow, so over the next few weeks I'll be getting this sorted out. I did try to get a shed from B&Q we saw in the paper for under £65, but by the time we'd got back from Scotland and I'd managed to get to our local store, they had all gone. I figured, for that price, you couldn't go wrong. Alas, so did lots of other people!

That's all, Ellie's 8th Birthday on Saturday, so this weekend could be tricky...but fingers crossed. Oh what a year to look forward to...this should be fun....and I've not even mentioned the Kelly Kettle.

Digging in the sunshine

2008-12-08T13:54:00.002Z

Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a wonderful day.....With such a busy weekend, I wasn't sure if I'd even get down to the allotment, but thankfully, I was allowed out after Church for an hour or so.

It was all about getting the beds dug, so with my gloves, spade and fork I set off to get one wide 'spit' done. I set to work on the strawberry bed and even though it was a bit frosty on the top inch or so, I managed to get one 'spit' done and fill a barrow full of roots. They are nasty things and look a bit like the Day of the Triffids. Either that or a nasty Bushtucker trial in I'm a Celebrity...but I'll get as many of them out as I can, to give the plants a chance to grow next year.

I met one of my allotment neighbours on Saturday, by chance, at the Church fair and they are really nice people, so that's excellent news for both of us. Also, my Dad kindly brought the poles and wire for the raspberry canes on Saturday, so they are in the garage waiting to go. Excellent, thanks Dad!

Next time I go, will be the potato bed's turn.......maybe next Saturday morning, as we have our family Christmas lunch on the Sunday. Oh, I hope it's sunny again, that was just perfect on Sunday morning.

Photo's from Thursday 27th November

2008-11-28T12:50:00.002Z

The leaf compost bin
View from the East, in the middle of the plot, looking 'down' to the West
View from the NE corner, with the happy raspberry canes in the foreground
View from the SE corner looking 'down', with the bags of rubbish in the foreground

Before and After 1 month of work

2008-11-28T12:44:00.002Z

'After 1 month'....view from NW corner of plot looking 'up' to the East

'Before' ...view from the same area

Tea and biscuits......

2008-11-28T12:21:00.002Z

Well thanks to the US Thanksgiving holiday, I was given the opportunity to get a bit more work done on the plot. Karen very kindly gave me a lift down there for my morning's workout, as I had the kitchen waste and 2 hugs bags of leaves from Adrian. All pretty quiet down there, although Derek was working away and the Sun even managed to come out for a little while. It was so warm I had to take my fleece off, although it did make up for it and start raining too, but not for long.

As I was hoping, I used my mattock to good use once again and cleared the final two 'rotation' beds, in order that I could prepare each bed ready for double digging. I have to say it did feel good to finally get the grass/weeds/brambles/carpet, etc all cleared so I could actually see the plot and start to get an idea of where all the fruit and veg will grow.

Now for the most important bit. For the first time, I sat down and had a cup of tea (well a few by the end) from my flask and some biscuits. Now that was a nice feeling, my first rest whilst I've been at work on the plot. It certainly did taste good and gave me the encouragement to get the rest done...I'm looking forward to many more of them, that's for sure!

I then set to work on each bed, digging a 'spit' and moving the soil to the other end of each bed and then each time I go down, I shall move from one bed to another to make sure whatever digging I get done, I shall have each bed at least partially ready to go.

I also sorted out the mass of carpet, rolled up the bits I could use and put them in front of the compost bins out of the way. With the remainder, I filled some of my old bags to go to the tip at some point with the other rubbish I had collected.

Finally, I used some old compost bin parts, I found lying around and made up a container for the leaves to make leaf mould and emptied the leaves I had into it. Still plenty of room, so I shall have to get a few more, as that will come in handy next year.

Amazing to think it was just over a month ago I first came down to the plot and took the first photo's. I took some more to show what I'd been up to and now it's a lot of hard work digging and getting out all those pesky roots.

Autumn Bliss....

2008-11-24T11:44:00.002Z

Amazing, it didn't rain, but boy was it cold. I'm sure you'd call it perfect digging weather, nice and cold but plenty of sunshine...Autumn Bliss indeed.

I set out on Saturday morning wrapped up and ready for action. I set to work on the first bed getting enough dug to be able to plant the Autumn Bliss raspberry canes, which I had soaked overnight. Having used some compost I put the canes in and they looked good and I also got an extra one free, so squeezed in 6 in the row. I still have a bit more digging to do there to finish it off.

However, having got the last of the raspberry canes in, I wanted to get as much of the plot cleared to be able to see the 4 'rotating beds', so set to work with the scythe and mattock and cleared 2 beds on the South side and then starting moving the bonfire pile onto the new bed ready for burning.

I also rolled up a lot of the carpet and piled that up in front of the compost bins, although there is another pile left to sort out, that you can see in one of the photo's. I think I shall use the carpet to cover the path down the middle, otherwise I shall have a few trips to the local recycle/rubbish centre to get rid of it.

Finally, I cut down a lot of the weeds and grass on the second bed on the North side of the plot. This leaves me that bed to clear with the mattock and then a final bed on the North side to clear. With luck I plan to do that this coming Thursday, as it's Thanksgiving, so I get a day off and we are busy this weekend, so not likely to get anything done. Let's hope it isn't pouring on Thursday morning.

Once I've got the beds sorted, I'm going to get each plot ready for double digging and then move from one to another as I dig, as I don't think I'll get it all done before the spring, but if I can get half of each bed done, then that should be enough to be able to grow lots of stuff next year.

Quick update this week as very, very busy.

Photo's from Saturday 22nd November

2008-11-24T11:32:00.002Z

1. Looking West over raspberry canes, from the middle of the East of the plot.
2. Looking East over Compost Bins, with large pile of carpet and the 'bonfire' pile in foreground.
3. From SW corner, showing the 3 beds on the South side of the plot (one has the bonfire on it).
4. From SE corner showing the 1st permanent bed with the raspberry canes, almost all dug.

Roots and Raspberries.........

2008-11-17T10:11:00.002Z

What a exciting weekend. The FIRST plants go in. Yipppeeeeeeeee.....

I wasn't expecting to be able to do much this weekend, but on Friday the Raspberry Canes had arrived from a nursery I found on ebay (total cost for 15 canes was £22.50 inc postage), for what I thought was pretty good value and also saved me a lot of time in visiting local garden centres and trying to find what I wanted for the right price.

While Tom was playing football, I set to work on more double digging and uncovering more and more of my now best friends, the ROOTS. Arrghhhh, they are everywhere and I have to get rid of them otherwise it will ruin my plot. Unfortunately, because there are so many I don't get to use the Rotovator, so it's all down to manual labour, sweat and tears. I worked out that it takes about an hour to dig and clear a length of the bed to 3 spades' width and get all the roots and stones/flint out. I had a quick tally as I was walking home and figured to dig the whole plot like that is going to take into March 2009, doing a couple of hours each weekend. That seems like a lot, so I need to put my mind to trying to move that along somehow....and it doesn't include time for me to build and shed and have lots of cups of tea.

That was it for Saturday, but as we weren't planning on doing too much on Sunday, I was fortunate enough to secure a short pass for an hour or two. Well, I thought it was more like two, but the issuer of the pass, figured one, so I wasn't Top of the Class when I got home before lunch. However, I dug another row (so that was the hour taken up), put plenty of manure on the areas where the canes were going to go and bashed in some posts to give me a 'line' and mark out where the proper poles will go.....hold on, back up a bit...

When I got down on Sunday, after Karen had given me a lift so I could take all the garden waste to the compost bins, I also bought 8 bags of Nigel's manure and he very kindly wheeled them down to my plot and we piled them up ready for use. So, that was another £22. I really hope that next year I am able to produce a lot of compost myself as at this rate and the quality of the soil, each bed is going to need 6 bags, so to do the lot is going to cost £99.

Right so now I have the compost and the bed is mostly ready. I was conscious of the time and wanted to get at least some of the raspberry canes in. I decided to plant the 2 types of Summer Fruiting types, Glen Ample and Glen Prosen and the soil was nice and crumbly with the manure, so I think they'll be quite happy where they are. As you can see from the last set of posts, I wasn't able to plant the Autumn Bliss, so that will have to wait until next week, when I complete another row of digging. I think there is only a couple more rows to do and then that bed will be finished. I'll also have a bit of the room left, so I'll have to think about what could go there.

The next few weeks are going to be very monotonous, with digging, picking out roots and stones as well as clearing the other beds and doing the same over and over again. BUT, it's all this hard work now that should pay dividends in the future, so I'll just put my head down and carry on. Oh and yes, it did rain again...pretty much started when I got there on Sunday, but then it always does when I go so no surprise there..I'm sure the raspberries like it though, so I'll just imagine their happy little faces and unbounded joy at their new home.

Photo's of the First Raspberry Canes all planted.

2008-11-17T10:05:00.002Z

1. Freshly dug, manured bed with 10 Summer Fruiting Raspberry Canes....and pit for Autumn Fruiting.
2. View of the bed from the East looking West.

I'm keeping a lookout for Noah.....

2008-11-10T11:29:00.002Z

Well surprise, surprise lots of rain again on Saturday, so soaked through to the skin once again. I took some photo's on Sunday morning and you can see these below.

Anyway, I had my usual list of stuff to be getting on with, so....

1. Get 4 bags of compost from local council recycle centre. Good idea from my brother who mentioned it!
2. Collect wood from skip in Crichton Road for compost bins/shed.
3. Pay Nigel for the mattock!

...all while Tom was at football.

Then in the 2-3 hours in the afternoon; -

1. Double digging in preparation for the raspberries.
2. Put new sign up.
3. Clear second permanent bed.
4. Strengthen the compost bins and cut up carpet to cover them.

All goes to plan in the morning and after dropping Tom off, drive over to the Kimpton recycle centre, but there isn't a lot of compost left and it's pretty wet, but I fill up my bags with as much as I can get in and on way to the allotment stop and get a few pieces of wood, some for the compost bins and some I think could be good for the raspberry supports. It's a bit wet by now and there isn't anyone at the allotment shop, so hope to see Nigel later on or on Sunday. I don't' want to get a black mark against my name! Drop all the stuff off and manage to get back to collect Tom....pheeewwwwww.

The rain doesn't hold off and by the time I get down there in the afternoon it's all quiet and I set to work clearing the other permanent bed, which is full of roots and I expect these to be my friends over the next few weeks as I dig the beds. In the breaks in the rain I carry on double digging and add the compost I collected to the bottom of the 'spits'.

When I need a rest I set to work on the compost bins as part of one of them has collapsed as it needs fixing in place. Cut up some of the masses of carpet to cover them and put up my new sign. Now that looks good and gives the plot a feel of permanency I think. I'm here to stay.

As the time ticks on and it begins to get a little gloomy I set off hoping it will dry up for the firework show we're going to tonight.

Sunday is a new day and after the Remembrance service I set off to the allotments in search of Nigel and thankfully he's there and I can settle up. Also, Derek is preparing his plot with manure and getting his new raspberries ready to go in. Note to me...hurry up. If Derek is putting them in now, I need to be. I check with Nigel on the bags of manure and sure enough the shop sells them, 4 for £11...seems cheapish to me...but rather than go storming in with a order, I decide to check how good this is. Certainly better quality stuff than at the council's recycle centre and would save a lot of time having to go over there and get it.

When I get back, our friends aren't able to make it so after lunch, with the rain holding off, I race back to the plot to try and get some more digging done and maybe clearing, as next week I know I wont have a lot of time. No sooner have I started digging when the heavens open and I'm cowering next to Derek's shed thinking, NOT AGAIN. The clouds look pretty dark and so I pack up and head off home early. I then have a bit of time to research the compost costs on the internet and once again see that Nigel has quite a nice deal going there. Now I know how he sold 400 bags of it last year.

Next week is going to be tricky, but with luck I'll be able to do a little bit of double digging, buy some raspberry canes and get them in......now that will be something to see.

Photo's from the weekend of 8-9th November 2008

2008-11-10T11:23:00.002Z

1. Double digging with compost.
2. Top 2 beds with some double digging going on. The area with the carpet on is where the shed is going to go.
3. Top 2 beds from the other side.
4. My sign on the compost bins

Driving rain wont stop me !

2008-11-03T12:49:00.000Z

So,

1. Collect pallet(s)/take garden waste for compost bins
2. Order potatoes

These two to be done while Tom is playing football.

3. Make up compost bins for the rubbish to go in. (because it can't go back in the garage now that's been sorted out, otherwise I fear there would be some complaints!)
4. Mark out boundary to the top (East) having checked with Derek on where his plot ends, then mark out where the shed will go and the first permanent bed.
5. Sickle/scythe down grass on first bed and dig up turf and deposit by compost bins.

...that was the list I made myself during the week and gave myself 3 hours to get it done in, as there is no way I could get away with staying out any longer than that. Now of course I'm keeping an eye on the weather hoping it will stay dry and after a hectic Halloween, Tom decides he's going to take it easy and not go to football in the morning. Even better I think as rain is not forecast until later in the afternoon.

By 10am I've filled the car with all my tools and the trusty Ikea blue bag with everything I might need, the garden waste and head off to collect the pallets. I can only get one in the car, so having done that, I'm at the allotment ready to unload and get to work. No sooner have I got my boots on, when it starts to rain and over the next 3 hours, gets worse and worse.

Thankfully, Derek and Ali are there and help me unload the car and I manage to get one thing on my list done by checking with Derek on his plot and boundary...so all going to plan so far.

You can see from the photo what a mess the 'top' of the plot is and I soon get to work clearing this, leveling it off, marking the boundary and working out where the shed will go. That's the shed I'm planning to build, using my excellent woodworking skills, of course. Start to fill some old bags with the rubbish I can't compost from the plot and with the rain worsening, I see the Trading Hut is open and dive in there to sort out the potatoes.

Nigel on hand with the forms, so there I go ordering 3kg's each of Accent, Charlotte and Cara...as well as some for my Dad, as at 80p a kilo, that is great value, so I'm told. So my first expenditure of £7.20. Thankfully, these wont come until Feb next year, so that's the deadline for the other beds.

Now it's the compost bins which need fixing together with the pallets I've collected and corrugated iron sheets left lying around. With a bit of trial and error I manage to cobble something together and empty all the garden waste into it and am ready to continue filling with what comes from clearing the first bed. I took the photo just before I left and couldn't find the energy to cut up some of the carpet lying around to go on the bins, so used the corrugated sheets...I just hope it's still standing next week, when I go back.

Now for the really hard work, plenty of time to go and still full of energy. I clear the grass as much as I can and this is emptied in the compost bins using my wheelbarrows, yes wheelbarrows, as 2 were left under all grass on the plot and seem to work so that's good news. You can see them in one of the photo's.

As I begin using the spade to get rid of the turf, John ventures out of his dry shed and having watched me for a while, comes over for a chat and impart some advice on me. '' You need a mattock for that'' he says. Now, being a novice I'm all ears. Derek's got one of those and one shout later and Derek is there demonstrating how easy it is to clear a plot with one. Then before you know it John and I are in the Trading Hut with Nigel and I'm now the proud owner of a mattock at a reasonable price of £19.75........and as for the credit crunch, well I only had enough for the potatoes, so was given it on 'credit'. Now you cant say fairer than that. I'm feeling a part of the Allotment family already. Must remember to have the money next time, Nigel is a big bloke. Number 1 on the list for next weekend.... so spending up to £26.95 now.

Let me tell you, in the pouring rain and mud it's not easy, especially for someone like me that spends all week sitting at a desk in the dry and warm (just like I am now). I set to it, swinging the mattock and with a determination set my eyes on the marker I set up for the end of the bed. Time is ticking away, I'm soaked through, yet I'm not going to give up. I feel encouraged when I look up, to see that Derek is still working away with his flat cap on, the door to the Trading Hut is open, so Nigel is in there somewhere and I can still hear John laughing away(so someone is in his shed enjoying a cup of tea and keeping dry), so I'm not alone!!!!

Anyway, with 1pm fast approaching, I finally get it done, pack all the tools away and take the 3 photo's just to prove I've done something, then off home to see everyone. Give them all a laugh when I emerge from the garage with only my pants and fleece on, as everything else is soaked and covered in mud.....

But, oh the achievement I feel. ...now just 5 more beds to do, lots of double digging, planting, etc, etc.

I now have 5 days to get a new list for the next 2-3 hours stretch on Saturday and it will have to be Saturday, as we're meeting up with some friends on Sunday...so I'm really hoping it's going to be dry this time.

Photo's from Saturday 1st November

2008-11-03T12:41:00.000Z

1. Top of plot, to the EAST, up to the back of Derek's shed
2. My first attempt at compost bins
3. The First permanent bed cleared of grass/turf/etc

The first photos..before the work begins

2008-10-30T14:16:00.000Z

The O'Kill Allotment 94a !

2008-10-30T14:12:00.000Z

Well thanks to Karen's superb Birthday present I am now the proud owner of Plot 94a at the Stanley Road Allotments. It took a while on the waiting list but having go the key, my first day on the plot was Saturday 25th October 2008.