Ok so here we are now a bit later... we planted the asparagus crowns some three weeks ago and also put the strawberry plants on the allotment. The strawberries all came from the two strawberry plants I have on the roof terrace. In between them, they produced 12 new little plants for this year.
Then the day after we got the very sad news that M's good friend and house mate had sadly passed away. This in combination with very heavy workloads for both of us resulted in having been slightly unfocused on the allotment for the past 3 weeks but we are going back there today to plant some potatoes (3 varieties and I am not sure we can remember which is which...) and also some peas. We have also ordered more seeds and some raspberry canes that will be planted next weekend.
Saturday, 21 March 2009
Sunday, 22 February 2009
Onions and Broad Beans
It has been the day of planting onion sets and broad beens on the allotment. We took 6 year old Myles down there for the first time and he really got right in to it and did most of the planting. We planted Red Onions, Yellow Onions, Shallots and some Broad Beans. With the team effort, all onion sets were rapidly planted and Myles got a bit annoyed that there was nothing else to plant right now. We have promised to take him down there again in March when the potatoes will be ready to go in and some of the other seeds we have purchased.
We have also bought some asparagus crowns that are to be planted later in the week. If anyone has any advise on planting asparagus crowns, do let us know!
We have also bought some asparagus crowns that are to be planted later in the week. If anyone has any advise on planting asparagus crowns, do let us know!
Sunday, 15 February 2009
Propagating
Started propagating a few things today... Leeks, cabbages, the first few early tomatoes and some herbs. Created propagating trays out of old fruit and vegetable containers from the supermarket, and used old toilet rolls as individual pots for the soon to be seedlings. Bought more seeds today but most of the rest are either to be started propagating in March or April or planted outside in April or May. Also bought some red onion sets and shallot sets that are to go into the ground next weekend. It will be the first things to be planted in our newly prepared allotment. It is very exciting! The picture below was taken yesterday! It is unbelievable that this is the same as the completely overgrown plot that we only took over 2 months ago.
Saturday, 14 February 2009
Monster Carrot
Look what we found on the visit down to the allotment this morning. It is supposed to be a carrot if anyone is wondering. It is a bit of a monster but in good shape so will be a great addition to the salad bowl this weekend.
Sunday, 1 February 2009
Crash Course in Allotment Gardening
This weekend we met up with one of the more experienced allotment gardeners in our allotment society: Mr O. He has been cultivating his plot for the past 9-10 years and was recommended to us to help clear and prepare our plot. It was fantastic to get advise from someone with experience as opposed to us beginners. It turned out to be a very valuable crash course to allotment gardening.
Mr O was telling us about the state our plot has been in the past 5 years. Long Rye Grass reaching 1.5 m in height that has been spreading thousands of seeds to the neighbouring plots. It must have been a nightmare for the neighbours. On the positive side, Mr O said that our plot is one of the best amongst all the plots in this allotment society and that the soil is top quality.
On the down side Mr O told us that what we had dug so far would not kill off the remaining seeds and that we needed to get down to the yellow clay layer deep beneath. He showed us exactly how it is done and it is looking like quite a job to get on with. We have decided to hire his services to help dig it over thoroughly in order to get it ready in time for planting. It may seem like a short cut to get to where we need but better to get some help and get it right rather than having to start all over a few months down the line.
Unless we get too much snow this coming week, then the plot should be completely dug over by next weeken. Then we will cover it with a layer of compost. Mr O reckons that by mid March, the plot should be in a good enough state for us to start planting on.
And the best thing of yesterday's meeting with Mr O, was the potatoes and turnips he sent us home with. It was from his own harvest back in October. The turnips were the biggest we have ever seen and the potatoes really large and firm and perfect for baking in the oven. A much appreciated treat!
Mr O was telling us about the state our plot has been in the past 5 years. Long Rye Grass reaching 1.5 m in height that has been spreading thousands of seeds to the neighbouring plots. It must have been a nightmare for the neighbours. On the positive side, Mr O said that our plot is one of the best amongst all the plots in this allotment society and that the soil is top quality.
On the down side Mr O told us that what we had dug so far would not kill off the remaining seeds and that we needed to get down to the yellow clay layer deep beneath. He showed us exactly how it is done and it is looking like quite a job to get on with. We have decided to hire his services to help dig it over thoroughly in order to get it ready in time for planting. It may seem like a short cut to get to where we need but better to get some help and get it right rather than having to start all over a few months down the line.
Unless we get too much snow this coming week, then the plot should be completely dug over by next weeken. Then we will cover it with a layer of compost. Mr O reckons that by mid March, the plot should be in a good enough state for us to start planting on.
And the best thing of yesterday's meeting with Mr O, was the potatoes and turnips he sent us home with. It was from his own harvest back in October. The turnips were the biggest we have ever seen and the potatoes really large and firm and perfect for baking in the oven. A much appreciated treat!
Saturday, 24 January 2009
The Big Dig
Today we have started clearing our new allotment. It was totally overgrown as you can see on the 'before' picture here. Long couch grass and lots of thistles everywhere. We also found a shoe, a sandal, a bag of dog poo, lots of plastic bottles, toys and bits of concrete. As the plot has not been in use for at least 5 years it seems that people have been using it to dump their garbage on it. Well they better not do that now that we have taken it on!
We got stuck right in with the help of our good friend Bethan. We have promised her a regular supply of fresh vegetables and fruit in return and hopefully the allotment will help us deliver on our promise. But she seemed to be happy to help and enjoy the day as much as we did.
Mattias set off with the strimmer and started having a go at cutting the grass
down. He looked like a pro from the beginning! Petra and Bethan followed him gathering all the cut grass to pile it up so that we can burn it once it is dry. We got as far as cutting everything once and then almost half the plot a second time before the strimmer decided it had enough. We still need to cut the remaining grass a second time as some bits were still very long. But the strimmer would just not have any of it. So all we could do was to start digging. We came a lot of roots as we were digging away. The size of some of the roots were insane and we found two potatoes and a carrot growing in there. And a lot of worms too which we think is a good sign!
down. He looked like a pro from the beginning! Petra and Bethan followed him gathering all the cut grass to pile it up so that we can burn it once it is dry. We got as far as cutting everything once and then almost half the plot a second time before the strimmer decided it had enough. We still need to cut the remaining grass a second time as some bits were still very long. But the strimmer would just not have any of it. So all we could do was to start digging. We came a lot of roots as we were digging away. The size of some of the roots were insane and we found two potatoes and a carrot growing in there. And a lot of worms too which we think is a good sign!In the end we managed to dig over almost half the plot - that is all that had been cut down twice was then dug up and turned over. If the strimmer could have finished the w
ork and cut down the rest, then we would easily have been able to complete the whole dig today. Once we got going, we really got into it and we could have finished the rest in a couple of more hours. Now we will leave it for a week before we can finish the rest of the plot. In any case, we are now well on the way and feel that we really accomplished something today. Just look at the 'after' picture. We think it is a really good start to our allotment adventure. .
ork and cut down the rest, then we would easily have been able to complete the whole dig today. Once we got going, we really got into it and we could have finished the rest in a couple of more hours. Now we will leave it for a week before we can finish the rest of the plot. In any case, we are now well on the way and feel that we really accomplished something today. Just look at the 'after' picture. We think it is a really good start to our allotment adventure. .Thank you to Bethan for all your help today! We definitely needed it!
Tuesday, 20 January 2009
Cold frame
The cold frame I ordered on the weekend arrived and is now put together and in place on the roof terrace. Really looking forward to starting using it soon. In the meantime I have put the garlic I planted before christmas inside it and left it open. As it has been raining so much recently I worry that the budding garlic bulbs will start rotting if I can not protect them against all the rain.
We will need to start thinking about what to start growing in the cold frame and when to place it there and when to transfer it to the allotment. We will learn as we go along, that is for sure.
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