Plot Blog

First harvest!

2011-05-22T21:46:00.000+01:00

We had our first produce off the plot today! Sadly not something I can take credit for planting, but the strawberries left on the plot by the previous owner have started ripening. There are at least three varieties we think, judging by fruit size and shape, but we have no idea which. Whatever they are, they're all extremely tasty. I only hope we can beat the slugs/birds to the rest as they ripen up.

We spent a couple of sessions on the plot this weekend. Saturday was really rather hot and we got a little singed. Sunday was less sunny and extremely windy, with a quick but sharp rain shower that drove us into the shed for shelter.

There was yet more digging, and we now have about 3/4 of the whole plot dug over, with the rest (barring a small area left to dig) under the weed suppressing membrane, where it will most likely stay for this year. We will grow pumpkins and squash across it so it won't go to waste. Many thanks to Anne as always, who doesn't seem to mind digging while I'm faffing about in the greenhouse or planting stuff.

On Saturday I started fixing up my greenhouse drip irrigation system, which is basically a Big Drippa low pressure system that is going to be connected to a 100 litre water butt rather than the quite miserly 10 litre bag the system comes with - this should keep the plants inside the greenhouse watered for at least a week without any rain topping up the butt. On Sunday I moved in the first plants, two tomatoes (Moneymaker and Ferline) and two sweet peppers (Dulce Italiano and another sweet bell variety, the name of which escapes me at the moment). I'm using large pots rather than growbags, as pots are re-usable and easier to move about should I need to.

Outside the greenhouse the Under-Gardener and I sowed some carrots, parsnip and spinach on Saturday, and on Sunday I planted five more tomato plants (one Moneymaker, two Ferline and two Tamina), well staked against the wind! We also planted a total of ten Russian Giant sunflowers, both around our compost heap and alongside one of the sheds.

The plot really is starting to look like a proper allotment now, and so far most things are growing away well. I'll be back in the week to check on the greenhouse pots and try to grab some more strawberries before the wildlife gets to them.

RIP Sam's Pumpkin, aged 1 week...

2011-05-08T10:08:00.000+01:00

A quick trip to a local garden centre yesterday and I've now got half the greenhouse irrigation system - i.e. a water butt and a downpipe fixture that fits the greenhouse guttering (with a little silicone sealant to help). I need to source some appropriate flexible hose to link between the downpipe and the butt, and am still waiting for the irrigation dripper system to arrive in the post, but nearly there. I also bought a replacement for the 4-tier grow-house in our back garden, as the cover had perished over the past few years of use. The shelves of the old one now reside in the greenhouse on the plot - no point in wasting them, and greenhouse staging is amazingly expensive!

Sadly on arriving at the plot it became clear that Sam's Pumpkin had succumbed to the local slug population within a week - not even the stem remained. My three courgette plants had been attacked but it seems they were large enough to stave off the slugs. I'll replace Sam's Pumpkin and make sure I grow it on in a pot until it's mature enough to do the same.

Apart from the usual hoeing and watering session on the plot (now rendered fairly pointless by a night of rain, but such is life), we dug over another bed and planted eight "Green Globe" artichoke plants. Eight seems a lot but there may be sacrifices to the slugs, we've got the space and we like artichokes! There won't be much of a crop this year, if any, but hopefully next year we'll get a good number, and the plants make an impressive display themselves.

I also planted ("puddled in" is I believe the correct term) another row of leeks - seedlings this time rather than seed, which I found at the garden centre. They should give an earlier crop than the seeds I sowed last week. We'll not be short of leeks if they all survive.

The Under-Gardener really enjoyed with the final job on the plot; incinerating a bin full of dried weeds and grass tussocks that had previously been dug from the plot. The wind was in the right direction (i.e. away from the adjoining houses) and strong enough to really get the incinerator burning fiercely, so it didn't take long at all.

Bank Holiday allotmenteering

2011-05-02T22:28:00.004+01:00

Long time no post, but there's not been much activity on the plot apart from infrequent bouts of clearing/digging ground. Until this long weekend, that is.

Rather than watch the Royal Wedding live on Friday we went to the plot, and ended up spending almost the whole day glazing the greenhouse. When I took over the second half of our plot the previous owner left behind a 6x4' aluminium greenhouse frame, assembled, and a stack of glass panels. It turned out that these panels had originally been stacked with sheets of newspaper between them, probably to provide some protection. However over time being stacked on one plot or another (a long time, the newspapers were dated 1999!) the paper had all but composted, which meant that every single pane of glass had to be scraped and cleaned on both sides with soapy water before assembling into the greenhouse frame. A long a tedious job, but with thanks to my lovely wife doing most of the cleaning while I attempted the ultimate breakable 3D jigsaw, we got it done.

Shiny and clean greenhouse

So I am now the proud owner of a functioning greenhouse. Now to fill it. Before I do so, I am going to rig up a drip irrigation system linked to a water butt (collecting rainwater from the greenhouse roof), as I cannot visit the plot every day so any contents may shrivel and die if the current sunshine levels we're experiencing in the South East continue!

On Saturday we visited our local garden centre near Sunbury-on-Thames, that has been completely refurbished into a shiny new flagship store. We managed to come away with some new plants for the garden at home as well as some flowers and a few veggies for the plot. This included two already quite large aubergine plants (Moneymaker) that I have re-potted into large pots and will move into the greenhouse once my irrigation system is up and running.

We also bought some marigolds and nasturtiums for the "flower bed" at the front of our plot. This was supplemented with three lupins purchased on Sunday's visit to the Hertfordshire Garden Show at Knebworth House. This was a seriously garden-related long weekend! The flower bed was planted today in another marathon session on the plot, and once they have bedded in they'll look rather nice, and hopefully attract lots of bees!

Flower bed at the front of the plot

Anne also planted some flowers (including three striking pink Phlox) in a smaller "flower bed" near the shed/ seating area of the plot, which will also look great when they mature. No pictures yet as the area was in some shade once planted as the afternoon wore on.

Behind the flower bed in the shot on the left are my spuds, first earlies and maincrop, which are coming on nicely.

Further back are the onions (red), garlic and a row of leeks sown from seed. A little late but the ones I had growing on from home were singed in the hot weather and didn't pull through.

Also sown today were beetroot (Solo F1), a variety I've not tried before. The under-gardener helped with sowing those, as the seeds were big enough to handle. I'd hoped to sow some carrots as well but it was so windy on the plot that I didn't dare, for fear of broad-casting the things across the entire allotment site!

I also planted a small block of Minipop baby sweetcorn, more as an experiment than anything else. I detest "big" sweetcorn but quite like the baby variety in stir fries etc so it's worth a punt. I have heard that they don't give a huge crop, but we'll see.

Courgettes in their individual watering holes

The last things I planted today were three courgette plants (see photo) and a pumpkin, all bought cheaply from the garden centre in Saturday. The courgette variety was not specified so we'll have to wait and see how they turn out. The pumpkin is known as "Ghost Rider", which is the main reason I chose it, and is now known and labelled as "Sam's Pumpkin" for the under-gardener to look after.

All in all a very productive weekend and the plot is starting to look more like an allotment with a plan. How much pain we're in tomorrow remains to be seen...

We still have approximately half the ground to clear - some was largely grass, which has now been killed off and is awaiting digging, and the rest still under black plastic, where it will probably remain for this season whilst we work on the rest.

Expansion, and squidgy spuds

2011-01-29T13:42:00.001+01:00

Well. It's been a while since I've been to the allotment, due to a mixture of severe weather and illness before Christmas, and the Under-gardeners birthday celebrations that lasted at least two weekends in January.

However last week I got a call from the allotment association secretary telling me that the tenant of the half-plot adjacent to mine was giving it up, and would I like to expand sideways and take over the whole plot?

The previous owner also wanted to know whether I would like her greenhouse, for a small fee.

Would I?

I went down there this morning to take ownership. The new half of my plot has been much more recently cultivated, so will take a lot less work to turn back into manageable beds. In fact I dug over a sizeable bed in about half an hour this morning, removing at least 25-30kg of old spuds. Sadly they were all (or nearly all) too old and slug-ridden to keep, and may have been blighted as they'd been in the ground far too long and looked suspiciously squidgy, so into the bin with them.

The greenhouse is quite small but will be fine for seedlings and growing a few more exotic fruits over the summer. There's currently no glass in it but the previous owner has more than enough stacked away on the plot, along with loads of clips and fittings, so when it's a bit warmer I'll have fun trying to piece all that back together.

There is also a small shed on the new half plot, which the allotment secretary is going to find a new home for. I'll keep the base though as it will either do for a sitting area or I'll slide my newer shed across on to it, and use the (slightly wonkier) slabs I laid for making paths etc. The previous owner also left a large green plastic patio table and four chairs, which after a clean up will be great for picnics or resting my weary bones after digging.

There are also a few plants on the new half that I might keep, including some lavenders that will attract bees, a large selection of strawberries that need reining in a bit but apparently give a good crop, a rosemary bush, oregano bush, and an as yet unidentified bush that the previous owner obtained as a cutting from the French couple across the path. She couldn't remember what it was so I'll have to ask them. It produces purple leaves that can be used in salads - I know nothing else about it.

While I was there this morning my neighbour on the other side said hello, and pointed out that my original half plot had not been worked for as long as she'd been there, a least 5 or 6 years. That explains why it's so riddled with perennial weeds, and a pain to dig. At least now I can get some crops in the ground on my new half plot, and work away at the heavier digging on the old half a little at a time. I might even cover some of it with weed membrane to help kill off the perennials, and plant a selection of pumpkins and squash through it this year.

Shed II

2010-10-26T19:27:00.001+01:00

The shed is up. In complete contrast to yesterday's lovely sunny autumnal weather, today featured rain, more rain, wind, cold and mud. Typical.

However, with sterling help from my brother Colin and The Under-Gardener, we got the shed up eventually. Once it's dried out a little inside (!) and I've transferred all my tools from the garage I can begin pottering in earnest, and get rest of the plot converted from wasteland to cultivation.

Can we fix it?

Yes we can!

Shed I

2010-10-25T16:22:00.000+01:00

My new shed was delivered today. Bought it from http://www.buyshedsdirect.co.uk, which I can recommend so far, for reasonable price, ease of purchase and delivery. Delivered to my allotment on the day requested, with a text the previous working day to confirm am or pm slot. They don't deliver at the weekend, but happily my purchasing the shed coincided with school half term holidays, so I was taking a few days off anyway.

The shed is only 6x4' (maximum size allowed on our plots - although some folk do seem to have sneaked larger ones on there, but it'll do me). I bought a cheap ship-lap version as I won't be keeping anything expensive in it. However it is made from pressure-treated timber that (allegedly) won't require annual repainting with creosote substitute or similar stinky chemicals.

Construction begins tomorrow, with help from one of my brothers, and the Under-Gardener, so I cannot yet vouch for ease of putting the thing together, but having lugged all the bits on to my plot it seems pretty solidly constructed, for a shed at the cheaper end of the market. Free solar light too, which is a bonus.

Flagging

2010-10-01T15:46:00.000+01:00

Took delivery of 70 concrete paving slabs today. 680 kg that needed shifting off the pallet and onto the plot to form a path along one side and a base for a shed (plus a little left over for a seating/bbq area!).

Muscles aching quite a bit now, but job done, although I was flagging (sorry!) towards the end. The weather wasn't much help, but I guess the driving rain stopped me overheating!

I can now order the shed for delivery in a few weeks.

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Horseradish

2010-09-12T19:19:00.001+01:00

An excellent discovery. Thanks to a fellow member of UK Veg Gardeners I had it confirmed that a mystery plant growing on my plot is horseradish.

It can be seen growing behind the Under Gardener in the photo in the previous post. I was not sure what it was, but as it seemed to have been planted on purpose rather than being a random weed, I hoped it would be something useful.

I may reduce the size of the patch as it's pretty big (horseradish tends to take over if not controlled, I am told). Any decent sized roots I dig up will be processed and stored according to the guidance I found on this excellent page.

Horseradish sauce for ever more! Fantastic.

First seeds in!

2010-09-12T13:26:00.003+01:00

More digging and clearing of grass, but it's going well. Probably almost a third of usable ground has been dug over now (i.e. not including the space marked out for the shed, seating/BBQ area or compost), with assistance from my lovely wife Anne, who doesn't hang about when she's got a garden fork in her hands.

The Under Gardener had a bit of a go too...

(Apologies for quality, taken on a camera phone...)

...he did a sterling job gathering up perennial weed roots for the incinerator as well.

I finished the morning on the plot by sowing my first seeds. A nice milestone.

Only two varieties:

a Chinese radish 'Mantanghong', which I only bought as I liked it's colour, and I've never grown winter radishes.
a few seeds of Spinach 'Matador', which were being given away free from the walled vegetable garden at Hughenden Manor when we visited on August Bank Holiday. It may be too late in the year to sow these really, but if we get a mild Autumn I might get a few leaves.

The rest of the currently dug-over area will be used for over-wintering onions, garlic and shallots, when they arrive in October.

Extra Muscle

2010-08-29T16:22:00.005+01:00

Very grateful for help from my brother Neil on the allotment today. Together we cleared and levelled enough space for a 6'x4' shed. I can now order one, along with some materials for a stable base. Once I've got a shed in place to store all our tools it will be much easier to work on the rest of the plot.

While we were doing this Anne carried on digging at the less overgrown end of the plot. We now have enough space dug over for two 4' wide beds. I've got overwintering onions and garlic on order, so they'll go in there once they arrive.

Extra help was given by Sam the Under-gardener and his cousin Reuben, who helped stack the weeds and roots. Compostables went into my new 300 litre "dalek" composter (bought from our local authority who do a good offer), and non-compostables (bindweed etc) into my shiny new incinerator (courtesy of Wilkinson's). Once they've dried out a bit the incinerator should make short work of them.

We agreed, after some trial and error, that perhaps small children should come under the heading of "non-compostable"...

Little and Often

2010-08-15T19:21:00.000+01:00

...that's the key to a new allotment.

Spent a couple of hours on the plot this afternoon, digging over the first chunk of ground and investigating some of the suspicious mounds at the far end. As suspected, they seem to contain a mixture of roots, earth, plastic bags and/or sheeting (decomposing), wire and bricks. Why people insist on dumping this sort of rubbish on allotments I'll never know. It's going to take some effort to clear a space at the far end for a shed, but we'll need to tackle that before long, as without a shed I have to take all my tools to and from the allotments each time. Also, there's nowhere to make a cup of tea...

Death to weeds

2010-08-11T19:42:00.002+01:00

First trip to the plot since signing up. Just a short visit to wade in with the Glyphosate. A liberal application, focussing on the few clumps of bindweed, which is more in evidence towards the back of the plot.

Hopefully I will get down again at the weekend, fork in hand to start clearing the first bed, so it'll start looking more like an allotment rather than a patch of wasteland! Little and often is the key.

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Plot Blog LIVES!

2010-08-08T14:04:00.003+01:00

Finally! After a long wait I am now the proud owner of 2.5 rods of grass and weeds at the Hatherop Road allotments, Hampton. We visited there today and met Denise, the lettings officer, who showed us around. Everyone seems very friendly, and we were even given some beans by Denise's husband!

The new plot will need quite a bit of work, but it's nowhere near as overgrown as my first plot was - that was waist deep in dense brambles. About a third to a half of this plot will be usable with only some minor digging. I need to create a path along one side as well, from paving slabs if I can source some free/cheaply, or something else if not. Also on my shopping list is an incinerator and a compost bin, followed by a shed. I miss my shed.

It's about time I blew the dust off this allotment blog as well. Whilst of little interest to many other people, it at least gives me a record of what I did, when, why, and whether it worked!

Pictures soon, no doubt.

We, sow the seed... Nature, grows the seed...

2007-05-23T22:24:00.001+01:00

I spent a relaxing hour or so this evening finishing off my raised bed, and sowing some veggie seeds. I topped off the bed with a mixture of rotted horse manure and (peat free) compost, and added a bag of perlite. I then divided the bed into 1 x 1.25 foot sections using bamboo canes, giving me sixteen rectangles to play with. Depending on the crop I either sowed a few seeds into a grid of holes in each rectangle, or broadcast them randomly.

So far I have sowed:

American Land Cress
Spinach
Turnips (for harvesting when small)
Chinese Broccoli (never tried it, worth a go)
Swiss Chard (Bright Lights) - sowed into two rectangles, as I'll only get a few plants per rectangle
Lettuce (Leibacher Ice)
Lettuce (Red and Green Mixed)
Carrots (Early Nantes)
Radishes (French Breakfast)

Beetroot (Detroit Red Ball)

Hopefully something will start to grow before long! I will get a photo posted soon.

Raised bed

2007-05-21T15:12:00.000+01:00

I spent a pleasant few hours on Sunday afternoon listening to the cricket whilst I constructed a raised bed in the back garden, so I can grow a few veggies at home. It's eight feet long by two and a half feet wide (i.e. long and thin!) but it will allow me to grow a few bits and bobs, especially if I adopt the Square Foot Gardening approach.

I'll post a photo when it stops raining long enough to take one, but it's quite basic, made from gravel boards and wooden stakes for strength. Building the thing was easy, getting it level(ish) then filling it with soil was the hard bit. I could hardly move when I tried to get out of bed this morning!

Wigglers

2007-05-08T15:23:00.000+01:00

I set up my wormery on Friday evening, which proved to be very simple. I then spent the next day or so worrying that the initial worm bedding material was too wet and the worms were drowning, or that I'd added too much waste in one go as nothing was happening to it. However, by last night there was clear indication of worm activity amongst the food scraps, so all seems to be well.

I am sure my wife thinks I'm a bit mad as I keep on checking under the lid to see how they're doing. I haven't given them all names yet though. I think I shall use the collective name Geoff for all of them, as they're a bit difficult to tell apart.

Introducing Geoff the worms.

The Worms! The Worms Are Here!

2007-05-04T13:21:00.000+01:00

To cheer myself up a bit after having to give my allotment back, I bought myself a Can-O-Worms wormery for the garden, from these lovely people.

It arrived this morning, and although I have yet to add the worms (tonight's job) I assembled the wormery in the garden.

Very swish. In a few months or so I hope to have a good supply of compost and 'worm juice' from all our kitchen scraps.

Letting go...

2007-04-19T13:49:00.000+01:00

After having a bit of a think I've decided to let my plot at the Royal Paddocks Allotments go. What with our new family and moving house last September, I've just not had the time to do enough to keep the plot shipshape, not to mention growing and tending crops.

I harvested the last of my leeks a few weeks ago and started to clear out my shed. There is apparently a long waiting list so I'll be glad to let the plot go to someone who hopefully has the time to look after it. They'll inherit my shed, water butt, compost bins and cold frame too, so they're getting quite a good deal!

I'm sorry to have to stop allotmenteering for the time being, as it's been very enjoyable. However I am not stopping veggie growing entirely, as with my greenhouse and a couple of small spaces in our little garden at home I am hoping to keep my hand in, and I will no doubt post about my efforts (and hopefully results) here from time to time. I've already sown a couple of varieties of tomatoes, peppers, and aubergines under glass, and planted four strawberry plants into a container on the patio. Sam has also sown a handful of sunflowers - he know exactly what to do (at 15 months old!) when I gave him each seed, planting it into each pot without having to be shown how! Green fingers indeed.

Who knows, perhaps one day I'll be able to afford the time to get another plot somewhere - maybe if Sam is a little older and wants to help grow his own food.

My son, the gardener

2006-10-13T16:24:00.000+01:00

Not much news from the plot recently I'm afraid. The new house and garden have taken priority. I am planning on getting down there sometime soon if the weather holds, to hack back the no doubt rampant weeds, tidy up and see whether my pumpkins and squash are ready for harvest.

In the meantime, this is a photo of our son Sam, with a little pot of cress that he grew at nursery (with a little help from his friends). It seems that I may have a new under-gardener...

Our Garden

2006-09-05T10:42:00.000+01:00

Anne has taken some great pictures of our new house to show people who can't get to visit just yet, including a couple of our garden:

It's quite small, but easy to maintain, although some of the plants are quite 'mature' and are going to need trimming back a bit to expose the flower beds, although I'm not going to do too much to it this year, to see what flowers and when next year and how it looks. The tree is a flowering cherry, which may or may not be suffering from canker, but it seems to be healthy enough at the moment.

The triangular 'bed' at the back of the picture above actually contains a small pond, in which I have put my single remaining goldfish and pleco. They seem to be happily coexisting with the resident pond snails and frog, which we see fairly frequently. Natural slug control! Through the arch is my greenhouse on the right, the roof of which is currently covered in an unidentified plant. Removing that to let some light in is a pressing job! To the left is a small bed which once cleared of another bamboo (and a small eucalyptus tree of some kind) should allow me to plant a few veggies outside. Also in the photos you can see one of my birthday presents from the weekend - a clay chiminea which I have yet to try out. That should keep us warm in the chilly evenings.

New House

2006-08-30T15:26:00.000+01:00

We've just moved house, from a rented two bedroom flat to our own three-bedroom house. Unfortunately all the to-ing and fro-ing means that trips to the allotment have been few and far between lately, but hopefully normal service will be resumed shortly. Our new place is now a car trip away from the allotment site, but I might see about getting a new plot a bit closer to home sometime. In the meantime our new house also has a small garden and a greenhouse, so I will also be dealing with that in the coming months. I am at the very least looking forward to some good crops grown under glass next year!

Overgrowth

2006-06-23T09:39:00.000+01:00

Spent a very brief period on the plot yesterday afternoon, as I was off sick with a stomach bug but desperately needed to get some fresh air. Couldn't believe the amount of growth on some of the plants, whilst others seemed to be coming on very slowly. The artichokes are now over six feet tall (and wide!), and have quite a few globes maturing on them. Only one of the six courgette plants I originally planted seems to have survived the slugs intact, with two others looking as if they are on their last legs. The survivor is one of the yellow ones, and we had our first little courgette from it yesterday! The leeks have grown amazingly in a few weeks - from tiny wisps to almost spring onion dimensions. The sweetcorn, however, doesn't seem to be doing much at all. Very sluggish, but I suppose it might take off soon. The squash plants and the pumpkin I was given by a nieghbour are doing OK, and I was amazed to see that one of the original "Jack Be Little" plants that was decimated by slugs has made a bit of a comeback. We may get some weeny little pumpkins yet!

My first proper harvest this year (quite late, but then it's understandable) was broad beans. The plants are huge, and I harvested over a kilo (shelled weight!) of the larger beans, and last night froze them for later consumption. There was quite a bit of blackfly on the plants, but it doesn't seem to be slowing down bean production too much, and I was really pleased to see a huge number of ladybird larvae on and around the plants too. I can put up with blackfly if they are feeding ladybirds!

The weeds, however, are back with a vengeance. I'm afraid I had to resort to Glyphosate on one particularly bad patch of bindweed, but these days I simply don't have the time for frequent repeated weeding by hand. Bits of the plot also need a good going over with the strimmer, but I wasn't feeling up to it yesterday, so will have a go at it this weekend if I get the chance.

Scorching Saturday

2006-06-03T21:28:00.000+01:00

Today was an absolute scorcher. I spent the longest time so far this year down on the plot - most of the morning as well as going back with the family in the evening. Everything is growing pretty well, although I have lost all my "Jack Be Little" pumpkin plants and three of my six courgette plants to slugs. That was very sad to see when I arrived on the plot this morning. The slugs have also had a go at the first row of my potatoes, which I have never seen before on my plot - they must have been hungry. Luckily one of my neighbouring plot holders offered me one of her spare pumpkin plants - it will produce full sized fruit, but at least we'll have something for Halloween!

I spent the morning tidying up a bit, and planted out my leeks and brussel sprouts (at last!) and three butternut squash plants. I then sank pop bottles (with the bases cut off) nozzle-down next to all my sweetcorn plants, the squash plants, as well as the remaining courgettes. The idea is that by filling the bottles with water it will get right down to the roots of the plants, instead of just sprinkling it on the surface where most of it will evaporate in this weather. We'll see whether it works.

In the afternoon Anne, baby Sam and I went back to the plot and tidied up a bit further, mowed the grass, sorted out the area around the shed a bit and planted some new marigolds in the flower bed. I also covered the brussel sprouts with netting to keep the pigeons and butterflies at bay, and liberally sprinkled slug pellets all around the crops that had already taken a bashing. I do try not to use any nasty chemicals on the plot, but there are so many slugs about that something needs to be done, and pellets are it (I don't have the time or the stomach to wander about with a torch at night picking them off one by one). I do use pellets that claim to incorporate something that deters other wildlife from eating them, which I hope is true.

Anyway, we rounded off a really nice (if tiring) day with a BBQ on the plot, the first one we've had for ages. Yum.

Cornish delights

2006-06-03T21:15:00.000+01:00

I haven't had much time to blog for the past week, but have to relate the fabulous sights we saw during our holiday in Cornwall the week before last. Unfortunately it poured with rain for 90% of the time, but that didn't stop us wandering around both the Lost Gardens of Heligan and the Eden Project, and indeed the weather may well have kept the worst of the crowds at bay.

Heligan was excellent, the productive gardens are a real eye-opener. The rest of the gardens are just stunnig too - especially the Jungle valley, which we nearly didn't go and look at because it's a bit of a walk from the rest of the gardens, and it was raining. However I'm glad we did because it was fantastic.

The Eden Project just blew me away completely. You cannot comprehend the size of those biomes until you are actually standing next to one - pictures just don't do them justice. The humid tropics biome is simply amazing (and very very hot!). So much to see, I could fill up pages, but I will just say go and see it!

The first photo is a shot across the ex-clay pit towards the humid biome. The second is a shot of one of the waterfalls and lakes in the humid biome itself.

Plant Sale

2006-05-17T14:17:00.000+01:00

Helped out at our annual plant sale at work today. Despite the slightly damp weather it looks like we made around £700 in under two hours.

I was being very good and not buying any plants, as we're off on holiday on Friday, and they'd die in our flat while we're away. However, the chap who grew most of the plants for the sale said he'd look after anything I wanted to buy until we got back, so I bought:

Peppers (two each of Californian Wonder and Sweet Banana)
Two trays of marigolds (African Crackerjack)
Basil (Genovese)
Lavender
Sage - which will be used in a dish I'm cooking tonight.

A losing battle?

2006-05-14T19:01:00.001+01:00

Arrived on the plot yesterday morning to find that the grass had taken over again since I was last there. Grrrr. The plot is rife with couch grass and it's the bane of my gardening life. No matter how carefully you turn the soil and try to remove every last bit of root, the darned stuff comes flooding back within minutes. It's one thing I shall not miss if I have to give up this plot when we move house.

However, after a couple of hours digging and raking I had a few more beds prepared. I planted sweetcorn into one; a block of 12 plants, each 18 inches from it's neighbours. I must say that growing sweetcorn in the cardboard tubes from loo rolls has been a success - the tubes stayed in one piece, and there was no disturbance to the root systems as I dropped each tube into the ground. I shall definitely be doing that again, and for other plants as well.

In between the sweetcorn I planted three pumpkin plants, in the hope that they will provide some ground cover around the corn stems, and not choke them entirely.

I also planted six courgette plants, three green and three yellow.

All my previous plantings seem to be coming on well, despite the couch grass - the onions are poking their heads above the soil, and the potatoes have started to show, after only two weeks! The broad beans are in flower, and we'll hopefully get a good crop soon.

Once I'd done the planting I set to work again with the petrol strimmer, hacking back the overgrowth on the grassed area and around the plot edges. Anne joined me after a while and did some stirling work collecting all the grass, tidying around some of the beds and turning over the old flower bed section, which was heavily inundated with... yep, couch grass.

We're off on holiday for a week next Friday, so I'm hoping to be able to get back down to the plot before then to plant a few more things I've got in the flat - namely brussels sprouts, squash and sweet peas. Unfortunately my tomatoes won't be big enough to plant out before we go away, so I'll have to enlist some help looking after them for the week, or they'll all die of thirst before we get back. We're off to Cornwall, and I'm hoping we can visit both the Eden Project and the Lost Gardens of Heligan while we're there. Fingers crossed for the weather...

Pinch, punch...

2006-05-01T19:00:00.000+01:00

...first day of the month, and I spent a good few hours on the plot. Despite the weather forecasters predicting continuous rain, it didn't rain once in Hampton Wick all day!

I couldn't believe (but shouldn't have been surprised) at the speed that the grass and weeds had grown over the past few weeks. So the first job was to crank up the old petrol strimmer and cut back the grass along the paths around the edges of the plot. After a bit more tidying up I then cleared a bed to plant my spuds - eighteen each of Pentland Crown and Anya. Should be enough. I also raked over the bed I dug during my last visit, and planted my onion setts (48 each of white and red onions). They're going in a bit late, but we'll see how they do.

There have been major developments for us over the past few weeks. We've recently had an offer accepted on a house! The vendors are currently finding somewhere themselves, and we are awaiting the outcome of surveys and all the other legal stuff, so we won't be moving that quickly. Unfortunately the new place is quite a bit further away from the allotment, so I don't really know what will happen with it. The rent is paid up until October, so we'll see whether I can still manage to get down there to tend to it frequently enough from the new place. There are allotments closer to the new house, so depending on waiting lists I might be able to get one there. The new house only has a small garden, mostly laid to paving but with a few beds (and a pond), but one big plus is that it's got a greenhouse! How exciting. Being able to grow tomatoes, aubergines, peppers etc. without depending entirely on the vagaries of the English Summer!

Toms

2006-04-19T13:51:00.000+01:00

At last, I've sown some tomatoes! It's a little late but I'm sure they'll catch up. I've also sown a few lettuce (red and green mixed) and three varieties of sweet pea that I found I had left over from last year. I don't know if they'll germinate, or indeed where I am going to put them if they do, but it felt like a good idea at the time!

Most of the seeds I've sown recently have started to come up - the butternut squash have been taking their time, and are just starting to show, but the rest have been pretty quick to germinate. I saw a good tip the other day - those free plastic shower caps that you get in hotel rooms fit nicely over a standard seed tray (or a group of pots) to make a DIY cloche/propagator! Worked a treat on my sweetcorn. Hotels around the country will suddenly find that their complimentary shower caps are actually being used! Any that I visit certainly will!

As an aside, on Easter Saturday I visited Oaktree Nurseries near Bracknell with my Brother-in-Law. I haven't visited many 'proper' nurseries, and it was a real eye-opener. It's a fantastic place, loads of plants and not just a handful of each varieties like your average garden centre, but huge swathes of plants in massive polytunnels/greenhouses that stretched over 25 acres! Everything from the tiniest bedding plants to huge mature trees. Definitely worth a visit if you're over that way and in the mood for plant shopping.

Curse of the Were-Rabbit

2006-04-10T09:19:00.000+01:00

Life follows art.

Sow...

2006-04-02T19:25:00.000+01:00

As I half-expected, I didn't get down the plot today! The weather has been alternating between sunny and chucking it down all day, so the ground would have been unworkable. My muscles were complaining this morning as well, so going out for Sunday lunch with a friend was an acceptable alternative!

However, I did sow some seeds indoors, as the picture shows. At the far end I have 12 loo roll tubes into which I sowed sweetcorn - the plan is that I can plant the entire thing, roll and all, into the ground when the time comes. Sweetcorn needs to be planted in a 'block' rather than a row to aid pollination, so hopefully 12 will be enough. I actually don't like sweetcorn much myself, but the wife does and you never know, I might like the stuff I've grown myself! If we've got it coming out of our ears (sorry) come harvest-time, I will probably be able to offload the excess on friends and family.

Other pots contain: Two type of courgette (Zuboda, which give green fruit, and Gold Rush, which are yellow), butternut squash and pumpkins (Jack Be Little variety this year). In each case I sowed more than I have space for on the plot, in case they don't all germinate. If they do I might give the extra plants to my brother or my folks.

The two square pots closest to the camera contain four seed each of Brussels Sprouts. I have not been able to get Sprouts beyond the seedling stage since I've had the plot, they never seem to survive on the plot for some reason - but I'll try again this year!

On the plot!

2006-04-01T19:12:00.000+01:00

I finally managed to get myself down to the plot today. I don't mind saying that it's looking a bit of a state, but nothing that a bit of weeding, digging and pottering about won't cure. Now the clocks have gone forward I am hoping to be able to get down there for an hour so a few evenings a week, which should help.

I started by digging over one of the beds. Couch grass was rife. I removed most of it, and buried the rest (I know it'll pop up again, but I'll be ready with a hoe when it does). I'm intending to plant my seed potatoes there tomorrow, depending on whether I can move in the morning!

The bed that had spuds in it last year was still miraculously weed free, so I raked it over and planted my broad beans in there. They've been going great guns in their rootrainers, and needed planting out before they got too leggy. As it was quite windy today I covered 2/3 of the (35!)plants with ex-water bottle cloches (until I ran out of bottles). If the remaining exposed plants don't make it then I should still have enough protected to give a decent crop of beans. The bottles will stay in place for a week or two, until the plants have come on a bit.

I also attacked the grassed area on the plot with my hand-push lawnmower (definite glutton for punishment today!). Just a rough cut, I'll have to have a go at the paths and edges with my strimmer soon.

It was nice to get down the plot again for a good few hours. I've actually been missing it, so hopefully I'll be able to get down there a bit more from now on.

Cheap seeds

2006-03-10T11:19:00.000+01:00

Bought a few more packets of seeds yesterday from Alan Romans Seeds. By not producing seed catalogues and printed seed packets (all sowing info is on their website) they can sell their seeds for only 50p per packet! If you buy over £5-worth then the postage is free too! They also have a huge variety of seed potatoes, although I've already got mine for this year.

I only bought sweetcorn Extra Tender & Sweet, courgette Gold Rush and brussels sprout Montgomery, as I've got most of the other seed I need for this season. Even with postage it was still cheaper than most garden centres!

Ready, steady, GO!

2006-02-26T21:34:00.000+01:00

Well, it's been a long time coming, but today I actually did something gardening related, now we've recovered slightly from the shock to our systems that was having a little baby in the house.

I spent an hour or so pottering around our local gardening centre this afternoon, and made a few purchases. Earlier this evening I laid out some potatoes to chit (Pentland Crown maincrop and Anya salad potatoes), sowed some broad beans (Masterpiece Green Longpod) into rootrainers, and some leeks (Autumn Poristo), basil (Sweet Genovese) and rocket into seed trays.

So they're all sitting in our enclosed balcony, getting any sunlight that might come their way over the next few weeks. Fingers crossed!

Whilst at the garden centre I bought some onion sets (Stuttgarter and Red Baron) and some other seeds for later use: Tomato Marmande, that gives irregular 'Mediterranean style' fruits, parsnip F1 Albion, butternut squash Avalon F1 and pumpkin Jack Be Little that apparently gives lots of mini pumpkins around 3-4 inches in diameter, which sounds interesting!

I also had some garden centre vouchers left over from Xmas, so bought myself a new stainless steel fork with a lovely oiled wooden handle, as my current (cheapo) one is past it's best. I also got a free pair of anvil cut secateurs thrown in! Nice.

Hopefully in the next few weeks, weather permitting, I'll be able to get down to the plot and clear away the weeds that will have poked their heads above ground, and get some parsnips and maybe the onion sets into the ground.

As an aside, after visiting the garden centre we didn't want to go home directly, so took advantage of our recently-bought National Trust membership and popped in to Ham House gardens near Richmond. The house doesn't open until the end of March, but the gardens were a nice surprise (and the tea room was very welcome as it was so cold!). I've lived in the area for over 10 years and never visited before. The grounds were obviously a bit bare at the moment, but the kitchen garden especially shows promise for later in the year.

Happy Birthday...

2006-01-20T23:32:00.000+01:00

...to Samuel Joshua Scoggins.

Rattus Norvegicus

2006-01-15T19:46:00.000+01:00

...better known as the common or garden Brown Rat.

I went down to the plot today to deposit a load of kitchen waste and shredded paper in the compost bin, and got the shock of my life when I took the lid off the bin and was confronted by a large brown rattus norvegicus sitting on top of the rotting vegetables!

I had seen evidence of rats near the bin before - holes being dug right next to the bin - but had only ever seen a rat at a distance on the allotments. It was my fault I suppose - he (or more probably they) were most likely attracted by the rotting pumpkins and squash I had put into the bin recently.

Once my pulse rate had dropped back to normal I decided to relocate the bin to the other end of the plot, away from the shed. Obviously (short of laying down poison) I doubt I will be able to deter rats from hiding in my compost if they want to, but I would rather that they were as far away from my shed as possible! However, moving the bin even just half a plot length (25m) was easier said than done. Kicking it over evicted Mr Rattie, who headed off into the undergrowth like greased lightning. I then re-sited the empty bin and started to transfer the compost by shovelling it into my large tub trug, carefully digging it over to check there were no baby ratties in residence (although Lord alone knows what I would have done if I had come across any).

On a positive note, the bottom two thirds of the bin contained pretty good looking compost - very heavy to move by the trug-load but evidence that the bin works. Now this has been well mixed in with the semi-rotten stuff during transfer, it should all rot down nicely in a couple of months.

Not a job I was expecting to do today, but I think that the bin is now in a better position - and there's plenty of space for a second (and maybe third) bin at that end of the plot, which I might add later this year.

Urgh

2006-01-03T10:33:00.000+01:00

I got a bit of a shock when I poked my head into my shed at the weekend. All my remaining pumpkins and butternut squash had gone off, in a big way. Either the frost got to them (the shed's not heated and it's been very cold over Xmas) or it's not as dry in there as I thought. They all ended up on the compost, which was quite a horrible job as some of them were very green and squishy. Ah well, I'll know not to store them in there over winter next year. I've still got one huge squash left in the flat, so that will either go for soup or roasted veggies when we've got friends visiting at the weekend.

Happily, none of the spuds I've got stored in the shed were affected, so I've still got plenty of those. The only thing left growing on the plot at the moment are a few cabbages, which seem unaffected by frost or rain.

When I've got a moment I shall have to go through my seed packets to see what I've got left from last year, what I need to buy, and plan what I need to get underway soon for those early crops.

Pressies

2005-12-29T10:43:00.000+01:00

I hope everyone got what they wanted for Xmas!

Among my pressies were a couple of gardening books, a little one with some interesting tips (the name of which escapes me at the moment) and a copy of Monty Don's The Complete Gardener. People seem to have mixed views on Monty, but I like him and his ethos (you shouldn't take Gardener's World as his final word on gardening). I find his books a very good read when I can't get onto the plot - I can almost hear his voice in my head as I'm reading!

I also got a hand cylinder mower for Xmas - very useful as we have no power on the allotments and the two petrol mowers kept by the association always seem to be in very high demand (or not working) when I want to cut the grass on my plot! I shall have to rearrange my tiny shed to accommodate it, but I think it will be very useful in the summer.

Season's Greetings

2005-12-22T10:17:00.000+01:00

Unfortunately, what with baby stuff and Xmas preparations I've not had any time to spend on the plot recently. I am sure that once our little one arrives in the New Year I will still be able to visit the plot, perhaps taking him with me to give his Mum a well-earned rest every now and again. I'm definitely looking forward to growing the vegetables that will be among his first solid foods - let's hope he likes them!

Anyway, just a message to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May your crops be plentiful and your weeds be few!

Fork

2005-12-09T15:17:00.001+01:00

Not much going on down the plot these days. To darned cold, foggy and/or dark.

However, today I was pointed to this fab new gardening e-zone, Fork. Looks very funky, and worth a browse to see how it develops.

Ouch

2005-11-07T14:04:00.000+01:00

I'm hurting a bit. Spent a couple of hours on Saturday morning digging up my remaining potatoes, and my muscles are paying me back now. The yield from my Foremost seed potatoes wasn't as high as I had hoped, with most of the spuds being quite small. Some had succumbed to pests as well (but I guess I should have got them out of the ground earlier). I think the yield/size problem may have started when the plants were checked by a late frost back in May. Can't be helped, although if I plant them 'early' next year I'll bung some fleece over them or something.

They're still lovely tasting potatoes though, and I've got enough to last us quite a while.

Whilst on the plot (it was a very sunny morning) I cleared away the old courgette plants (and found one last 'marrow' hiding in the long grass at the edge of the bed!), cleared out the cold frame (old pepper plants and one last decent iceberg lettuce - in November!) and generally bumbled about pulling weeds and tidying around a bit. Everything was too wet to light a fire to burn some of the weeds etc. that are piling up - and Sunday's downpours won't have helped!

Unfortunately a few of my pumpkins had gone rotten in the shed, which is odd. Maybe they weren't in very good condition when I stored them, as the remaining ones seem OK for now. I took a pumpkin, squash, some spuds, a dozen onions and some garlic back to the flat, which should keep us going for a while!

Strim City

2005-10-03T10:57:00.000+01:00

Finally, after a busy month or two, we managed to spend a large chunk of Sunday on the plot (rather than just nipping down to harvest stuff and guiltily ignoring the weeds). We spent most of our time clearing the existing beds back to ground level. Anne picked the last of the tomatoes (red and green) and dug up the plants. After clearing most of the beds I then went to work with my trusty petrol strimmer to tidy up the paths and edges of the plot a bit. Typically the strimmer ran out of line halfway through, which was followed by 20 minutes of me muttering darkly whilst trying to re-fill the bump-feed cassette.

The plot now doesn't have much left growing on it - apart from the cauliflowers and cabbage, which seem to be doing OK (but what do I know? I've never grown them before). There are still some potatoes awaiting harvest (must do that soon), the globe artichokes have masses of silvery foliage, the courgette plants are still hanging in there but don't seem to be producing much more fruit, and the butternut squash are still surviving, until the first frosts. Surprisingly, the eight pepper plants that I planted in my cold frame and then just ignored, apart from a few waterings, have produced a late crop of at least two or three quite large peppers per plant. I have reassembled the lid to the cold frame in the hope that the increased temperature will help them ripen before the frosts claim them (green peppers are OK, but red are much nicer!).

The weather was simply fantastic on Sunday, unseasonably warm for the beginning of October. We even met and had a chat to Ivan, the new chap who has taken over the adjacent plot and razed the rampant brambles and scrub to ground level in record time. He showed no signs that he wears his underpants on the outside of his trousers, but it has definitely been a superhuman feat.

Squash Soup

2005-09-30T09:09:00.000+01:00

Last night I made some squash soup, to this recipe. I increased the ingredients to use up two of my squash, and ended up with nearly five litres of soup! Apart from two bowl-fulls that were eaten last night, I've now got to find space in my freezer for the rest!

It tastes absolutely fantastic.

Having nipped down to the plot last night to grab some sage for the recipe, I definitely need to spend some quality time down there at the weekend. Our neighbouring plot, previously overgrown for two years, has been taken over and de-forested in a very short space of time. I now need to spend a good few hours weeding and clearing of beds to bring our plot back up to standard!

Squash Harvest

2005-09-14T09:13:00.000+01:00

Wow. Visited the plot after work yesterday as the weather was so nice. Found that everything has been growing like mad, including the weeds, unfortunately. It's going to take a day's concerted effort to bring the plot back to resembling something other than the National Weed Collection. Maybe this weekend, if I can find the time.

However, I decided to harvest all my pumpkins, as the plants had all but died off. I also waded around in the butternut squash foliage and harvested the largest of the fruit. Ended up with 15 pumpkins and 12 squash! As you can see from the photo, with the secateurs for scale, the pumpkins are not a bad size, and some of the squash are quite large! I also harvested four more courgette/marrows, half a dozen globe artichokes and almost a carrier bag full of tomatoes! I think some serious cookery is required, to convert some of that into freezable sauces/soups.

I got a bit carried away and dug up two rows of potatoes. The yield per plant is quite low, and most are quite small, but the plants did receive a bit of a growth check back in spring with a few late frosts, so I'm lucky to have anything I suppose! Once I've dug up the rest of them I'll easily have a sack full, if not more!

Storage is a bit of a problem at the moment. The squash and pumpkins are taking up most of the space in the shed, with the less ripe ones next to the window to catch some more light. Three of the squash were split and so I've left them outside on the bench - if they ripen before they rot (or get stolen) then fine, otherwise I'm not really going to miss them - there are plenty more still on the plants!

Well done England!

2005-09-13T09:27:00.000+01:00

Well done to the England cricket team for bringing the Ashes back after 18 years, in one of the most closely fought Test series in history!

However:

The ECB and the Government appear to be stifling the huge boost that winning the Ashes has given to cricket in the UK, by ensuring that future Test matches are only available on pay-to-view TV.

Please sign the petition or write to your MP to protest.

Tomatoes

2005-08-31T09:39:00.000+01:00

All of a sudden we've got lots of toms. On Sunday we managed to get onto the plot for a short time (in between families visiting) and I picked the selection shown. There must have been well over 3 lbs there, as we gave 2lbs away to my folks (whose crop hasn't yet started to ripen) and we've still got plenty left. Lots more green ones on the vines too, so we're not going to go short.

That is also the last of the spring onions - I didn't grow many this year, and they seem to have taken an age to get that big. We don't use many so I might not bother with them again.

Whilst there are still plenty of things to harvest, the plot is looking a little overgrown at the moment. Although it's currently much too hot to do anything too strenuous down there, it definitely needs a bit of a weed and a tidy up.

Pickling II

2005-08-23T11:35:00.000+01:00

...and after 24 hours soaking in brine, the onions are now residing in their vinegar! Just got to try and leave them alone until Christmas now!

Pickling

2005-08-22T10:11:00.000+01:00

We got home yesterday evening after a fabulous weekend away, and I decided (as you do) to make a start on pickling the smallest of the onions I harvested last week.

This is stage one - after trimming and peeling, the onions are soaked in brine (100g salt per litre of water) for 24 hours. This apparently draws some of the moisture out of the onions, which will be replaced with vinegar.

As you can see, I've not got that many, but there should be enough for a jar or two.

Apart from pottering around some fantastic Cotswolds villages while we were away, we also visited Hidcote Manor Gardens. Although there wasn't a kitchen garden (boo) it was a fantastic place and is definitely worth a look.

Whoops

2005-08-19T07:38:00.000+01:00

Didn't realise that it had been so long since I posted on here. Not a lot of news though. The plot is still producing.... produce.

Unfortunately it seems that my courgette plants have got powdery mildew, which is spreading to my pumpkins (but not my butternut squash, yet). Not a lot I can do about it without resorting to chemicals, I think. Last night I cut the affected leaves from one plant, to see what will happen, but I think they might be too far gone. There are still some baby courgettes coming though, so all might not be lost. The pumpkins should be fine, as there are loads hiding under the foliage, and we don't really need any more! Some of the butternut squash are starting to 'ripen', and change colour from green-and-white stripes to the usual beige you see in the shops.

I also dug up the first of my spuds last night. They are quite small (but we like them that way). We haven't tried them yet, though. I also got a handful of cherry tomatoes, that are really sweet and juicy.

I also bagged up my onions, having lifted them last week and left them to dry out a bit. The crop wasn't as big as last year, and I lost some of them to some form of rot, which wasn't white rot, luckily! Many of the surviving bulbs aren't that big, either. That'll teach me to buy my setts from Wilkos. However all is not lost - the smaller onions will do for pickling, for use at Christmas if they last that long! I might also look at putting some overwintering onions in, as this crop won't last us for 12 months.

As I am writing this it is chucking it down with rain outside, after a week or more of scorching weather. Typical, as we're off for a weekend break in the Cotswolds today (a birthday surprise for the missus), but at least the allotment will get a drink while we're gone!

Plugs II

2005-08-01T12:33:00.000+01:00

Now I've remembered to make a note of the varieties of brassica I received last week, and am currently planting, I have 15 each of:

- Brussels Sprout "Revenge"
- Broccoli "Monteray"
- Cabbage "Milar"
- Cauliflower "Memphis"

Fifteen of each might seem a lot, but I'd rather give away the surplus than lose them all to flood or pestilence.

Getting silly

2005-08-01T09:03:00.000+01:00

OK, I know I should try and get down the plot to check on the courgettes more often, but it's been a very wet week. Obviously this means there has been more water about to swell those fruits but I wasn't expecting the huge marrows I found on Sunday! That's 16 inches (about 41cm) on the tape measure!

After hacking them from the stems I tied up the plants to the bamboo wigwams I had placed over them - hopefully this will allow more air to the plants and make it easier to see the fruits, so I don't end up with many more monsters!

I also foraged around in my pumpkin and squash patch to see what I could find, and was pleased to see quite a few growing in there too:

The butternut squashes are getting pretty big, but with no sign of 'ripening' to the colour I assume they'll take on when they're ready to pick. I found one or two nice pumpkins around the edge of the patch, but then uncovered these four beauties right in the centre. I must have at least a dozen hiding under the foliage, maybe more!

Sunday's big job was to prepare beds for and plant out the brassicas I received through the post in the week. I started out digging over the area where my peas and broad beans were, which proved quite heavy going. I ended up planting the caulis and cabbages, and leaving the sprouts and broccoli for another day.

Realising that I didn't have enough netting to protect the entire bed, I nipped to the local garden centre for some more. On the way there I popped into Wicks (builders merchants) to look for something to help create some large 'cloches' (making a framework out of bamboo stakes was proving very fiddly when working with nets!). I found 25 metres of 20mm diameter blue water pipe for only £14, so gave that a try, and it worked a treat! I have loads left, so will be able to make lots of similar cloches to protect other plants that seem to attract unwanted attention from pigeons or insects.

Plugs

2005-07-29T12:31:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I received the brassica collection I ordered that was a Special Offer from the Fruit & Vegetable Company in (last months? the month before's?) Kitchen Garden Magazine.

A bit odd receiving plants through the post, but the plugs all look in good condition, and will hopefully stay that way with a bit of TLC until Sunday when I can get on the plot (we're off to watch the Twenty20 Cricket finals at The Oval all day tomorrow, fingers crossed for the weather).

A few days away...

2005-07-25T17:45:00.000+01:00

...and look what happens! I couldn't get down to the plot for about 5 days or so last week, and when I did I found the monsters on the right taking over. Five huge courgettes (well, marrows) that I've now got to do something with! I've given a couple away to friends, but I still think that I'll be making a large quantity of curry or something to get through them all!

My pumpkins and butternut squashes are finally producing lots of fruit as well. I haven't been able to count them yet, but there should be enough to keep us in dinners for quite a while in the autumn!

At the weekend we went away for a couple of days camping in the New Forest While we were there we couldn't resist nipping into a local garden centre, and I bought a couple of packets of seeds - a type of spinach I'd not seen before (the name escapes me for a moment, but it's got red leaf stalks) and some Pak Choi, for an autumn/winter crop. This year I'll attempt to keep it flea-beetle free with the liberal use of fleece.

Soup!

2005-07-14T09:23:00.000+01:00

Last night I had a go at the Courgette & Roast Garlic soup recipe in this month's Kitchen Garden magazine.

Yum. Very tasty. The roasted garlic gives a nice sweetness (and it's less pungent). Freezable too. One of many courgette recipes I'll need this year if my six plants keep producing at the rate they are at the moment.

Courgette and Slow Roasted Garlic Soup serves 4

5 courgettes, sliced
1 onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic in their skin
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (I grated it freshly)
1 tblspn olive oil
750ml stock (I used vegetable stock)
salt and pepper to taste

1. Roast garlic in skin with a little oil on a low heat (150C, 300F, gas 2) for 30 minutes.

2. While garlic roasts heat remaining oil in large saucepan, add onion and celery and soften for 2 minutes, then add courgettes and nutmeg and cook, stirring, for a further 5 minutes or so.

3. Remove garlic from oven and peel, add to pan along with stock and simmer for at least 20 minutes, until all ingredients have softened.

4. Blend to semi-smooth consistency (not too much).

5. Season to taste and serve with crusty bread.

NB: if you're not using the oven for something else, garlic can be 'roasted' in 1 tblspn of olive oil in a thick based pan over a low heat

New Blog

2005-07-12T14:22:00.000+01:00

I was going to post the latest news about our new deliverable, but then thought "why don't I start a new blog?". So I did.

It's here.

So now you won't have to read about baby stuff unless you want to.

Phew...

2005-07-12T13:41:00.000+01:00

Is it hot enough for you?*

I left it until 9pm to get down the plot yesterday, as it was too darned hot before then. Seems that the hour before sundown is the premium time for watering plants, judging by the number of fellow allotmenteers dashing 'twixt pump and plot with watering cans.

I gave those plants that needed it a good soaking. The ground is very dry, but everything's coping at the moment. The courgettes and pumpkins are producing loads of 'babies', so hopefully they'll be pollinated successfully. Still not much in the way of flowers on my butternut squash plants, but lots of foliage. I've pinched out the growing tips (or as many as I can find!) so hopefully they'll stop taking over the end of the plot and start concentrating on the job in hand, i.e. producing fruit for us!

As to last Thursday's awful events in London - I hope that anyone reading this who was affected, either directly or indirectly, recovers soon. I managed to account for all my friends who live or work in London fairly quickly, apart from one lass I know who was actually in the same carriage as the bomb on the train at King's Cross. She survived (a miracle) with relatively minor physical injuries, but Lord alone knows what she's had to deal with mentally. Her blog's been picked up by the BBC, and she's posting there now, and I am sure her musings are doing both her and others a lot of good.

*a traditional British greeting once the temperature creeps above 10ºC, for any non-UK readers!

Pea Moth

2005-07-05T14:48:00.000+01:00

I harvested some of my peas yesterday evening. Not a massive crop, as the picture shows, but then I only sowed a few seeds to see how they would grow on my allotment (slowly was the answer). Anne and I sat on our bench and ate a few, and they tasted really sweet. Unfortunately we didn't notice the pea moth larvae until we'd got through about a dozen or so pods. Ewwww.

Apparently the pea moth lays it's eggs in the flower, and they hatch into tiny wee maggotty things inside the pea pods, so you can't see any external damage. Yuk. I kept the peas netted from day one, so the moth must be smaller than the holes in my pea netting. I shall have to use fleece if I dare grow them again next year.

Marrows, anyone?

2005-07-04T14:56:00.000+01:00

The weekend's changeable weather meant that we spent Sunday morning 'tidying up' the plot for a BBQ with friends that didn't happen. The plot needed tidying though - the wet weather following recent hot spells has resulted in accelerated growth. This seems to have affected mainly weeds, but I was amazed to see how my courgettes have suddenly expanded - both in foliage and fruit. A few of the fruits had gone from thumb-sized to marrow-sized in only a few days! I shall be keeping a close eye on them from now on and trying to harvest before they get too big. The recent issue of Kitchen Garden magazine has a recipe for courgette and roast garlic soup which I must try, seeing as we have a lot of garlic to get through as well (I tried some of that last week, and it's very potent stuff!).

My pumpkin and butternut squash plants have gone wild as well. The pumpkins are merrily producing flowers and small fruit (some of which will hopefully set) but there's not a single flower on the squash plants. I've got my fingers crossed that they'll begin to flower soon.

Apart from general weeding and strimming of the grassy area, paths and bed edges, I removed the sweet peas as they have long since ceased flowering (and I didn't want them to self-seed everywhere). The clematis that was buried under them can now see the light, and might now improve. I also realised that about 80% of the foliage under my pea netting was weeds, so got in there and pulled them all out - the peas are looking good, and may be harvested later this week.

Anne dug over the old garlic bed and I cleared out some old radishes that had gone to seed, giving some more space for new crops. We have to decide what to plant now. I am considering Swiss Chard (Bright Lights), possibly early turnips and maybe I'll give beetroot a go again (I got almost zero germination from the last lot).

BIG News!!

2005-06-27T14:11:00.000+01:00

In case you hadn't picked up on my subtle hint in the last post, I feel that this news requires a special post all of its own...

We're having a baby!!!

It's early days yet, but we're very excited (alternating with periods of terror). Estimated time of arrival is 3rd February, which is good planning as there won't be much to do on the plot then... ("For Shame!" I hear you all cry!).

The new mum-to-be is currently suffering from morning (and afternoon, and evening) sickness, but hopefully that will pass before long. Anne's tried just about every remedy suggested (everyone does seem to have a suggestion!), and some of them have been helping a bit. She's coping much better than I would, I am sure.

Whilst not allotment related, you'll probably be getting frequent updates whether you want them or not!!

Garlic ahoy

2005-06-27T13:56:00.000+01:00

Quite a changeable weekend, weather-wise, but that didn't stop me from spending quite a lot of time on the plot on Saturday. We were glad to see that the sweet peas continue to give a fabulous display of colour, and the marigolds and nasturtiums that we planted before our honeymoon have started to flower as well.

I finished installing the guttering on my shed (which took longer than expected - it's important to ensure that rainwater travels along the guttering towards the down-pipe, I feel). I was impressed to see that even with only one length of guttering up, Friday's short thunderstorm had left me with about six inches of water in the bottom of the water butt. Don't know why I didn't do this earlier.

I also lifted all my garlic, which is currently drying in the shed (definitely a vampire free zone judging by the smell!). As the spinach and rocket had gone badly to seed I dug it up and put it on the compost heap. I sowed some more lettuces in place of the rocket (in my cold frame) and some American Land Cress in place of the spinach. I have never tried that before, but it is supposed to be nice, and pretty quick growing.

Anne spent some time weeding around some of the beds, but couldn't stay long as she was feeling a bit off colour, which is understandable for someone in her condition.

Apologies for the lack of photos at the moment. I've either forgotten to take a camera with me to the plot each time, or the weeds have been embarrassingly high! Normal service will be resumed shortly, no doubt.

Back again...

2005-06-21T08:46:00.000+01:00

We're back from honeymoon. What a fantastic time. The weather was good for most of the time (the odd rain shower, being the tropics) and the hotel was just amazing. We had a sea view (about 20 yards from our room!) and the hotel gardens were full of palm trees and fragrant flowers. The food was excellent - the local fruit and veg was very tasty! After ten days of being pampered it's quite hard coming back to work!

The plot survived without us, it seems. Although the weeds seem to have shown the best growth in our absence, as predicted we have a bumper harvest of broad beans. I picked some as soon as we arrived back home, a second carrier bag full (picked last night) awaits shelling and freezing at this moment, and there are still more left on the plants! My courgettes have started cropping (only two so far, many more on the way) and it looks like my garlic is just about ready for lifting - I dug up one bulb and it looks grand. I'm not sure where we will store it all! We have quite a lot of lettuce as well, and the spinach has gone mad!

With the current hot and dry spell it seems that water levels on the plot are dropping - it is sometimes quite hard to get even a watering can full from the hand pumps. I am considering installing a water butt to collect rainwater from my shed roof. Obviously I should have done this while we were having rain! Still, even a short downpour should yield enough water to give some of the plants a drink during dry spells. I shall investigate the local garden centres and see what I can come up with.

This is a recorded announcement...

2005-06-03T11:27:00.000+01:00

There won't be much action on this blog (or indeed our plot) for the next few weeks, as we're off on honeymoon!

We've got the small matter of our wedding first, of course! It's tomorrow afternoon at 3pm, followed by a big party for our family and friends - we've taken over an entire pub for the evening, so it should be great fun!

Then on Tuesday we're off to Mauritius, for ten days of lying on a beach. I can't wait!

Before then we will hopefully be able to spend some time on the plot planting the last few things that are still in pots in our flat (pumpkins and marigolds mainly), and making sure everything's well watered/protected. I hope to return to a bumper harvest of broad beans, as the plants are looking good, and hopefully everything else will survive without us while we're gone.

Murderer!

2005-05-31T12:09:00.000+01:00

I feel bad. Very bad. Last week I left the plants I bought at our plant sale in my cold frame, to protect them from the vagaries of the weather. However, we had one extremely hot day on Friday and I nearly lost the lot. By the time I got down to the plot after work all the sunflowers were crispy, and most of the marigolds had gone the same way. Giving the rest an emergency drink saved the melons, one of the okra plants and one of the cape gooseberries. The melons and okra plant I have planted in the cold frame, so hopefully they'll recover fully in time.

However, on the bright side, we planted out the nasturtiums in the bed that was originally set aside for the sunflowers (RIP). They are now doing quite well. The cape gooseberry went in the middle of the flower bed all on its own (the mixed flower seedlings are coming along, but are still very wee).

My potatoes seem to have largely recovered from the frost damage, as the picture shows. They have been set back a bit but are growing quickly.

Other weekend jobs included strimming the grass paths and around the beds to tidy things up a bit, planting out my peppers, some into the cold frame (now with it's lid removed as it should be warm enough) and some 'outside'. Anne spent some time forking over part of the area that has been under black plastic for a year, and created a bed into which I planted my butternut squash (5 plants). My pumpkins will go into the other half of the bed, once they have hardened off outdoors for a bit. The soil under the black plastic is in very good condition, and the perennial weeds under there have largely rotted away. We do expect the ubiquitous bindweed to come back with a vengeance, but we'll try and keep on top of it as we go along.

As an aside, Anne and I visited my folks on Sunday, to help them move their narrowboat to a new mooring (I took my petrol strimmer as the grass and weeds along the bank were about 3 feet high!). We had a BBQ in their garden in the evening, and I just had to take a snap of some of their fantastic lupins!

Weekend

2005-05-24T14:46:00.000+01:00

...well, Friday night, anyway.

That was the only spare time we had to nip down the the allotment at the weekend, what with a friend's birthday party on Saturday and our wedding rehearsal on Sunday.

Still, the artichokes are now in, along with the rest of my courgette plants (hopefully we're past the threat of frosts now). The rest of my plant sale purchases are sheltering in the cold frame (luckily, given the cold winds of the past few days!) or in the case of the peppers and silk oaks, flourishing in their new home on our windowsill.

Plant Sale

2005-05-19T11:49:00.000+01:00

We held our annual plant sale at work yesterday. We managed to make around £900 (after deductions for compost/pots etc) which will go to the appeal for funds to modernise our work's sports facilities. Slightly down on last year, but it wasn't such a nice day, which always brings the punters out. Still, that's an awful lot of plants sold in two hours!

Note: photo taken after the initial rush, after about 3/4 of the plants had been sold!

I managed to make some purchases myself, including a dozen sunflowers (russian giant single), two dozen marigolds (boy-oh-boy orange), three globe artichokes, four melons (charantais), three cape gooseberries (physalis), two okra, two peppers (big banana and purple beauty) and two silk oaks (houseplants).

I will grow the two peppers indoors, as my attempts outside last year only yielded a few fruits (some of which were nicked from my plot!). I have never grown melon, okra and physalis, but they're worth a try. The silk oaks look great, they grow to 100ft in Australian forests, but only 3 feet as a houseplant (luckily!).

Lazy Sunday afternoon

2005-05-16T09:09:00.000+01:00

Sunday was glorious, so Anne and I spent the afternoon on the plot, catching some rays and pootling about. I decided, perhaps unwisely, to plant out my tomatoes. Although the weather has been cold of late, it's mid-May and I'm hoping the frosts have passed. My tomato plants were beginning to outgrow their welcome on the windowsill at home, and so really needed to be moved. I provided them with plenty of support, so hopefully they'll survive and prosper. Sixteen plants (eight Moneymaker and eight Gardener's Delight) may be overdoing it a bit, but last year I only got a tiny crop from three plants. You just watch, this year we'll get heavy crops and I'll be knee-deep in the things!

Today's picture is a longer shot of the plot. It's starting to look pretty good now, and things are beginning to grow and fill out. The new tomatoes are shown by the double row of canes with little 'Yakult' bottles sitting on top of them - essential to prevent serious eye injuries when weeding/ harvesting!

Having just totted up what I've got in the ground and what I've yet to plant, it seems an awful lot, although with only two mouths to feed I don't have to plant huge amounts of anything, so there's room for more variety.

Madness...?

2005-05-12T09:20:00.000+01:00

Yes, that's a courgette plant. In the ground. I must be mad.

As it was a nice evening we wandered down to the plot after work last night. In a moment of madness I planted 3 of my courgette plants. They're getting pretty big for their pots, so I thought I'd see if they could brave the weather at this time of year. However, having planted the three of them at the base of a cane 'wigwam' (I'm going to try and grow them up it to save a bit of space), I realised exactly how cold it was getting as the sun was going down. So I relented, removed the wigwam and constructed a fleece 'tent' which will hopefully keep them snug until it warms up a bit.

If they do snuff it then I have some more plants on the balcony at home, and our work's annual Plant Sale is next week, so I can replace them if need be.

While we were on the plot Anne sowed some mixed flower seeds into the bed near the shed (and bench). They should produce a nice mixture of bright orange flowers, including Californian Poppies (a favourite of ours). We both did a spot of weeding and I thinned out some spinach and lifted the last of my leeks....

So we had spinach and leeks with our dinner last night, and both tasted fantastic! The remaining leeks will be frozen, possibly after conversion to leek and potato soup.

Brassicas & Bargains

2005-05-09T09:16:00.000+01:00

Another busy weekend, but Anne and I spent Friday evening on the allotment, weeding, hoeing and tidying beds as well as planting/sowing some new crops:

I sowed some Florence fennel, which I have never grown before. We hardly ever buy it in the shops, so I only sowed one row just to see how it does. If it grows well, and we like it, I'll grow more next year.

I planted 5 broccoli plants (grown in modules), however they are looking a little feeble, so I protected each plant with a brassica collar and a pop-bottle cloche. As I only had 5 broccoli plants I sowed a row of autumn calabrese as well. They will hopefully give a later (and depending on germination rates a larger) crop in the autumn.

I also sowed some more radishes to use up the space in the calabrese bed (that will be filled by the calabrese seedlings when transplanted). The radishes previously sown in the cold frame are doing well, and needed thinning.

Away from the plot, I have sown some more leeks in modules, as my previous sowing didn't do too well (only around 50% germination). I have also sown some basil (free with Kitchen Garden magazine!) into modules. I always seem to have trouble keeping shop-bought basil plants alive, so we'll see how these seedlings do!

As a bit of a last resort I have also sown my last half dozen brussel sprout seeds into modules - the previous sowings were decimated when hardening off (by slugs I suspect). It may be too late to start off brussels sprouts now, but it's worth a try.

On Saturday whilst visiting my folks (my Dad is recovering from a knee replacement op) we visited a "discount store" local to them. Amongst the Alladin's cave of goodies we found some cheap seeds (3 packets for a pound!) and so bought two 'sprouting kits' for the windowsill - large packets of carrot and radish seeds that are grown en masse in small trays, to provide edible shoots for sandwiches and salads. The third packet I bought was American land cress, which I have never tried but quite fancy giving a go on the plot. I also bought a new weeding tool to replace one that I seem to have 'lost' (of course I may one day find it buried somewhere on the plot!). This tool is one of my favourites for weeding and hoeing around crops. Needless to say the version I bought at the weekend was half the price of the one in the link above!

May showers?

2005-05-04T10:05:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I went down to the plot after work to do a spot of weeding, and ended up going nuts with my petrol strimmer, as the grass was taking over in places! As I was finishing up the sky darkened, and on my way out of the site I took a snap of this tree. The white blossom seemed almost luminous against the dark forbidding clouds approaching from the west. Luckily I just managed to make it indoors before the rain hit.

More Herbs

2005-05-03T10:47:00.000+01:00

The fledgling herb bed, or 'rockery'!

What a glorious Bank Holiday weekend! Due to having to do stuff for our wedding (the Big Day is 4 June, and fast approaching!), and visiting my Dad in hospital (2nd knee replacement op in 12 months, but he's doing very well), we only got to the plot for a couple of hours on Monday morning. Everything seems to be looking after itself quite well - although the grass and weeds are growing faster than anything else, as usual.

Anne planted some more herbs. We've now got parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano and chives in the herb bed. It's looking a bit sparse at the moment, but I am sure the plants will fill out pretty quickly once they get going!

Apart from general weeding, watering and hoeing, I planted some mixed salad and rocket seedlings into my cold frame. They look a bit pale and wan, but hopefully they'll perk up before long.

The peas have just started showing above ground. I gave up trying to protect them with some lightweight netting after a few attempts, as it just wasn't going to fit over the supports, so I made do with stringing some garden twine over the seedlings, which will hopefully keep the pigeons off until I can get hold of some better netting.

Spinach, radishes and spring onions are doing OK, and my broad beans actually have one or two little pods on them, which isn't bad considering they were sown quite late. However, my leek seedlings don't seem to have germinated consistently, so I will sow some more in modules at home where I can keep a better eye on them.

2005-04-22T10:14:00.000+01:00

It was such a nice evening yesterday that I spent an hour on the plot before it got dark. I planted the parsley and sage plants we were given, as well as the globe artichoke tubers I'd bought, and a row of peas to fill a gap between two beds. My radishes and spinach has started to come up, and the onion sets are now about 3 inches (~7cm) high or more. My beetroot, half row of spring onions and single row of carrots don't seem to be doing much at all, but maybe it's still a bit cold at night for them to germinate.

'erbs

2005-04-20T15:51:00.000+01:00

Not a lot to report on the plot at the moment. We could only spend a short time down there at the weekend, as we were quite busy (sorting out things for our fast-approaching wedding). However, during the weekend we visited some of Anne's family, and when we mentioned that we were thinking of creating a small herb bed on the allotment, my soon-to-be brother-in-law disappeared into his garden, returning with half a tray of parsley plants, a chunk of sage with roots attached and some rosemary cuttings! What a nice chap.

Yesterday I spent half an hour browsing around the gardening department of our local Wilko's and came away with, amongst other things, two bags of vermiculite, some hormone rooting powder, and some globe artichoke tubers. Anne and I both think the artichoke plants on some of the plots at our site look great, so I thought I'd give them a go.

I transplanted some rosemary and sage cuttings into 50:50 compost and vermiculite last night, hopefully they will take and we will soon be on the way to our herb bed!

2005-04-10T20:00:00.000+01:00

Anne and I both spent almost all day on the plot today. I started off in the morning by constructing a coldframe. I screwed four glass panels to four 'corner posts' (actually tree stakes) that anchor the frame into the ground. Three more panels sit on top as a lid. These are currently just resting on top of the frame, held in place by sisal 'guy ropes' to stop them taking flight across the allotments in a high wind (very dangerous!). I might modify the frame to fix the panels in place more permanently, although it is useful to be able to slide them about to provide ventilation, or remove them completely to get good access. The coldframe is placed over a previously manured bed, and judging by the condensation appearing on the glass it was heating up nicely in there!

The coldframe (minus guys ropes for securing the lid)

After giving the grass a much needed haircut, both Anne and I did some digging. I prepared the potato bed and planted my seed potatoes, and Anne dug over another bed that will probably be used for brassicas. She also forked over a strip alongside the shed and planted about 20 sunflowers. If they all germinate (and survive the slugs) they will look very nice.

I also sowed some beetroot and radish into my new coldframe, sowed some leeks into module trays (also residing in the coldframe for now), and some trailing nasturtiums into small pots - once they grow big enough to be able to survive the slugs these will be used in the 'flower bed' or to provide ground cover under the sunflowers.

The photo below shows my plot from the 'shed end', with the new coldframe on the right with garlic doing nicely in front of that, mature leeks on the left and my incinerator smoking away nicely! Behind that is the final area of my plot that needs cultivating this year, after spending last year under black plastic the brambles and bindweed are much reduced, but it's still heavy going!

From the other direction you can see my new potato bed (just planted) on the left, the newly-dug (possibly) brassica bed on the right. Just in front of the coldframe I have a few rows of spinach (one under the small white cloche as it's sprouting), some spring onions and some onion sets that have put on a growth spurt over the past fortnight.

The final picture for today is of the lovely Anne, taking a well-earned rest during a sunny spell!

Have camera-phone, will blog

2005-04-08T09:52:00.000+01:00

I've just got a new toy - a mobile phone with a camera. So now I can add more photos to my blog without having to remember to cart my digital camera down to the allotment.

This is a first try to see how they come out. Just a picture of one windowsill in our flat that is currently taken over by pots and seed trays. Nearest the camera are butternut squash and courgette plants, followed by capsicum and pumpkins (yet to germinate), a seed tray each of rocket and mixed salad leaves (only just poking their heads above the compost) and at the far end two module trays of marigolds, which are a bit of an experiment. They're from seed I collected from our own plants last year, so I don't know if they will grow or not. On the floor is a tray of potatoes (Foremost variety) that are chitting nicely and will go into the ground very soon.

Brr...

2005-04-07T09:12:00.000+01:00

Despite the current warm sunshine on my way to work this morning, apparently we're in for a cold snap over the next few days. Checking my favourite weather forecasting site, tonight the temperature in my area could drop to -3ºC, and tomorrow night -7ºC!!

Brr indeed.

I shall be visiting the allotment after work tonight to try and protect my more tender plants and seedlings with pop-bottle cloches and fleece.

2005-04-05T11:47:00.000+01:00

I just discovered that I have been linked to by another blogger! The first time ever, I didn't think anyone else was interested enough to read my ramblings.

Thank you Jane! Yours is a great site, loads of useful info that I just know I'll be using.

2005-04-04T09:34:00.000+01:00

Mainly 'cosmetic' jobs done on the plot this weekend. I finished creosoting the shed while Anne cleared the 'flower bed' area in front of it. We then re-covered the bench area right next to the shed with a double layer of weed suppressing membrane and added a deep layer of new wood chips. I started strimming the paths and grassed area, as it was getting a bit out of hand.

I did manage to plant some things - another row of spinach and half a row of spring onions. I also 'rescued' the clematis we planted in a pot last year (it didn't do very well) and planted it in the ground in the centre of the sweet pea wigwam. Hopefully it will enjoy itself more there. There's quite a bit more digging over of beds (and making new ones) required before I can plant anything else.

Easter weekend

2005-03-29T12:01:00.000+01:00

Got some time in on the plot this weekend. Jobs included planting the rest of my Broad Beans (about a dozen or so plants in now), making a small fleece cloche for the spinach I sowed recently (to try and keep the birds and beasties off it until it gets big enough to cope). I also went to the garden centre to get some bags of manure, half of which I spread on the bed destined to become my new cold frame. I finally picked up the glass from my parents on Friday - seven 'secondary glazing' panels they no longer needed. With the addition of some wooden stakes and screws to hold the panels firmly, they should make a large cold frame for growing salad crops etc. Having manured the bed and covered it with black fabric to warm up, I will construct the frame soon.

I also bought some creosote (substitute) and painted our wooden bench and two walls of the shed. You could smell it right across the allotment site! Mmmm.

Sunny weekend

2005-03-21T10:59:00.000+01:00

What a fantastic weekend! I hope that Spring has sprung, and I can spend much more time on the lottie from now on.

Unfortunately I was busy on Saturday, which was the best day of the weekend, but I got down to the plot on Sunday morning, and managed to get some work done. I cleared the new onion bed, added some chicken poo and planted my onion sets. These only took up half the space I was expecting, so I planted a single row of spinach in the bed as well, and intend to do more 'successional' sowings in the coming weeks. I also tried sowing a row of carrots amongst my garlic (which is doing well), as I have been told this helps against carrot fly. We'll see, I am still going to erect a barrier around the bed as well.

I also started forking over the bed for the broad beans, and moved the half dozen plants remaining from my largely failed Autumn sowing to their new home. It won't be too long before the plants I have growing in Rootrainers join them, as they are developing quickly.

I also finally made a start on the un-cultivated ground at the far end of my plot. Having resided under black plastic for nearly a year the weeds have died right back, with only the very persistent brambles trying to find their way to the light. In an hour I only managed to dig about a sixth of the area, but in that time filled my large tub trug with bramble and bindweed roots! After the hour I was knackered so left it there - little and often will be the only way! The first bed I dig will probably be home to my butternut squash, and maybe some pumpkins, once I've incorporated some manure.

Seeds planted:

Onion sets: Setton (improved turbo)
Spinach: Campania F1 hybrid
Carrots: Early Nantes 2

2005-03-18T08:30:00.000+01:00

Well, it's been a while since I posted anything on this blog, but then I've not been down the allotment as the weather's been too cold, wet or we've been too busy to do much. However, with a warm weekend approaching, thoughts turn to gardening. I managed to get to the plot for an hour or so last night, to find that the narcissi bulbs I planted late last year have flowered, and very nice they look too. I constructed a cane wigwam and planted eight sweet pea plants, hopefully they'll take and provide some nice colour (and smells) in the summer.

Back at home I did some more sowing into my Rootrainers. I now have the following sitting on the windowsill:

Lettuce (Laibacher Ice) 16 - modules*
Broccoli (Corvet F1) - 16 modules*
Broad Bean (Aquadulce) - 20 modules*
Brussel Sprouts (Wellington F1) - 12 modules*
Tomato (Moneymaker) - 8 modules
Tomato (Gardner's Delight) - 8 modules
Peppers (Yolo Wonder) - 12 modules
Courgettes (Zuboda) - 6 pots
Squash (Butternut Sprinter) - 6 pots in the propagator

*all sown about a month ago and doing well.

I also have a tray of potatoes (Foremost) chitting, and they have started to produce shoots.

Parsnips a-plenty

2005-02-13T20:00:00.000+01:00

Visited the plot today to drop off a new incinerator I'd bought from Wilkos, and suddenly decided to dig up all my remaining parsnips. They were showing signs of starting to re-grow, and apparently this can make them woody. So I've now got a carrier bag chock full of 'nips ranging from little baby ones up to a few whoppers. I expect I will be able to give some away to folk at work, but will try to blanch and freeze down a load for use in the coming months. I also lifted about a dozen leeks, and I think I've still got around two dozen left in the ground! Lots of leek and potato soup I think!

I finally managed to buy some Rootrainers today from the RHS Wisley shop. I've been looking around in local garden centres for them, with no luck. As I was given some National Garden Centre vouchers for my birthday and Xmas, I spent some of those on 4 trays of 32 cells, which should give me plenty of growing space for new seedlings! I also got hold of a copy of Fork to Fork by Monty Don from the Wisley bookshop, which I had also been after for a while.

Other purchases at the weekend were seeds from Wilkos, nice and cheap.

First visit of the year!

2005-01-16T18:00:00.000+01:00

I went to the allotment for the first time in 2005 today! How bad is that? Well, we've been busy, what with having proposed to Anne on 2nd January and all!

After the extremely windy weather we've been having I confidently expected my shed to be matchwood and scattered across the site, but no, everything was where I left it, and even the lightweight coldframes were OK.

Lo and behold, my garlic is sprouting! I'd given it up for dead, thinking I'd planted it too early when the ground was still too wet, but at least some of it seems to be thriving. The leeks are looking good, and I've still got usable parsnips. Lifted a few for use in the week.

Sometime soon I've got to start thinking about digging over the last bit of 'unused' ground at the end of my plot, and converting it into beds for the spring. The rest of the plot looks OK, nothing that a bit of tidying and weeding won't cure.

Memories of Summer II

2004-12-05T21:53:00.000+01:00

07
Originally uploaded by Clive Scoggins.

This shot shows some of the pumpkins as well as the tomato bushes (not a good crop this year), as well as the sunflowers and flower bed from another angle. The weed-filled plot behind mine has been cleared since.

Memories of Summer

2004-12-05T21:50:00.000+01:00

08
Originally uploaded by Clive Scoggins.

Just found a few more photos taken in the Summer. This one is of our sunflowers and marigolds.

Rain, rain, rain

2004-11-22T15:30:00.000+01:00

Brrr. Unfortunately rain and freezing temperatures kept me from the plot this weekend. Shame. On the plus side I did get some 'Old Fashioned' Sweet Pea seeds on Sunday, which I am intending to grow on a cold windowsill at home over the winter, in time to plant early next spring. Oh, and we bought an Amaryllis 'Red Lion' bulb that we hope will produce some nice red blooms in the flat over the winter, as long as we keep it warm.

I converted one of my pumpkins into a pie on Sunday too! Very tasty indeed. Will roast the seeds tonight for a crunchy snack as well.

Commendation!

2004-11-13T17:00:00.000+01:00

Our allotment association held it's AGM last night, and I was awarded a commendation in the "New half-plot" category! My first award! Very exciting.

Visited the plot quickly today, as we had lots of things to do this weekend. The weather was fabulous but we just didn't have the time to stop and do any work. The plot wasn't looking too bad. There's some serious digging to be done in the areas that we covered with plastic last year. Hopefully the weeds will be gone, or at least 'weedy' enough to dig out without much trouble. Fingers crossed that the weather will be good enough next weekend to get under the plastic and make a start.

The joys of weeding

2004-11-07T19:00:00.000+01:00

Spent this morning tidying up a bit.

Got a nice surprise when we arrived - the other half of the plot had been cleared down to ground level! It had lain unused for at least the year I've been on the allotments, and was covered in weeds, brambles and waist-high grass. Either the owners have decided to start over again, or it's under new management. Either way, it was good to see it totally clear, and not have brambles encroaching on the shed at the end of our plot.

I spent a couple of hours weeding the leeks by hand as they were getting quite overgrown. I now have very achy legs from crouching down for so long, but the leek bed is looking much tidier.

Anne cleared out the flower bed and tidied up the bench area around the shed. I harvested the last handful of small peppers before a frost claimed them. We also lifted some carrots and parsnips. Quite a few carrots have been attacked by carrot fly and slugs, but there seem to be enough good ones left for us. The parsnips look good - hopefully we'll have plenty for over the winter (including Christmas dinner!).

Unfortunately the grazing rye I planted as a green manure a few weeks back wasn't doing as well as I'd hoped. I don't know whether I sowed it too late for good germination, or the pigeons have been having a feast, but the growth was looking very sparse. Hopefully it'll come on a bit before the weeds take hold again. It's probably too late to sow any more this winter, so I'll keep the rest of the seed for next year.

Inspiration

2004-10-24T18:00:00.000+01:00

Visited RHS Wisley with Anne and her Mum. The vegetable garden was an inspiration as ever. Still lots of winter vegetables growing - more ideas for next year! Impressed with the fennel and chard, might give those a go.

Bought a bucket of chicken poo (sorry, manure) for adding to my compost and digging into the beds come spring, as well as another bag of grazing rye for green manure.

Things done and things to do...

2004-10-23T19:00:00.000+01:00

The longest spell spent on the allotment for ages! Weather was awful - ranging from drizzle to stair-rods, but I managed to get a lot done:

Prepared a bed for and planted garlic.
Prepared a bed for and planted broad beans - Aquadulce Claudia for over wintering (hopefully!) - approx 30 seeds, I want many more broad beans this year!
Dug over the whole of the old onion bed and sowed green manure (grazing rye).
Forked over the small area where my two courgette plants were and sowed the rest of the grazing rye there.
Planted around 40 narcissi bulbs in the flower patch.

By this time I was thoroughly wet through and so couldn't face digging out the remainder of the Pink Fir Apple spuds, or hand-weeding the leeks. Left those for another day.

Summer memories

2004-10-22T18:30:00.000+01:00

DSCF0131.JPG
Originally uploaded by Clive Scoggins.

Just a first stab at a photo upload. This is a picture taken back in May when we had some of Anne's family over for a BBQ on the allotment. The grassed area looks huge, but is only about 1/4 of the plot area. The vegetable beds are all to the left of and behind the camera.

Beginnings...

2004-10-22T18:15:00.000+01:00

About my little plot...

It's a half-plot, measuring 5 rods by 1 rod (that's by 82.5 by 16.5 feet, or about 25 by 5 metres, for the more metrically minded). Only a half-plot because that's plenty to be going on with, especially considering it was covered in a mixture of waist-high grass and shoulder-high brambles when I first saw it in November 2003!

Located in the Royal Paddocks Allotments at Hampton Wick, the soil is sandy and free-draining, which means that on the plus side it doesn't get water-logged and is easy to dig, but on the minus side it dries out very easily in the summer. Water is provided by means of bore-holes with Victorian-style hand-pumps located around the site. Luckily one is right at the end of my plot, as you can make a lot of trips with a watering can in the Summer!

Between November 2003 and Spring 2004 I spent most of my time hacking away at the brambles and digging out the roots. The first bed was dug (with help from my family and Anne) in early 2004.

Shortly after that I built a small (6'x4') shed on one corner of the plot, for storage, shelter against the elements, and cups of tea whilst working on the allotment.

In the first year Anne and I decided not to convert the whole area into vegetable beds. Approx. 1/3 of the area is kept as grass (lawn is too good a word), which has meant we can use the area for relaxing in the sun, and the odd BBQ with friends etc. A couple of small beds near the shed were given over to flowers, and we bought a garden bench which gives some much-needed rest after a few hours digging.

The far end of the allotment was eventually strimmed flat and covered with weed-suppressing fabric, as I couldn't cope with clearing everything in one season. This area will be dug over in the coming winter to provide three more beds.

Even without using all the available land for growing vegetables, over the last year I have successfully managed to produce:

Two types of potato (King edward and Pink For Apple)
Two types of onion (spanish and red)
Carrots
Parsnips
Leeks
Broad Beans (but not enough)
Rocket (stopping it growing is the trick, it seems)
Lettuces (although sadly attacked by slugs)
Beetroot (but not enough)
Pak Choi
Pumpkins (8 small to medium ones)
Plum Tomatoes (from two plants, although not a large crop)
Courgettes (from two plants)
Sweet Peppers (from two plants)
Aubergine (1 tiny one from two plants - I won't bother next year!)

At the time of writing we still have some of everything left (either in storage or in the ground) apart from lettuce, broad beans, and courgettes.

Not bad for a first attempt. I have plans for next year... !!!

Go...

2004-10-22T18:00:00.000+01:00

Hello.

Thanks for dropping by.

This blog is my record of what I'm doing on my allotment. Anne (my girlfriend) bought me my first year's lease on a half-plot of land at the Royal Parks Allotments in Hampton Wick in November 2003. One of the best presents ever! Having spent the first year digging and clearing weeds (with help from Anne), planting a few crops, clearing more weeds, weeding, watching some things grow and other things succumb to pests, weeding LOTS MORE and finally harvesting some fabulous tasting food, I am most definitely hooked.

So this time around, having recently paid for another year's lease on the plot, I have decided to try and keep a blog of my progress, as a record of what I've planted when, how things go, with (hopefully) some photos. I'll probably be learning lots, as I am sure the first year was a complete fluke!