Manure and Spuds!

This weekend I have been at the plot for about 4 hours.  Could have done with longer but being Mothers Day and having school work to do that was about the limit!  

However,a fair bit got accomplished so at least that was positive.  On the Saturday the whole family was down for a while.  The boys and I mainly worked on the potatoes while Anne spent time weeding one of the strawberry beds and also potting up some runners to be planted in another bed soon.   

The Second early's are also out in the ground now.  Am quite proud of the soil in that area, it hasn't been used in a few years so I am expecting some couch grass to reappear but overall it looks good.  I added a bag of manure as well so am hoping for a good crop.

Next week is all about rotavating.  I will be hiring one for the weekend and the rest of the plot will be ready for the crops - onions, main crop and some other seeds I think.  At home, good news, my tomatoes have sprouted!  Need to plant some more seeds this week....

And that is that for the weekend.  Roll on the Easter Holidays!

Spring is springing

A nice afternoon down at the plot today, April showers before April starts really.  Today I dug over and made one of the beds I have not used for a few years - the amount of couch grass is astounding and I am going to have to keep an eye on it!  I also used some old fence panels to mark it out and created a little path between it and the now onion bed.   I'm hoping that with a bit of care etc that this area can become good again, as in my first few years at the plot it was the best soil I had.  In the last few years it has flooded a lot but hopefully this year it will be ok.  I also planted out some onions, around 50 sets today.  Still have another 100 or so to plant so hopefully going to have a lot this year.  Added some of our own compost to the onion bed, not much compost made this year - going to create a comfrey patch I think to help with this.  

One thing I am very happy with so far is the Garlic - as you can see from the photo it is continuing to do well.  I am hoping for some big crops this year and will use some of the cloves for next year as well.

I am happy that my first Broad Beans are just about popping up, hopefully they should now do well. Back at home I have started some seeds off.  

I have planted around 30 tomato plants and 25 broad bean plants.  Hopefully they will do well - using newspaper pots this year again.  This week I need to start my brassicas off, lots of cabbages and some broccoli.  Also leeks need to get going as well.

I am feeling positive about the plot this year - having a greenhouse at home helps and for once I feel on top of it.  Looking forward to the Easter Holidays as well in order to get everything in - especially my spuds!

Cloudy, windy but ok...

Had a good 4 hours down at the plot today and the weather was ok, a bit windy at times but dry.  Continued sorting out the plot today and it is beginning to look like an allotment again. 

Today I:

Built another 2 raised beds.  Think I am going to use them for carrots and other root crops

Built a new path using some paving slabs from the new house.  

Continued digging over some beds, the ones near the shed are being done at the moment.

I was digging over the middle bed by the shed,, it hasn't been used for 2 years and although the soil looks and feels good there is soooo much couch grass that it is taking a while to dig over.

A reminder that I need to get my seeds going soon,  have also brought my onion sets and might get some of them in tomorrow if possible.  

All in all a good day. I enjoyed being down there and it is looking good.  Will try and get some pictures tomorrow.  At home I have started to put more glass in the greenhouse and hopefully we'll have it ready for next week.

An hour after work

Enjoyed spending an hour at the plot after work today.  Didn't do much but almost dug over one of my raised beds and began building another raised bed.

Checked on my garlic.  The over wintering rows look excellent - now hoping they continue to grow, and he row I planted a few weeks ago has begun to sprout.  This weekend I think it is planning time, greenhouse building and also path building...  Should be fun.

First earlies in.

Not at the allotments today but did plant my first earlies in bags today at home. Planning on doing 3/4 bags every 2 weeks or so... Hopefully will give us a supply of new potatoes through May - July..

First Day of Spring

Today I got my seed potatoes, 2 first earliest, 1 salad and 2 bags of main. Started them chitting and might plant some earlies tomorrow in bags at home.

At the plot today I finished digging over the main bed and made another small raised bed. Need to do a bit of clearing to do and sort out the bit by my shed...