First day of Summer

Well, I had meant to get down to the allotment this week (it being half term) a little bit more than I have but decorating and the weather have got the better of me.

However today I have done some alloment stuff at home!  My sprouts which I planted at beginning of May have been doing well and I potted up around 15 of them today.  I also planted some Dwarf French Beans and some new courgettes as none of the others I planted germinated.

Tomorrow I hope to get down and actually do some tidying (as it needs it) and some grass cutting etc.  But, for my records here are a few pictures of todays work.

Sprouts Potted on.  Have Cabbages and Broccoli to do tomorrow when I have got some more pots from the allotment.

My Butternut Squash plants.  3/8 germinated.  New courgettes are next to them

Shame about the weather

Why does it always seem to rain on weekends when I could get down to my plot?  Looks like today will be spent inside.

To cheer myself up here are some pictures front Wed 15th May.

Bank Holiday Monday

A good day today.  Runner beans planted (see above picture)  Again, tried another technique this year and dug trench, filled with manure and then planted seeds.  I normally grow in pots first...  I'm looking forward to seeing results

 

 

It's been quite dry recently so here is my number one son watering the potato's...  He quite enjoyed it really.

 

 

All my onion sets are in now - just need to watch them grow.  Planted them in long rows with compost in to start them off.

 

 

In the afternoon number one child had had enough so number 2 came down instead.  Here is is pretending to do some weeding...

Main crop in (at last)

Today was about getting my Main Crop potatos in.  I have gone for Desiree this year hoping for a good crop.

I have planted them slightly differently than usual - putting manure on top of the trench before earthing them up.  The picture shows before I earthed them.  I have got two long rows of these so looking for a lot!

My earlies in the bags and boxes have started to show - around 2 inches of leaf so far.  Gave them a good water today as they were looking dry.  The earlies in the bed are still not showing at all yet. 

Am interested this year in the difference between the earlies in the bags and the earlies in the main bed - will there be a difference in growing time and also quality?  Hoping that the ones in the bags are ready earlier and then can have the 3 rows.  I'll let people know!

Other things done today:

• Planted 30 sweetcorn seeds - left in shed
• 1 row of turnips and 1 row of beetroot planted outside
• Spring cabbages, Sprouts, Broccoli, Courgettes, Leeks and Butternut Squash seeds all started.

Will hopefully be back again tomorrow.  A bit more landscaping needed and preparing things for the Greenhouse build.  Also have some more fencing to do.

All in all a lovely day down at the plot, was sunny and warm which is slightly unusual for a bank holiday!

April and hoping that spring is here...

Potato day today. I know good Friday is the traditional time to plant your spuds but it was cold and I was on holiday. So I got my earlies in today.  3 rows and 4 bags. Am trying some in potato bags this year to see what will happen

• Other things done today
• Planted more onion sets
• Weeded strawberry beds
• Planted broad beans
• Dug over the wet beds
• All in all a good day.

Also, checked on my new Apple trees from Aldi which I got a few weeks ago.  They seem to be doing fine.  Need to train them along some wire and posts to make sure that they are under control

Repairing and building a new fence down

A lovely sunny day. I went down hoping to get a fruit cage up using my old tent poles and some netting and ended up building and repairing the dividing fence.

It has been in need of replacement for a long time and the guy behind us was re-doing his and gave me the old panels. So I changed my plan and built this:

Had fun! Although I had to cut down the brambles / blackberries to the ground. Im hoping that they grow back.

Off down tomorrow to tidy up...

Another bed done

Another day another bed dug over. Today I suggested over the new raised bed we made earlier this week. Soil looking good and added manure as well.

The plot is looking better than it has for a long time. It will hopefully be a good year. I now need to go skip hunting and look for some nice  wood to make another new raised bed and hopefully some paving slabs.

Will hopefully get down again this week...