Moving soil

The past 2 days hVe been about moving soil and bricks from home to the allotment. I have moved so far 2 trailer loads of soil and have another one to go and quite a lot of bricks.  We are taking down to raised beds in the back garden ready for some grass and using the bricks for some paths and the soil for some raised beds at the plot.  It is looking better at both places!

Today I also planted out my broad beans from home -out of 25 seeds I had 18 plants.  I also put down some new seeds at the allotment as well.  Will try and get some pics tomorrow.  In one of the new beds I also planted out some shallots and 2 rows of carrots. Haven't had much success with carrots before so hoping this year is better...

The plot is looking good at the moment, still some tidying to do but overall the best it has looked for a long time. 

Main crop planted

Although today was a bit of a typical April day - windy and showery, I had a couple of hours down the plot with my Father in Law to try and finish of the rotavating and also plant out my main crop of potatoes.  I was mainly successful - the main beds were rotavated and although the ground was claggy and sticky we got most of the fruit bed done as well.

I planted out 4 rows of King Edwards, and have another 10 or so tubers to plant out.  So all in all a successful day.  Hopefully tomorrow I will have time to get the onions in.  

Roll on the rest of the Holidays!

More Seeds....

Just a quick post to state what seeds I have planted:

Leeks - 5 large pots

Courgettes - 12 seeds

Sprouts

Kale.

I like having a greenhouse!

Rotavating the plot

The allotment is looking good today.  It was the day for rotavating the plot.  I have rotavating most of the plot today, and my hands are still vibrating.  The soil was ok, and is now looking a lot better.  The picture below is an overview of things as they are.  The front raised beds have early potatoes in and the 2 empty ones will soon have some broad beans.  The rest of that bed is for my main crop.

The middle bed was the worst to dig, and still needs more work.  This will mainly be the onion bed although I am sure that there will be room for some other crops as well.  The 2 raised beds are my strawberries - the nearest one does need weeding still.  I will be back down tomorrow to finish off and plant out the onions and the Main Crop potatoes.  Busy busy now that it is the Easter Holidays

Seed update

Today I put my first seeds in the greenhouse.  Have planted 2 trays of cabbages (red and white), some Spring Cabbages, some salad leaves and some lettuces.  I also put some mixed french beans out as well.

An update on my tomato seeds - they have nearly all germinated and are growing slowly.  My broad beans have also started to show!  Exciting times!

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!