A while since posting - but still been busy

It has been a while since I last posted, but I have been doing a few things down at the allotment

• Planted out runner beans and peas in new beds where I had rotavated.  Both had been grown from seed first (8th May)
• At same time planted another row of peas directly into the ground (8th May)
• Rows of beetroot, radish, spring onion and spinach (8th May)
• Cropped radishes (8th May)
• Planted Runner Beans directly in ground (14th May)
• Planted dwarf French beans (borletti) 2 rows, directly in ground (14th May)
• Planted two more rows of carrots
• Weeded onions

Still a lot of tidying to do and my courgette seedlings bit the dust.  Will try and draw out a plan soon as well...

Heading down tomorrow hopefully to do more weeding and sorting out - find space for cabbages, sprouts etc.

Aching Back...

Shoulders and back ache a little today, definitely a sign of hard work yesterday.  Today is Good Friday, and is traditionally the day potatoes are meant to be planted - well, you can't go against tradition can you!  The main crop was planted today - King Edwards.  Planted around 35 tubers, looking forward to seeing them grow and hopefully give us spuds throughout the winter.  That was it for planting today but a lot of tidying and sorting was also done.  Below are a few pics of progress so far.

Rotavating and all that

Well, I did it - took me 6 hours on the allotment today but I have rotavated 2 beds - thats it!  It would have been better if the soil was damper but you play the cards you're given.  I can now plant out the rest of my potatoes tomorrow and have space for all my seedlings.

Tired now though - will add photos tomorrow.

Back after a week away

Got back on Sunday from a lovely week camping with our new tent in the Isle of Wight, and spent time yesterday and this evening catching up at the allotment.

Have planted out both my broad beans (looked a little leggy after a bit too long in pots) and courgettes (with bottles as protective cloches) and we'll see how they will do.  Have also planted another double row of broad beans seeds in ground for a later crop.

Planted another row of carrots in the carrot and parsnip bed along with a row of spring onions to keep carrot fly away. Radishes I planted with parsnips are growing well.  Some Strawberries flowering and need to earth up early potatoes for more growth.  Also spent this evening tidying up the plot a bit, working out how best to make it look better - will put some photos up soon.

Yesterday also spent sometime in the back garden / yard.  Have done a fair amount of tidying and planting some salad and herbs, also some sunflower, sweat-peas and marigolds (my son liked the look of the seeds!!)

Some more seeds planted in pots.  First set of runner beans done, some more courgettes, squash (as last only 2 have sprouted) and some pumpkin seeds saved from last year.  Also some peas as still need to rotavate where they will go (ground still dry - need rain)

Thats about it really - onions have all sprouted well, and fruit canes and bushes looking good.  Need to use old tent poles and netting to protect them.  Will hopefully spend a fair bit of next few days down there, and will update with a plan and some photos soon.

Edited to add list of seeds sowed...

• 18 Runner Beans
• 10 Pumpkins
• 12 Courgette
• 12 Pea
• 6 Squash

Seeds a plenty...

A reasonably busy day today - had 3 under 5's with me and they loved the allotment and planting seeds etc.  Always good when kids don't mind getting dirty (we'll ignore when my middle child attacked my eldest with a rake....)

On Weds I managed to get down and plant my earlies and salad potatoes and also planted some parsnips (2 rows)  in sandy / compost enriched soil.  Added some radishes as a quick crop to mark the row.  I also put the cloches up to warm my seed bed - unfortunately the high winds on Thursday took them down again...

Today was a busy day.  I cleaned / tidied one corner and found enough bindweed to last a while - still more there I think.  Planted a couple of rows of main crop potato along with a trick I saw on Gardeners World - added some rocket to the top of the row - we'll see how that goes.  I also planted in the seed bed 2 rows of Purple Sprouting, 2 rows of cabbage, 2 rows of sprouts and 3 rows of leeks.  Seed bed now full!

Also put first spinach in gap in one of the potato beds.  A busy day.  Will probably go down tomorrow - try and get some free compost from the tip and add it to my new raised beds.

Rhubarb looking good - looking forward to first crop.

Planting seeds

As this is mainly meant to be a reminder for what I have done this year so that I don't continue to make the same mistakes, here is a list of seeds I have planted so far at home to plant out later (28/3/11)

• 12 x Broad Bean (with 12 more to go in later as well)
• 12 x courgette (more still to go)
• 12 x Red Cabbage
• 6 x butternut squash

Not really interesting, but hey.  Hoping to get down tomorrow night for spud planting!

First seeds in the ground!

Well, at the end of this weekend this is the stage I am up to:

• Onions all planted (160 or so)
• First carrots in the ground along with some early spring onions
• Strawberries weeded and new plants added (see below) - although some plants look dead I am hoping some tlc will keep them alive.
• New soft fruit bed dug and raspberries, gooseberries planted with a blackcurrant waiting to go in - still need to think of a way of netting, will prob use old tent poles
• Middle bed all dug over and  waiting for rotavating

Was a lovely day today, and the first T-Shirt day I have had down there for a while.  Still got a fair bit of tidying etc to do but we are getting there.  The best bit is that No 1 son (5 years old) loves it and spent around 3 hours with me today just digging and playing.  It also makes him eat more fruit and veg as when he grows and picks it he wants to eat it a well.  No 2 son also enjoys it (3) and No 3 (1 and a bit) doesn't have much option!

Now the evenings are lighter I will hopefully get down at least once each week.  Looking forward to the first rhubarb of the season - prob going to be the first crop this year.