Harvested beans (pulled up the runner beans), potatoes (about half now up), leeks (the first mature ones) a few carrots, broccoli, some sweetcorn, turnips, courgette & marrows.
Grass needs strimming, otherwise looking good.
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Planted out all the brassica we had sown indoors, in bed E. Also planted out courgettes, squashes and sweetcorn in bed I. Were given sprout plants which we also planted. Of all the brassicas the red cabbage which were planted direct in April are looking the strongest Were given some lettuce plants which we planted under bean wigwams. Sowed Musselburgh leeks direct into ground next to other leeks in bed D. Also sowed radishes, spinach, chard, beetroot and turnips to fill bed. Caged the fruit. Which are looking rather good. Thinned out the carrots and sowed a second tub of Nantes 2. These are planted in some sandy soil I got from the excavations to bury a power line through the car park, with some leaf mould at the bottom, and mixed with ashes. Earthed up potatoes and weeded. Bought a strimmer, so now (after a few frustrating false starts) the allotment is a bit more photogenic.  Currants coming along nicely  The fruit side  The veg side
 Erik the Gnome has been on our allotment for about 10 years now, keeping an eye on it while we are not there. In the summer he hides in the brambles so this is the last month that he is easily spotted. 5 May, planted Nicola Potatoes in bed A. Sowed sweetcorn in modules on windowsill. 19 May, in bed C: planted out beans that had been grown in pots. 1 row dwarf french (snap bush), 1 row climbing french (neckar queen); on other side of each wigwam sowed seeds; sowed double row of runners (scarlet emperor on left from shed, best of all on right). 22 May, only one courgette is showing so sowed a few more in each pot. 26 May planted out pandora leeks that had been sown in modules in bed D. Other row of pandora leeks sown direct are coming through and looking good. In bed E, have two rows of about 8 parsnips come through, and six red cabbage from earlier sowings. Sowed a few more parsnips and cabbages to fill gaps and covered cabbages with net to keep birds off. Beans planted previous week look frost damaged but alive. Carrots are showing. Sowed third row of broad bean (Bunyards Exhibition, should come on later than those sown earlier). First row look OK, one or two of second row just beginning to show. Sowed row of Leeks (Pandora, same as sown in modules, should be read in late summer / Autumn) next to garlic in bed D
Sowed carrots (Nantes 2) in raised container to be clear of root fly.
Has been very cold, some snow in last fortnight, but over all very little rain/snow. Allotment looks like it is early March. Broad beans that over-wintered are OK, no sign of those sowed early March. Garlic looks OK. Yesterday we sowed leeks in modules on kitchen windowsill. Today we moved summer raspberries from by blackberry to along side strawberries (bed H). Mulched with cardboard and leaf. Also sowed parsnips at end of bed E–which will be for brassica and roots this year. Moved Rhubarb from in front of blackberry to bed G, between strawbs and comfrey. Split the one massive plant (huge root) into about 10 smaller ones. Each one was put in with dead leaves, comfrey juice and chicken poo, and the whole lot covered with dead leaves. Dug over bed E (no compost). Jules and Katie painted shed. It has been cold, some snow but not much, not getting much above freezing most days. Still the over-wintered broad beans look OK, even those I moved and so does the garlic I planted. Not surprisingly there is no sign of br. beans I planted on last visit. Bought potatoes a couple of weeks ago. Sarpo miro, a blight resistant variety and charlotte. V. small due to supply being hit by bad weather last year. They are chitting in the loft. Picked rest of broad beans, which have been good but late this year. We have runners and some french beans on the way.  Runner beans, bed E Carrots tops are being nibbled or broken by something.  few remaining carrots There aren’t many of them, but the turnips, beetroot and parsnip look OK.  Turnips, beetroot, parsnip Berries are rampant, especially the blackberry. Picked a decent number of raspberries, red currants, and a few strawberries. Other beds look pretty dismal, though harvested more anya: small but no sign of blight/rot. No, not the first time back since the ‘reset’ post a month ago, but sadly not far off. The weather’s been ‘orrible. Anyway, the plot was massively over grown, so did a lot of weed-pulling and grass chopping. The sweetcorn in bed B has pretty much all failed and no sign of any drawf beans in bed E. The climbing and runner beans are OK but not great. Broad beans are just flowering but not too impressive. A smattering of beetroot and parsnips in bed D, no perp. spinach. Leeks are holding on, potatoes are OK. Some donated cabbage plants we put in bed A are looking good. Harvested some mouse-nibbled radish from between bean rows, and some really good looking rhubarb. Planted sunflowers by the shed which have been struggling in pots at home. Planted squash and courgette plants in Bed B, a mix of bought from Henri’s and grown from seed in pots. Sowed more beetroot and a couple of rows of turnips in bed D. Sowed loads of lettuce and rocket between beans.
I suppose I could just post new stuff and maybe no-one would notice the one-year hiatus… but no. Last year fizzled out, bad weather, lots of stuff didn’t grow, what did grow got blight / white rot / whatever, motivation left me. Over the winter I dug over most plots and covered with leaf mold. We decided to make life easier by planting half the plot with fruit bushes that don’t need too much doing each year. Didn’t quite it ready in time to get them in before the growing season started, but maybe the opportunity to be sure that all the perennials are dug out from that side is a good one. Here’s the plan for 2012: As of May 27 we have planted the potatoes (beds C&G), strawberries (bed G/H), beans (broad, runner and dwarf & climbing French) (bed E — along with lettuce and raddish), parsnips, perpetual spinach, & beetroot (bed D). On May 27th we planted leeks (edge of bed C) and sweetcorn (bed B) from pots that we had started at home. We have some courgettes, red cabbage and sunflowers at home. Also sowed some sunflower seeds at along the road at bed A and nasturtiums along the side near the public path. The pots are just showing in bed G; the broad beans are up, but small; the runners and climbers are just showing, but no sign of the drawfs, so sowed one more at each station; the strawbs are flowering. Too early to tell about the others. Planted three short rows of Nicola in end of bed E nearest fence. |
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