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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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. 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. Onions, shallots and broad beans are all looking good. Planted ~100 onion sets (sturon globe) and 50 shallots (longor) at end of beds G & H nearest Donald’s. Cleared top growth from side of bed I and bed J and around currant bushes, used it to fill in hole where cold frame used to be. Dug out couch grass root from current bushes and tried to improve soil with with leaf mould from where black berry grows. Harvested the last of the parsnips and the celeriac from bed D, got more than I thought I would. The winter snow and frost did a fair amount of damage, killing most of the over-wintered brassicas (3 purple sprouting broccoli and maybe some perpetual spinach survived), and causing the fruit cage / netting to collapse. Dug over beds A, B, C, G and H; covered most of bed I to keep weeds down. Planted broad beans in bed A. Harvested some v nice parsnips, more to come, and the last of the leeks.
Bed A : Onions Mostly shovelled compost around. Chopped tops of rest of the potatoes. Chopped down comfrey. Broke necks of all remaining onions Harvested two heads of broccoli, half a bag of beans, two courgettes and a tub of black berries (with a few rasps) Took a look at the carrots for the first time since sowing them under fleece. A lot of what was there wasn’t carrot, so removed it, and carrots were over-crowded, so thinned them, but there are some nice looking but small carrots there. Covered again, should be ready in a few weeks.
Bed E: Only 2 red cabbage and no sign of white cabbage; sure there was more last time–I blame pigeons. SO grubbed up where white cabbage should have been and sowed more red. Some purple sprouting broccoli and calabrese broccoli showing, should be enough. Catch crops of radish and spring onions looking good. Hoed thoroughly and netted to keep pigeons off. Beds G & H, Nicola showing; hoed/earthed up. Plot D: sowed parsnips between turnips and carrots. Bed C: looks like sweet corn has failed, was a long shot anyway. Rearranged glass so that the courgette Jules sowed are protected.
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