By Phil, on July 21st, 2013% First visit after about 3 weeks due to holiday, during which time there has been lots of sun and not much rain. We weren’t expecting good things, but were very pleasantly surprised. For one thing, looks like a friendly neighbour had been doing some watering for us. Thanks! We did lots more today.
Pretty much everything looks good. Potatoes are healthy and flowering.
Most of the beans are looking OK (though the dwarf beans haven’t really got going), and the lettuce is ready.
The garlick is ready, the leeks OK (thinned out the musselburgh that we started on windowsill, the last lot sowed direct into the ground failed), radishes were ready a week or two back, but still (just) OK, the spinach is heading to seed but still (just) OK, chard, turnips and beetroot looking good.
The brassica and parsnips are looking good, but needed weeding.
Berries and currants looking good, though we should have tied up the raspberries as some of them have keeled over. Sweetcorn, squashes and first lot of carrots all good (but later sowing of carrot have failed)
Brought home loads of lovely red currants (4.5lb!), strawberries and raspberries. Lots of broadbeans, a courgette on its way to being a marrow, baby leeks and small carrots (thinnings), and giant radishes, some garlick, and a couple of lettuces.
Big difference to last year.
           
By Phil, on May 27th, 2013%  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.
By Phil, on April 7th, 2013% 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.
By Phil, on March 3rd, 2013% Half of over-wintered broad beans are gone, only two left in one row and some slug slime. Moved those two to fill gaps in other row and sowed a new row. Put up glass on either side of double row to act as wind-break.
Dug over last metre or so of bed D, raised it slightly and planted ca. 14 garlic cloves. The cloves have been in the shed since Oct or Nov, mostly look ok bit kind of optimistic to think that they will grow well. Put netting over to keep bird off.
Harvested last of leeks and parsnip.
started new compost bin (one nearest shed) with top off bin next to it, some kitchen waste and leaves+comfrey juice.
By Phil, on March 3rd, 2013% Cold winter, some snow, car access to plot blocked by works. Didn’t get down very often so no major work done.
Harvested carrots, turnips, beetroot, parsnip and leeks through first weekend of Mar. all of which did quite well. Carrots especially worked well, and the parsnips.
Planted two rows of broad beans (super aquadulce) in early Nov (bed C), which germinated OK and about half of them survived.
By Phil, on August 12th, 2012% 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.
By Phil, on June 24th, 2012% 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.
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Beans
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Not much by way of parsnip, beetroot etc.
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Potatoes looking OK
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No sweetcorn. Leeks holding on, newly planted squash & courgette
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Four fine cabbages
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More potatoes
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Strawberries
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The pile of weeds and grass we pulled today.
By Phil, on May 27th, 2012% 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.
By Phil, on April 18th, 2011% Planted 2 rows red cabbage in bed B with radishes as catch crop; 1 row parsnip and 1 row beetroot in bed C; lettuces between broad beans on bed A.
Harvested purple sprouting broccoli, perpetual spinach, and rhubarb. Rhubarb this year has thrown up a lot of flower stems.
By Phil, on March 6th, 2011% Planted ~100 onion sets (sturon globe) and 50 shallots (longor) at end of beds G & HÂ 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.
Continue reading Sun. 6 Mar 2011
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