Plot 18

New boots and frames

2012-01-23T12:02:00.002Z

After a wet and especially windy weekend a bright, calm morning tempted us up to plot 18. A quick look around the hedge an the edge of the field beyond showed lots of small scrapings by an animal to get at the roots near the surface. It's probably the local rabbits, but might just be a badger. There is a clump of woodland at the edge of the field so there could be a set there, maybe I'll take a look. I could also put out a tray with sand in it to try to get footprints to examine.

I've made a couple more frames. this time they are quite short at only a metre long. They will be the ends of a rectangle made of frames that I will use to surround a carrot bed. I used longer frames for the sides last year and had to improvise the ends. The main job of the frames will be to support fleece to keep the carrot fly at bay. Last year's carrots were very good, so protecting this year's crop is certainly worth it. The frames are simple wooden sides made from pressure-treated timber used as roofing laths. The corners are reinforced with plywood triangles. They have plastic screwed to the ends to allow them to be pushed into the ground, but the plastic won't rot like wood. the whole frame is covered with a mesh, plastic in this case but others have chicken wire mesh, whatever is available. The frames make the plot much more flexible as I can use them where I like and move them each year. I use frames in parallel pairs with netting strung over the top and ends to keep birds off brassicas and legumes. I may make more end frames if they work well.

Jean bought some more boots. Her old ones had been around so long that the sole came away with the weight of mud clinging to it. Good boots are important to an allotment holder, indeed good outdoor clothes in general. If you get wet and cold then any job seems too unpleasant and gets left undone.

The planting plan

2012-01-18T16:41:00.000Z

Each year we make a plan of what to plant where. Like all good plans it is flexible but it gives us a place to start.

The plan layout started with a list of what we wanted to grow. The mainstays where there: broad beans, onions, beetroot, leeks and parsnips. We then add the things we have tried, did well and we liked. This gives us spinach, sweetcorn, courgettes and spring onions. Then there are the choices, French beans or runner beans, peas or mangetouts, and carrots or not?

Then the placement needs to be thought about. Try to avoid using the same plot as last year for most things. Some things don't move because they are perennials, like asparagus and the fruit bushes. Some things take up little space so they can be slotted into small areas like spinach. Garlic is already planted from last autumn.

I also wanted to think about reusing some of the ground that early harvests free up, like broad beans. Here I could plant something to stand over next winter, but in the end I just ignored that, too much changes to think that far ahead.

So here is the plan, I hope it works well this year.

Next is the choice of varieties and buying the seeds. It makes me excited for a new season of growing and of delicious home-grown fresh veg.

Fence stakes

2012-01-14T21:38:00.000Z

We mended a couple of fence stakes today. It was cold but beautifully clear and bright. The low sun hadn't quite thawed all of the frost by early afternoon. Jean took half a dozen leeks too.

The stakes just support the fence along the end of the allotment. they don't take much strain and they are a bit flimsy. They were rotten at ground level. I bashed the stake further in and adjusted the way the fence was fastened to it. It will rot again, but not for a year or two. The main fence posts are at the corners and gates and they are much more substantial.

Last Onions

2011-12-29T22:12:00.001Z

When we took up the onions there were many more than we have produced before, many of them large and all lovely. I laid them out on the greenhouse shelves to dry and it became the store for them. Yesterday we gathered the last of them and brought them home where they are stored in the bottom of a cool dark cupboard. A few had become soft or mouldy (and were discarded), but most are still firm and delicious.

I hung the garlic in the roof of the shed and we brought the rest of that home too. When I hung it up I didn't wash all of the mud off the bulbs and that was a mistake that I'll try to not make again.

We dug some more leeks too. They continue to be crisp and delicious. We have always dug the biggest stems and until now the smaller ones left in the ground continued to grow, but it seems that now the days are very short they are not growing any more. So the ones we take are a bit smaller than earlier ones and so we need to harvest more for each use. They are still much bigger and better than last year's leeks that needed more water than we gave them.

We are just outside the declared drought area which extends to the Humber in Lincolnshire. That seems to have more to do with the way the water companies have managed the shortage rather than the fact that East Yorkshire got more rain than Lincolnshire - it didn't. Our plot only did well because we watered much more than last year.

Still need to think about what to grow next year ...

No mud and a moveable fence

2011-12-10T17:18:00.002Z

I like to stay off the plot across the winter as much as possible. The soil structure can take a real pounding if it gets walked on too much when the ground is wet. With nothing much growing none of the moisture in the soil gets lifted by the plants so it is easy to turn it into mud. We went up to dig some leeks, so you have no choice but to walk on the plot, but I need not have worried, the ground is still not wet enough to churn up easily.

I dismantled the carrot fence that supported the fleece to keep carrot fly out - I should have done it weeks ago. Part of the fence was an old shelf pressed into service to support the fleece. Now I know it works well I'll now make the missing sections to use next year.

People have suggested that we make a carrot bed but I like to rotate as much as possible. Having fruit bushes, rhubarb and asparagus in fixed sites means I want to move as much else around as easily as possible. Having a simple movable fence to protect crops from carrot flies, partridges, pigeons and the like works really well, I just need to make it a bit more sturdy and easy to use.

We are beginning to plan next year's crops, so I'm fishing for suggestions of plants or varieties.

Hasp

2011-12-01T16:32:00.002Z

A new hasp made our shed safe from the weather, if not the intruders.

Tidy up and broken into

2011-11-30T20:04:00.000Z

We popped up to check on the state of the plot. We had some plastic uPVC strips that we have built stuff from, but there was a lot left over that we didn't expect to use so we took it to the tip. One of the trees we thought about moving we decided to cut down instead, so that went to the tip too.

Sadly we also discovered that our shed had been broken into. The hasp was broken and stuff inside had been rummaged through, though nothing seemed to be missing. There was no lock on the door, so I don't know why the hasp was broken; the wire holding the door closed is easy to pull out. I expect it was dark.

Move a tree

2011-11-12T12:33:00.000Z

We planted a few trees around the edges of the plot when we first took it over, not with any particular plan in mind. there were three oak trees, which with hindsight was not the best idea. Two of them have grown to be substantial small trees, crowding out the third. We tried to move one of them which proved to be a lot harder than I expected.

Just dig out the root ball is what the TV gardeners will tell you. What with, a JCB? We dug out what we could, broke two fence posts in the process and had to cut more of the roots than I wanted to but we managed to move it into a gap in the hedge behind the plot. The other, even larger, tree still awaits its movement day.

We have had another round of rabbit hassle, with another hole appearing in the plot, but this time only close to the shed and outside the fenced area. This was filled with stones and a couple of bricks. It looked like it had been dug from below, with no spoil around it, so I'm hoping it was the rabbits' escape route and that by filling it in I have prevented them returning, but we will see. If I have blocked them in they will easily dig a new exit - I just hope my efforts persuade them that somewhere else would be a more pleasant home.

A big pile of cow manure appeared in the car park once again. It is substantially better rotted than the stuff last year, but still it is not what I really like. Too fresh and the ammonia in it causes more harm than good. I decided to not use it this year again. The structure of our soil is pretty good, we can feed the soil in the spring where the crops need it so I think we will be OK without it. The small hedge next to the car park was planted with buckthorn I think and now the berries are splendid.

Next year's garlic

2011-10-22T22:08:00.000+01:00

A couple of days ago we planted the garlic for next year. It can be a bit awkward planting stuff at this time of year, because it is usually in the ground the following year when you are ready for planting more stuff. In previous years I've had a plan to work to, though the plan rarely survives long before something changes.

This year's garlic planting has used a bit of the plot we have ignored before, next to the asparagus, so it shouldn't get in the way. I will think about a plan soon. That involves looking back at what worked and what needs to change. I do enjoy reflecting on the goodies we have had and looking forward to what we can grow next year.

More leeks, carrots and parsnips came home with us. Parsnips are very good this year. We will be blanching and freezing some more before the ground freezes.

Thanks to the French beans

2011-10-13T16:20:00.000+01:00

The French beans have given given us their last crop. The leaves had begun to shrivel so we dug them up. We took some carrots and some more leeks too.

The parsnips looked good so we dug a couple. They looked particularly good, clean with no canker, a good size and shape. We ended up digging some more and blanching and freezing them for later. The idea of keeping them in the ground until you're ready for them has not worked too well in the past. If the ground freezes digging them up intact is difficult and as they sit, largely leafless, the rot and canker sets in. So this year we're going to steadily dig them up and freeze the ones we don't need right away. Frozen ones work well for roasting, in soup and in stews so it is a good option, if you have the freezer space.

I took a photo over the fields behind the plot, mostly to try out the camera in my new phone. The view never disappoints me; it really is a lovely place to have an allotment.

Warm relief

2011-10-02T21:56:00.000+01:00


Freshly sprouted winter wheat as a green haze

A very warm spell has wafted over us. The plot had already wound down, but the remaining French beans might just give us another crop thanks to the warmth. The courgettes just missed it, the sweet corn is almost over any way, carrots are fat and probably won't notice, the leeks should fatten up a bit more.

The warm spell might still do us a big favour. The field behind our plot had oil seed rape earlier this year. That is harvested very early and so the field has stood largely empty for a long time, but recently the field has been ploughed, harrowed and planted. This empty spell may be part of the reason we have been visited by rabbits. The warm weather may have come to the rescue, because the winter wheat in the field has sprouted, so rabbits will have plenty to graze on.


No more rabbit holes

I blocked up the rabbit hole with stones, pushing them as far down as I could reach. The rabbits, or something, moved some of the stones, but not enough to uncover the hole beyond. I keep checking the state of the bank to find new scratchings, but no new holes. I hope the rabbits like young wheat, but I expect Martin, the farmer, won't be so pleased as I am if they chose his crop over mine. Any more incursions and I will buy enough wire netting to cover the bank. If I put that on over the winter, the growth in the spring will embed the netting into the bank properly.

Planning and the end of allotments

2011-09-29T19:16:00.000+01:00

I have been listening to the arguments about the planning system for years and years. It has been loaded heavily in favour of developers and large companies for as long as I can remember. When an application is made to build a group of new homes or a new super store it can be turned down with local politicians making a big fuss about how they have protected the local area from the blight of development, knowing that the applicant will appeal to the central planning appeal who often approve the application, but with some modifications. There is no appeal for the locals to prevent an application that has been granted by either process.

There has long been the cosy process where some large company and a local council cooperate to allow some improvement, such as a new road using an unused part of the company's land who miraculously get granted planning permission either to extend their site or build lucrative housing on other land they own.

The current planning guidelines insist that most new houses are tiny boxes with no gardens because they must meet a criteria to cram a certain number of homes into each hectare. They have stupid restrictions that minimise the size of driveways so second cars end up being parked on the roads, blocking the footpaths and cycleways the council insisted on.

All of this, and much more, is badly in need of change, so when I heard the Government was reforming the planning laws I was hopeful. In addition they trailed it by saying that local people would gain more control over the process. As soon as I saw the minister in charge was Mr Pickles my heart sank. I don't believe he is fit to lead a dog for a walk and certainly not lead a Government department and the fiasco he has produced confirms my belief. Actually I don't believe Mr Pickles did write the document, but he is the front man for it.

The essence of the proposed reform is that planning applications in National Parks, Areas of Outstanding natural Beauty and existing green belt will be resisted, but everywhere, everywhere else the presumption will be to approve development of any kind except for coal mines. There will be no option for locals to appeal so developers will have a free-for-all. The worst is that these changes are supposed to promote growth. Great. Lets chase growth by smothering the country with concrete.

Green field sites are an obvious target, but that requires services, like water, gas etc to be extended to the new area. This makes allotments look very vulnerable. Plots of land inside villages, towns and cities, like allotments, are already close to facilities and services so building on them would be easy and cheaper. Cash-strapped councils would make a tidy sum from selling the land for development. You don't think it will happen? Well I want to be sure and the only way is to ensure these outrageous plans are scrapped.

I want the planning laws reformed, but not scrapped. Please write to your MP to object to a free-for-all for developers and to encourage real reform, allowing local plans to determine the local priorities and to remove the opportunities for corrupt and disingenuous practices. If you want any and every piece of green space concreted over don't bother.

Final beetroot

2011-09-22T17:39:00.000+01:00

Yesterday we dug up the last of the beetroot. I thought it would be a small harvest, but actually it was loads. Jean boiled it, sliced it, bagged it and froze it so we will have beetroot for some weeks to come. Another batch of French beans have been added to the freezer. As the days get shorter and cooler I'm not sure we'll have any more, but they have been a success and I'd grow them again. We've been taking more sweetcorn and it's lovely, but one of the cobs today has not got many kernels on it, so the fertilisation has failed again this year, at least to some extent. I have tried to take pollen-bearing flowers and dust them onto the female flowers, but clearly I missed that one.

The rabbit trouble continues, with a small hole in the bank next to our plot. I have filled it in with stones picked from the freshly ploughed field next to the bank - the farmer will be happy to have fewer stones and I'm happy to block up the rabbit hole, not so sure about the rabbits though. They have abandoned the hole for now. I don't know if it was me or the fox that left its tracks in the freshly ploughed soil. I'm going to find a way to put wire netting over the bank to deter the rabbits from digging there. There is another rabbit hole near to Jim's plot. There may be a hole under someone's shed too. It seems we need to deal with them quickly to persuade them to move on before our crops are eaten or Jim gets his gun out.

The delight that is fresh sweet corn

2011-09-09T17:41:00.000+01:00

There are highlights of the year on the allotment, particularly when each crop is ready for the first harvest of the year. The first asparagus and the first rhubarb herald the spring, the first beans and the first salad crops the start of the summer season. All of these I look forward to, but none as eagerly as the first sweet corn. Today it arrived.

Our first cob was ready, with brown tassels and a fat cob so I opened the leafy parcel to reveal the little corn kernels which produced a milky ooze when squeezed with a thumb nail. That means it was ready to eat. I took one cob to try and it was wonderful. We have many more to look forward to.

Once you have tried really, really fresh kernels you will always be disappointed by the ones shops sell - they can never be fresh enough.

We also took some carrots, beetroot, French beans, courgettes and Jim gave us a cucumber which was also very much tastier than a shop-bought one, just because it was so fresh. Jim does know a thing or two about growing good stuff too.

More rabbit trouble

2011-09-03T12:37:00.001+01:00

The fence around the plot was patchy, with some of it from before we took the plot over. Last winter some of it collapsed under the weight of snow and rabbits invaded by clambering over the mound of snow with a collapsed fence under it. When the snow had melted we still had a problem with a warren that had an entrance into the plot and a hole in the fence that had gone unnoticed. All of this we dealt with, including replacing parts of the fence with a new one. Part of the plan was to move some of the fruit bushes to a space outside of the fence near the hedge between the plot and the fields. This turns out to be a mistake.


Rasps stripped by rabbits

The unfenced raspberry canes have been eaten by rabbits. This is a serious loss, because next year's fruit would have grown on the canes the rabbits have eaten, so we will get much less fruit, if any, next year. Fortunately I had only moved the raspberries, I was going to move the gooseberries and blackcurrants too, but I hadn't decided the best way to do it. Now I need to fence the fruit space first, which is a nuisance because I used the unfenced space as a way onto the back of the plot without needing a gate. Now I need to think again.

We have dug the remaining onions, taken some lovely carrots and more beetroot is boiling in the kitchen. We planted out some broccoli along with some spring cabbage Rob gave us - I have covered the young plants to keep the birds off. The sweet corn is forming more cobs, but none are ready yet. Leeks are swelling nicely. We sowed some spinach to grow in the cooler autumn days which it seems to like.

More produce and a chewed door.

2011-08-18T16:12:00.000+01:00

Today we took a break from building work at home and went to harvest some more produce. Jim gave us another of his lovely cucumbers and we pulled some carrots, courgettes (of course), beetroot, French beans and spring onions. Some the onions we dug last time have dried gently in the greenhouse and are ready for use. A few are slightly softer than others so we took these to use first, hoping the others will store for longer. All of the onions look good, with the average size much bigger than last year.

The sweet corn is coming on nicely. Cobs are forming, with the tassels collecting precious pollen. The top, male flowers are bursting with pollen, so things look good. I suspect the first ripe cob is still a couple of weeks away, and there looks to be lots of cobs forming so we should be overrun with wonderful sweetcorn very soon.

The site is on the edge of the village, largely surrounded by fields with a woodland nearby. There are often wild visitors on the site, especially attracted to so much food in such a compact space and like all allotment holders people here try to stop their precious produce falling into the clutches of crop-noshers. Fences keep rabbits out most of the time, nets keep birds and some insects off fruit and cabbages, more elaborate fruit cages and green houses help too, string, silver foil, CDs and other deterrents dance in the wind and a couple of plots even boast scarecrow. None of this stuff protects my shed door from attack.
The close-up picture shows the way the surface of the door has been systematically scraped away, probably by the jaws of wasps to carry off to make the paper that their nest is made of. Oddly enough, we haven't seen may wasps this year, but they must be out there ...

End of the peas

2011-08-12T21:45:00.000+01:00

The mange touts have been pretty good, after a sticky start with partridges helping themselves, but now they have finished. I pulled them up while Jean did some much needed weeding. I checked our hazel nuts, which are ripening nicely and have not been found by squirrels or jays. The sweetcorn is producing more cobs. They are beginning to get tassels and the male flowers are beginning to open. I've been trying to shake the pollen onto the cob tassels.

There were some french beans to take. They have not turned out to be as prolific as people told us they would be, but they are very good to eat and they freeze well too. There were some more carrots, which are a good success this year, after a couple of failed years. Naturally there were courgettes. The neighbours are beginning to hint that they can't keep up with the supply. Next year we must grow fewer plants. The onions are laying down, so I pulled about half of them and laid them out in the shelves in the greenhouse to dry. I would have pulled more but the shelves are full. They smell fantastic.

Our leeks are fattening up now the ground has been soaked. One thing I noticed is that Tony has just planted out a bed of very small leeks. I think these are intended to be picked in the spring, which sounds a really good idea. It's too late to grow them now, but we might try that next year.

Rain, produce and weeds

2011-08-05T20:24:00.000+01:00

The latest dry spell broke with very heavy rain showers. The plot has benefited from the rain, which does so much more good than we can ever do with a watering can. Over the last week we have had some beetroot, which is very sweet and succulent. We have had lots of mange touts and a few good harvests of French beans. The courgettes have been prolific, one harvest produced 8 good sized courgettes and then more a couple of days later. Our spring onions have been delivering well. Carrots have begun to produce very good roots which are sweet and so crunchy.

Sweet corn is showing the male flowers on some stalks and the beginnings of a few cobs are forming too. The rain should help them. The rain will also swell the leeks which look good, but the need the water to swell while the days are still long. The onions are looking very good. Some of their tops are laying down, but they are not shrivelling yet so we will leave them in the ground until they do.

Jean has sown some broccoli, which is growing very fast. It was sown a bit late but it is experimental winter crop this year.

Going nuts

2011-07-20T19:31:00.000+01:00

When we first took over plot 18 we planted a few small trees around the edges. Some were hazel trees and I thought that maybe we would see a few hazel nuts in many years to come. Well just four years on we do indeed have hazel nuts on one of our trees. I tried to pollinate some of the female flowers with a catkin from another tree and it seems to have worked. Now I need to work out when the nuts will be ripe, and hope the local squirrels don't find them. Six hazel nuts will not make a feast - maybe more next year.

We also took the last of our gooseberries yesterday along with five courgettes and our first carrot - another little success. There were a good take of mange touts and sweet peas too.

Dwarf french beans

2011-07-11T13:44:00.000+01:00

We spent some time watering the plot this morning. Promised rain came to very little and no more rain is forecast this week, so it was needed. The good news is that the dwarf french beans have produced a crop. When we looked closely it was more substantial that I had thought. We took a few spring onions too. A few of the beetroot are swelling so we might have some of those soon too.

Hungry army

2011-07-09T21:53:00.000+01:00

A very useful visit to the plot this morning gave us half a kilo of broad beans (out of their pods), another half kilo of gooseberries, some mange touts, a big bunch of sweet peas, our first spring onion, two courgettes and the army arrived but too late.

The broad beans have caught up a bit but they have still not produced as many pods as in years before. Some of the plants were so badly attacked by black fly that they had no useful pods on them. We have taken the last pods only to find the plants were covered in an army of seven-spot lady bird larvae. They should much through the black fly, but they arrived too late for the beans.

The gooseberries are all ripening nicely. There will be loads more yet, they are just a pain to pick with the thorns being carefully positioned to defend each juicy berry. Some more mange touts were ready with the plants growing nicely having recovered from the partridge attack. I wonder if ladybird larvae will attack partridges.

The courgettes have responded to the water we have given them, and some rain has helped. The first two fruit were ready with more growing. The spring onions are doing very well, so we took one to try. I also dug up the first garlic, but the stem was still too hard so they can stay in the ground to fill out some more yet. The French beans are growing well, but they are not quite big enough to pick yet.

Mange touts

2011-07-02T18:04:00.001+01:00

The summer is really upon us, with warm, sometimes hot, days. The long days have pushed everything into growth spurts and so lots of water is needed. We still haven't had plentiful rain, but June was a bit wetter than the previous three months. Today we paid two visits, the second in the afternoon was after we saw how much work was needed from a brief visit in the morning. There was a lot of weeding with a hoe and by hand, a lot of watering and the reward was our first mange touts. Not many yet but the plants, suitably watered, weeded and protected from partridges and pigeons, now look strong with flowers and a few more small pods. The time from flower to edible pod is quite short so we should have some more to eat later in the week.

We took another batch of sweet peas. They just go from strength to strength - the more you cut the more grow to take their place.

Hmmmmm

2011-06-22T12:35:00.002+01:00

One of the things I look forward to each year is the first crop of broad beans. We have just pulled a few pods that are just about ripe. This year I'm experimenting with taking the pods a bit earlier to, hopefully, get beans that are more tender and sweeter. We'll see how that turns out when we eat them this evening.

We took more fruit too today, about a kilo of blackcurrants and 350g of strawberries. I feed the courgettes with tomato food to encourage the flowers they are just producing to turn into fruit.

Useful things

2011-06-19T15:08:00.001+01:00

I made a few frames in the past because I thought they might be useful. They are simple things, wooden rectangles with reinforced corners covered either with plastic mesh or chicken wire. They have short plastic legs screwed the ends so that when the frames are stood on their edge they are resting on the plastic legs, which can be pushed into the ground to help support the frame. The plastic doesn't rot. When two frames are stood either side of a few rows netting can be spread across the top and the ends to keep the plants safe inside. Clothes pegs are very useful for holding the netting or fleece strung over these frames. Two of the frames have the legs at right angles to the frame so the frame is supported 15cm above the ground by the legs so crops can grow under them. The netting on that wraps over the edge to reach the ground.

When I made them I thought they would be useful and I was right. Of course they were not my idea - I copied the frames other people were using. I added the legs as my contribution to the evolution of the idea. Currently the two flat ones are covering the strawberries and some of the beetroot, the biggest two are protecting some leeks that would otherwise be outside if the fence and likely to become rabbit food. Another two, with the addition of some plastic netting, are keeping the birds off our peas. The remaining two were being used to protect the French beans, but they are now big enough to not need defending, so I moved them to protect the carrots.

Yes, we do have some carrots! I have three short rows of them and room for two more rows which I will sow shortly. The carrots need to be protected from carrot fly, so I have used the frames to hold up a double layer of fleece which should do the job. Having struggled to grow carrots in the past I don't want to lose them to the dreaded fly.

We have been picking strawberries and blackcurrants in the past week, with a good crop so far of both and more to come. Gooseberries are ripening slowly, though some are splitting after the rain as they swell too quickly. The broad beans are stunted, for the second year. We will get some beans but not as many as I would like. Next year I'm going to research some different varieties. Courgettes are growing, though a bit more slowly than other people's. Our sweetcorn is looking good too. French beans have flowers and the leeks are growing well. Our winter onions and garlic both look promising. We have been nipping off the garlic flowers so they put their energies into growing the bulbs. A few onions have bolted so we ate them straight away. The spring onions are doing well, growing them in pots and planting them out in small clumps seems to work well. The summer onions look great with only one flower so far. The peas were set back by the partridge eating their leaves, but they are growing well now, though no sign of flowers yet. Sweet peas have their first buds showing.

Some decent rain has finally halted our march between plot and tap and we can now look forward to some great vegetables.

More fruit

2011-06-06T16:54:00.001+01:00

Another batch of strawberries, which will become jam, and our first batch of blackcurrants were ready today. The leeks got some extra water to ease them over the shock of being planted out. Everything else looks good.

Last leek

2011-06-05T21:54:00.000+01:00

The rest of the leeks went out today, except the few we gave away. I sowed a few more carrot seeds, I'm wondering if I'm wasting my time, I don't seem to have orange fingers.

A flood of leeks

2011-06-04T16:59:00.001+01:00

I'm not sure what the collective noun for leeks is, but a flood of leeks sounds quite good in a pun sort of way. Anyway, we planted a flood of leeks today. It was more than half of the leeks we have in the greenhouse. The space I had reserved for them was too small, partly because Jean spaced them more widely than I would have done and partly because more survived the processes of potting and growing on than we expected. We now have to find a home for more leeks, that might involve giving some away. A flood of leeks is also appropriate for the amount of water needed to settle them in. We plant leeks, like most people I think, by making a hole with a dibber (the sharpened handle of an old hoe in my case) popping the leek in the hole and filling the hole with water rather than earth. Today the water just ran away in a second, so we used rather a lot.

The first of our strawberries have ripened. I put a frame over them with a plastic mesh on it to keep the birds off, sadly something got in and nibbled a few of the most ripe, most succulent berries - I suspect a mouse. One thing about the very dry weather is that slugs are not a problem this year. The strawberry patch is looking quite full, so I'm going to extend it a bit and use the runners from this year's plants to populate the extension. I might go mad and add a frame around it to just mark out the space. The removable frame would need re-sizing or perhaps a extra one adding to keep the size manageable so I need to think that through. I can do that while munching on strawberries later.

Sweet corn

2011-06-01T13:45:00.000+01:00

Over the weekend and the Spring bank holiday there was some decent rain. The ground is damp, not wet, and it is starting to dry out again. I was expecting that the rain would have given us a little reserve in our water butts too, but sadly they are empty. The tap was not properly closed, so any rain ran out.

We have planted out our sweet corn in a block. There were 27 plants, so we could be overrun with cobs later in the year, I certainly hope so. The peas that were eaten by a partridge are producing the beginnings of a few new leaves, so they might yet survive.

French beans

2011-05-26T12:00:00.000+01:00

Our first attempt at growing french beans seems to be going well so far. We planted six bean plants out today, they look strong with great roots. I covered them with a side frame and netting clipped to the fence - I don't know if hungry partridges like french beans, but I'm not taking any chances.

When we arrived at the plot it was raining, quite hard too. I still watered much of the plot, which seemed a bit odd in the rain, but the effort-free water had only dampened about a millimetre, my watering cans go further. The rain soon slowed and stopped, but it all helps.

We took another batch of the quite delicious spinach. There looks to be one more batch to take before there will be a gap since the next sowings are growing but not quite ready to go out, let alone ready to harvest.

We found a few pinkish strawberries, with many more growing which is great news. Gooseberries are fattening up too. The first batch of beetroot is looking in good shape and spring onions are picking up after a few good doses of water.

Watering is time-consuming and boring but it does mean we will get crops that otherwise would have failed completely.

Disappointments

2011-05-25T11:16:00.000+01:00

Anyone who has read this blog will know I want rain. The ground at the allotment is bone dry. Our plot is the furthest from the each of the two water tanks, so fetching water is a slow business. Our water tanks gathering rain from the shed roof were empty months ago. I refilled them with a hosepipe from the mains supply, using a hosepipe is frowned upon, but they were quickly emptied again. Our fruit bushes have produced berries, but now the black currants are dropping the fruit and some is shrivelling up. I just can't give them enough water. It is disheartening to put the effort in only to see the plot shrivel up in front of you, and it isn't even hot yet.

Various plots on the site have been raided by partridges. We know it was them because they were seen. They have stripped brassicas and peas of their leaves, mangetouts in our case. I have covered them now, but some cabbages have been stripped under netting, it seems the very strong winds over the last couple of days blew the netting open.

We planted out the courgettes, french beans and sweet corn will be soon, though that just makes more stuff to water on the plot and they are all thirsty. I have stopped taking asparagus already to give the plant chance to grow. They were suffering with the lack of rain and I need them to continue producing for years to come. Our latest attempt to grow carrots doesn't look good. There may be a few seedlings, but only a few. The tops of some of our winter onions look to be starting to turn down, which is the sign that they are getting ready to harvest. The problem is the bulbs are only the size of golf balls - the drought again.

I am very glad this is not how I earn my living.

Looking forward to peas

2011-05-12T13:35:00.000+01:00

It has rained a little bit over the past few days. Only a bit, but it all helps. We popped up to water the plants in the greenhouse and a little shower met us as we arrived. The mange-touts look strong so we planted them out. Their roots were very dense so they should do well. We only watered the mange-touts in and left the rest of the plot to rely on the rain showers. I cut some more asparagus which was a bit bigger than I expected, it just keeps growing, but only because we watered it. The local growers are complaining of a largely stunted crop because of lack of rain.

Lovely onions

2011-05-08T12:23:00.000+01:00

Three more winter onions bolted. They were lovely, but I would have prefered to let them grow to full size. Some rain has fallen, but the ground quickly dried up and no more rain is forecast for days.

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Bolting onions

2011-05-04T11:22:00.001+01:00

The winter onion bulbs are beginning to swell but unfortunately a couple have developed flower bulbs, known as bolting. We know that as soon as the flower starts to grow the bulb suffers, so I pulled them up and we will eat the small bulbs in a salad. A couple of years ago we grew both white and Japanese winter onions and the Japanese ones didn't bolt. This autumn I will try to get Japanese ones (the current ones are white) to see if that really makes any difference. Maybe we'll grow both again.

The long promised and awaited rain shows no sign at all of appearing. Today is bright and sunny. There was a sharp frost last night, with some potato tops on other plots getting nipped. We have continued to water, especially the tender stuff. The beetroot we put out is really not doing well, but we have another batch in the greenhouse and more seeds to sow. There is no sign yet of the carrots sprouting. One thing that has become abundant is the wood pigeon. They seem to be everywhere and in great numbers. We will need to protect things that go out from the pigeons. This can be either by netting them (the plants not the pigeons) or hanging CDs over them on strings as a scarer which seems to help keep butterflies off too.

Courgettes and French beans are both doing well in the greenhouse. I hope that our timing is right, so that as they as big enough to plant out the frosts should be over - neither will stand any frost at all.

It really has been dry

2011-05-01T11:45:00.000+01:00

A quick visit to water and harvest. We took our first spinach of the year and cut some more asparagus, this time to give away. We watered most things again. Still no sign of any carrots.

The new month means the weather statistics are being published for April. it seems that it has been the warmest April since 1659 and the driest month (not just April) on record. The recording station at Leeming only received 2mm of rail all month. This is following a record-breaking dry March, so all of the watering really has been necessary. The temperature extremes are most marked given that December was one of the coldest on record too. Climate change really is happening, though predicting the details is almost impossible.

The last time we had a hot, dry spring (2007) it was followed by such torrential rainfall that Hull and surrounding areas were very badly flooded, even leading to loss of life. I would like some rain (lots of rain) but not that much.

Many people have told me not to water the allotment, with stories of how it will encourage only surface roots or how the plants will be dependant on me watering. I don't know if any of this is true, but I do know that last year when we didn't water we got poor crops. I'm still not sure why watering is any different from rainfall. It's not as if rain somehow fills the ground from below. Water is vital to all plant growth, leaves need the water to combine with carbon dioxide (and a few trace nutrients) to make all of the sugars the plant needs to grow, light being the energy source to drive it. Plants are largely carbon from the CO2 and hydrogen from the water. Without water they cannot grow. I'll see what happens, but our plants will be watered if it doesn't rain.

Busy day

2011-04-25T16:39:00.001+01:00

A fine, warm Easter Monday tempted out a lot of people up to their allotments, including a few new faces. Roz seems to have persuaded a bit of turn over so plots get properly used which I agree with, especially since there is a waiting list.

We planted out some beetroot which is getting too tall and leggy in the rather-too-warm greenhouse. We watered things that looked dry, especially the newly sown carrots and the planted out beetroot. The broad beans have flowers, so they got some extra water. The strawberries are covered with flowers, so they got some water. The spinach is looking lovely so that got some water. The asparagus is sending up even more shoots, so that got some water. The sweet peas are beginning to reach up their sticks so they got some water. The winter onions are beginning to swell so they got some water. The garlic is throwing out extra leaves so it got some water. The raspberries are looking stronger than I expected given they were moved, so they got some water. All of the seedlings in the greenhouse looked dry so they got some water.

The tanks are getting emptier again, so rain is needed or a huge topping up session.


Winter Onions


Broad bean flowers


Strawberry flowers

Spinach

French beans

2011-04-20T11:30:00.000+01:00

Every year we have tried to grow something new to us. This year it is dwarf french beans. The consensus seems to be that they are prolific, so you don't need many plants and that they are not hardy so they need protecting from frost. We sowed our first batch today and that may be the only batch we need. We also sowed the next batch of beetroot and some courgettes. All of these are in the greenhouse to germinate to ensure they stay frost-free. We will grow more courgettes than we need because the process of transplanting them from pot to ground doesn't always work. We have sown more french beans than I think we need, just because I don't know how they will perform. Unused plants are easy to give away.

The ground is thoroughly warm and very, very dry. Without rain soon we will have to soak the ground just as preparation for planting.

We took some more asparagus today; it will probably get used at lunch time. The spinach is looking very strong and is responding well to watering. Our strawberries look good, with lots of flowers already. The blackcurrants and gooseberries have lots of flowers and hold the promise of a bumper harvest. The warm weather has brought things on quite quickly, I just need to keep up with watering to swell the fruit.

Spring onions

2011-04-19T18:56:00.000+01:00

The first batch of spring onions got potted on today, three to a pot. They then went up to the greenhouse to harden off, although the temperature is so warm (21°C today) they will probably wilt rather than harden. The asparagus is getting into its stride. We took some more with some rhubarb. There will need to be some more watering soon since there is no rain in the offing.

Asparagus and weeds

2011-04-09T16:03:00.000+01:00

A leisurely visit to the plot with a couple of jobs in mind turned into a watering session. The ground is dry as dust and newly planted things were very dry. Jean planted out the spinach - which looks very promising, I harvested some asparagus - our first this year - and transplanted a strong looking raspberry plant. It had grown up close to where the raspberries used to be so I moved it to where they are now, filling a gap where a plant hadn't survived the winter. I weeded the strawberries, which are filling out nicely and have a few flowers showing. Jean weeded the winter onions and planted the last few sweet peas. I added a few more canes for them to climb.

We then watered the freshly planted spinach and sweet peas and after checking the rest of the plot we watered the asparagus, broad beans, summer onions, parsnips and raspberries. I would have liked to water the other fruit bushes which have flowers on them, but our water tanks are nearly empty. I estimate we have used about three hundred litres of water in the last few weeks, and the thirsty plants are not sown yet. A few very wet days would be welcome to water the plot properly and refill the water tanks, but nothing is in sight.

Sickly beetroot

2011-04-06T11:48:00.000+01:00

We start our beetroot in pots, a couple of seeds in each pot and then they go out as soon as they look big enough. We sow them in batches so the beets are ready through the season. Our first batch of beetroot started off well, but much of the young plants have keeled over an died. We have taken the remaining ones to the greenhouse in the hope that they will like the cooler space. We have sown a lot more to try to catch up.

Rain in sight

2011-03-28T16:17:00.000+01:00

We planted the remaining parsnips out today. They look puny, but they should be fine. The first batch of sweet peas were big enough to go out two to a cane.

The weather forecast is for heavy rain in a few days, I hope they are right. The local weather forecaster is hoping for no rain to set a new record for minimum rainfall in March. I hope he is disappointed.

Going well

2011-03-25T18:32:00.000Z

We took the remaining pots of leeks from the first batch of sowing up to the greenhouse along with the second batch of parsnips. The parsnips will need to grow a little before they go out. The second batch of leeks have been potted. When they have settled down they will follow the first batch up to the greenhouse.

The newly planted parsnips look great. The soaking we gave to a few areas of the plot are still visible. The second asparagus spear has appeared but is still too small to cut. I put up a string of CDs to keep the birds off the onions. Pigeons and crows sometimes pull up the onion sets when they see the tops poking out of the soil. Once they sprout they are safer, the birds don't seem to like onions.

Plantings, insects and nuts

2011-03-23T11:41:00.002Z

The unusually warm weather has encouraged us to plant some of the hardy plants out. It has also stirred the insects and birds. Around Plot 18 there are great tits, robins, blue tits, dunnocks, sparrows and blackbirds all showing signs of pairing up and gathering nesting materials. The winter flocks of tits have broken up. We saw a crow flying past struggling to stay airborne under the load of the stick it was carrying. Insects and spiders are on the move, with a particularly large number of ladybirds this year. We've see our first bees and butterflies and spiders race for cover with almost every footstep on the ground.

We took up some leeks, spinach and sweet peas up to the greenhouse. Our leeks have potted up particularly well this year, looking strong and upright. The earliest batch of parsnips had the tips of their roots showing at the bottom of their tubes so they had to go into the ground to keep the disturbance of that root to a minimum. Jean used a bulb-planter to cut a hole in the freshly raked soil to drop the parsnip, tube-and-all, into the ground, then carefully fill in around the tiny plant to cover the cardboard tube. The tube will quickly rot away if it is buried.

The leeks will sit in the greenhouse for some weeks until they are a thick as a pencil before they go out, the spinach might take a couple of weeks but some of the sweet peas will be ready to go out sooner than that. I'm going to try training each sweet pea up a single cane this year to see if that will work.

Some years ago I gathered a few seeds in the autumn: some acorns and hazel nuts and a few holly, rowan and whitebeam berries. many of them grew in pots, not the holly, and when we got the allotment I transplanted a few around the edges of the plot. This year we have our first female flowers on the hazel. They are tiny flowers (sorry about the picture) and there are a few male catkins around. I tried to dust the flowers with pollen from the catkins because with luck we will get a few hazel nuts. Not what I had expected to grow on the allotment, but why not?

Broad beans, onions and water

2011-03-21T13:14:00.001Z


Broad beans

The air was slightly warmer with a gentle breeze and as dry as a bone. The forecast for the week is dry and warmish, so it seemed the right time to plant out the broad beans. They have been sitting in the greenhouse to keep them cool and stop them growing too fast. If they do grow too quickly they get floppy so when they get planted out the first bit of wind blows them over and possibly snaps the stem. That isn't always too bad, because the plant usually grows on again and is just a bit later to produce beans. The ground was very, very dry, so they needed a lot of water to set them on their way. I strung up some simple supports until the have got used to being out.


Winter Onions

I marked out the rest of the plot with little marker sticks. It gives us an idea where to plant things when their neighbours are not ready to plant yet. To do that I need to know what the spacing is for the plants in the rows and between the rows. This varies for different plants and can be varied to stimulate different growth, for example wider spacing of onions can help to grow bigger bulbs. I can't remember the spacing from one year to the next, so I look them up, but that means remembering to do that before going to the plot. We do have a printed copy of the plan pinned up in the shed so it occurred to me that printing the spacing on it would mean I had a copy there, so when I've finished writing this I'll add the spacing to the plot plan and reprint it.

While Jean planted the onion sets in neat rows, guided by a string line, I watered the asparagus, strawberries, garlic and winter onions. As I watered the asparagus I noticed the first spear has just emerged, so the season will soon start for real. The winter onions are beginning to look a bit stronger after sitting under snow for weeks.

Using the tube

2011-03-20T19:09:00.001Z

For the past few years we have chitted our parsnips and then grown the sprouted seeds on in a pot or a cardboard tube before planting them out. This year we have done the same again. The first batch of 26 have sprouted, been potted, or should that be tubed, and are now in the greenhouse, with the second batch sprouted and tubed. They will go up to the greenhouse as soon as the leaves appear.

The plot looks tidy but very, very dry. There has been little rain since the snow in November and December. We will need to water extensively before we plant anything out and then keep watering until it rains. The forecast is not just dry for the week ahead but warmer, so the broad beans might well go out shortly, but only with a lot of water.

The first batch of leeks have been potted into individual pots today. When they have got over the shock they will go up to the greenhouse to gently grown on for a few weeks before the go out.

We now need to water the asparagus and strawberries to ensure a decent crop of each this year.

Spruce up

2011-03-18T20:48:00.000Z

The fencing job has left us with a pile of rubbish: old, mangled wire fencing, some broken, rotted fence posts and a couple of old rotten gates. We swept them up into the trailer this morning and took them to the local tip to be recycled.

The broad beans and sweet peas in the greenhouse are doing well, the beans are about ready to be planted out if the weather stays warm.

A Plan

2011-03-12T16:08:00.000Z

The plot is secure and dug over. We already have some winter and perennial crops on the plot and some annuals are already sown, with some growing well. The trouble is that there's no plan as to where everything will go, or al least there wasn't until now.

The newly moved raspberries have made some more space, but somehow it's just been used. We need a big space for leeks and onions, the carrots are speculative and may come to nothing. The sweetcorn and courgettes are best in blocks, so there may be some wiggle room there. The beetroot may spread into some of the space near the strawberries. There's no space for sweet peas - they may go outside of the fence but be protected by a wire cage.

Now we just need it to be a bit warmer and a good downpour and we're all set to go.

Fenced in

2011-03-08T16:11:00.000Z

The new, step-over fence is now in place, though it needs a bit of finishing off. It is wired along the top for extra support and when I have finished adding a wire along the middle it will be firm and robust. The bottom of the fence is buried in a trench to deter burrowing under it. The joins are trapped between two battens screwed together for strength and to stop the stray ends of wire snagging passers-by.

Meanwhile Jean finished the digging, with the whole plot now dug over, except for where the winter onions, garlic and asparagus are. The broad beans are now safely in the greenhouse to slow down their growth a bit before they are ready to go out.

All that remains is to take the pile of old fencing and some other rubbish to the local tip and we are ready for the new season.

Measuring the size of it

2011-03-06T19:51:00.000Z

Much of the digging over of the plot has been done. The first part of the fence has been moved, leaving the fruit bushes outside of the fence. I have now measured up the old split and damaged wire fence and I need about 20m to replace it. I'll see what I can find over the next week. We need the fence replaced before we plant anything out, but that's a few weeks off yet so no great rush. As the old fence is removed it is a chance to cut and edge the grass paths around the plot before the new fence is installed. The new battery strimmer should get an outing for just that purpose.

Old bean

2011-03-04T16:06:00.001Z

All of the broad beans have sprouted. They are growing so quickly in the kitchen that they will soon need to be taken to the cold greenhouse to stop them becoming too leggy. One thing to mention is that these are not growing from beans saved from last year's crop - they got eaten by weevils. These are beans saved from 2009's crop. So eighteen months stored and they all germinate.

The garlic we grew last year looked enough to last until the next crop is ready, as it did last year. Unfortunately it has all spontaneously rotted, in both of the places we store it. So it looks as though the tough growing season last year has left us with weak garlic bulbs as well as all of the other poor crops.

I have put up the temporary table in a spare bedroom to hold some of the trays for allotment seeds and garden seeds that abound for the next few months. Now it just needs to be a bit warmer ...

Digging, gates, fences and holes

2011-03-02T16:17:00.001Z

Jean continued to dig over the plot. We guessed she has probably done about 30% now. The soil is damp and breaks up nicely without being too sticky, so it seems a good time to be digging. We haven't finalised the layout of the crops this year yet - we need a plan. I have added some blood fish and bone to one area Jean dug over and to the asparagus bed but until I know where things like carrots and parsnips are going I'll not add any more because they don't like it.

Remains of the rabbit hole

I repaired a gate that was spare and fixed it to the shed. Then cut a gate post from a suitable piece of tanalised timber, dug a hole to mount it in put the post in and back-filled the hole. This gate post is going to form the start of the new fencing. It does look as though some of our fencing is past its best, with holes and tears in some of it. Some of the fencing was on the plot when we arrived and it looks as though we need to replace it. I think I'll use fencing that is not so high on some parts so we can just step over rather than needing gates. This works well for other people. When we were leaving I looked closely at the old fence and found two holes which are easily rabbit sized, which explains how they exited from the plot when they vacated their warren. This all needs to be repaired before we can plant any new plants. When we foolishly planted some sweet peas outside of the protection of the fence in a previous year they where eaten to the ground the next day, so rabbit proofing is important.

The village has the first signs of blossom showing, crocuses are out in the verges and daffodils are rapidly pushing up. On our plot the blackcurrant and gooseberry buds are opening up and the rhubarb is starting to push through. We'll see if there are any raspberries that have survived - there do look to be a couple of canes with buds. The strawberries have suffered by being half buried by the excavations made by the rabbits, but some should be fine.

I'm looking forward to getting some stuff in the ground, but as always the preparation is important and that's not finished yet.

Fingers crossed

2011-03-01T13:24:00.000Z

No sign of any rabbits. Fingers crossed.

We're off

2011-02-27T12:38:00.000Z

Suddenly it all happens. The broad beans we sowed a week ago are starting to show. We sowed leeks today and started the parsnip seed chits too. Jean dug a bit of the plot while I worked out the layout of the fence alterations. Jean found a few parsnips that we had missed under the snow. They have sprouted and are woody, so they are in the compost bin.

The rabbits seem to have evacuated their hole, with no sign of activity at all. If they are still absent in a couple of days I'll properly fill the entrance hole and celebrate a victory.

The raspberries we moved last year seem to have suffered badly. They were uprooted and moved and soon after the very cold weather and snow followed and I don't think they have survived. It looks like we might have a year with less fruit. I'm going to leave them alone to see what does grow because if I need replacements I would plant them in the autumn. They were part of the original plants on the plot left from the previous tenant, so if we buy some more I could choose what varieties we would like. If some survive I could still top up with a few new canes later this year.

The big dig

2011-02-24T17:21:00.001Z

The rabbits have fought back, surfacing once more inside the fence of the plot. The only way forward seems to be to dig them out. We started today, but they are deep. I will not give in now until they have gone. We will see what happens over the next few days.

As an aside, the last of last year's broad beans will be on the table tonight.

Rabbit flaps

2011-02-17T15:37:00.000Z

It has been a quiet time on the allotment, as you would expect at this time of year. The ground is still wet so walking on it just turns everything to mud and damages the soil texture. The best thing to do is to stay off the ground.

There are jobs that need doing though and one is complete, we have bought our seeds for this year's crops and soon the sowing will begin for some of them. We also need to repair and move some of the fencing. I want to move the fence away from the hedge to make it easier to keep the weeds down that seem to thrive there. The fruit bushes don't need to be fenced in, even though they do need netting to keep the birds off. Good fences are important to keep the resident rabbit population away from our leafy vegetables.

We have been tackling the local rabbit population's attempts to gain entry to the plot and we have had some success. They have had a long-standing warren under the bank at the back of the plot and they have made some attempts to gain entry before. Over the winter they surfaced through a hole in the middle of our plot and through a hole just outside the plot next to our shed. I blocked up the hole on our plot, first by filling it in and after they dug that out again by pushing metal bars across the hole so they couldn't get past them. That seemed to work, though we lost our leek tops before they were barred.

I wanted to persuade them that our plot was not the best place to live, without causing them direct harm. I have filled in the main entrance under the bank a few times and the much smaller one near the shed even more times. I know they can just dig their way out, but I hoped that making it hard would force them to go elsewhere. I have put a few rocks and bricks in the main entrance and I think this may have worked. The hole near the shed was there, presumably how they got out, but the main entrance is not touched. I filled the shed-side hole again with earth and I'll be back again to see if that has been dug out.

If they are still there, I wondered about making some sort of rabbit flap. The idea is that the flap, made of wire fencing or even aluminium sheet, would hinge open to allow the rabbits out, but spring shut to not allow them to re-enter the hole. That way the next time they leave the hole they would all be forced to move on into the fields and hedgerows that border our plot.

Am I being cruel? I don't think so. Other plot holders on the site will happily remove them with a shotgun, I am just encouraging them to move on.

Parsnip overload

2011-01-09T11:58:00.000Z

The parsnips this year seem to be woody in their centre. I've come to the conclusion we leave them too long before lifting them, but they also suffered from lack of water last year. It seems that the Met Office are now quoting last year as a very dry year, something I knew at the time but no one else seemed to acknowledge. The annoying thing is that I didn't respond to my own local information and water the plot more. We have lifted the rest of the parsnips and took a few leeks too.

Next year I think I'm going to try planting some parsnips later to see if it makes any difference to how woody they end up being. One thing about the very cold December we have just had is that I know our parsnips have been frosted, which is supposed to make them taste better. They were so frosted that they were frozen firmly into the ground and immovable.

The ground is very muddy, just as I would expect at this time. The plot looks a bit sad and unkempt, especially because the fence is quite a mess. Having seen the damage rabbits can do, both in previous years and again this year I need to repair the fence before we plant out anything new, but there's plenty of time for that yet. At the moment we need to keep off the muddy land to help preserve its soil texture, so moving and repairing the fence will have to wait. The only exception will be to gather the two more harvests of leeks that still remain.

The rabbit hole that appeared in the plot appears to be abandoned - I filled in the entrance and the long-eared leek-scoffers have not dug it out. The entrance that is outside the fence, next to the shed, has been enlarged. I have filled that in, partly by standing next to it and falling into the hole as the surroundings collapsed. That revealed much more of a tunnel heading towards the plot next door, which I'll mention to Rob when I see him. We've had rabbit holes around the plot since we arrived, especially in the bank under the hedge. I don't expect they will leave, just quickly adjust to my measures. If it means they don't eat my crops that's fine.

Undermined

2010-12-30T16:42:00.000Z

Rabbits seem to have got a taste for our leeks. Even though I repaired (bodged) the fence they found a way in by burrowing under the shed, which forms part of the rabbit defence. I want to repair and alter the fence, but the ground is a quagmire. Most of the snow has melted, but the ground is frozen about an inch down, so the meltwater can't drain away.

We took some leeks, with a struggle, but the parsnips were frozen in and will have to wait. The winter has only just started and already the plot is a muddy mess.

The rent for the plot is due. This year it is moving to January so that anyone taking over a plot will be able get it ready for the spring, a good idea I think.

Leeky rabbits

2010-12-17T16:31:00.001Z

The weight of the snow on our fence brought it down, the fence post was already weak. As some of the snow melted and revealed the leeks the the rabbits sneaked in and nibbled the tops of them. Yesterday I propped up the fence to keep the hopping nibblers out. Jean harvested some leeks and parsnips. Only the tops of the leeks were eaten so the rest will be fine.

There's still more leeks so they will last into next year, just. The parsnips were awkward to find in the snow, large and a bit woody in the middle. The ground was soft under the snow, but now the hard frost has set in again and harvesting without damaging becomes harder.

Looking for leeks

2010-12-09T11:59:00.001Z

It's now two weeks since the first snow fell and there has been no real thaw at all. We ventured up to the allotment passed the chunks of ice dug from the road and piled onto the footpaths. The diggers were probably well-meaning but they certainly have not done us any favours. The piles of ice, well over a metre high, will take ages to melt, the compacted snow was fine to drive and walk on and now some parts of the road are cleared and some not there are four inch steps from one to the other making driving difficult and walking a nightmare as you are forced onto the narrow strip of cleared road because the rest is covered in jagged mountains of ice.

At the allotment there was only one other set of footprints in the snow, heading to Norman and Sue's plot. We carried on past to our plot. The fence in one corner is down and the foot prints show rabbits have ventured into our plot. We entered the same way as they had rather than dig out the gate. At the back of the plot the snow had drifted slightly, engulfing the fence and making a route for more rabbits to enter. They seem to have just had a look rather than eaten anything here, though on one of the other plots they have dug under the snow to get at crops that had not been gathered.

We had hoped to dig some leeks but they were under a deep mound of snow, you might just make it out in the middle of the picture. If we had uncovered some we would have laid them open to rabbits getting at the rest so we left them alone. The blanket of snow, which is about 45cm deep, will hopefully be protecting them from the worst of the frost and from hungry lagomorpha.

A thaw is forecast, so we'll need to repair the fence quickly when we can get to it.

Next year's plantings

2010-11-26T18:40:00.000Z

The bit of snow that has fallen has reminded me that winter is close and I haven't put a plan together for next year's plantings. There will be a bit more room for vegetables because we've moved the raspberries to the back of the plot which we've not made much of and cut down our rhubarb by three-quarters.

Firstly the review.
This year we didn't take enough care to water when the rain didn't fall. We planted more leeks but they didn't get enough water and are small. Winter onions were great, summer onions were good, but also small. Spring onions came to nothing. Mange-touts were great, but freezing them was not very successful so we need to eat them as they are ready. Cabbages were awful because they didn't get enough water (even the caterpillars left them alone). Potatoes were small and not spectacular. Peas were nice, but not plentiful. Garlic is great, but a bit small. Courgettes were great again, and our first sweetcorn was wonderful, but needs a bit of care to pollinate it all. Broad beans were few and a bit tough, but tasty. Parsnips seem good so far. Spinach was very poor, some not even surviving planting out. Beetroot was good, and better for leaving to grow to a bigger size. Gooseberries, raspberries, blackcurrants and rhubarb were all great, strawberries were poor.

Overall with either more rainfall or careful watering we could do better.

Our current plans for next year include:
Beetroot, broad beans, courgettes, French beans, garlic, leeks, mange touts, onions, parsnips, savoy cabbage, spinach, spring onions, sweetcorn. The existing fruit bushes will remain. I need to plan the layout around the winter onions, spring onions, garlic and broad beans that are already planted.

Mice and compost

2010-11-06T15:31:00.000Z

A calm, sunny day tempted us to do a bit of tidying up. The asparagus was ready to be cut back almost to the ground. I put up supports for the newly moved raspberries and tied each stem to a wire. Jean turned the compost heap and covered the heap to help it rot. The compost bins work, but we don't get enough from them to improve our soil and to use for potting young plants.

We cut a few more leeks. They are growing well, but they won't catch up enough before we are ready to eat them all. The winter onions are growing well and a lot of spring onions have come up too. The recent warm weather and rain has helped. Some of our broad beans have sprouted, but the mice have dug a few up. I'm currently going to leave them alone and fill any missing ones in the spring, that might help spread the harvest. I might yet plant a few more in the spring anyway so we can try harvesting the beans a bit earlier than in the past so they are even more tender.

Most of the work has been done for this year now, so there will be a few little jobs and wait for the spring.

Wandering raspberries

2010-11-01T17:22:00.000Z

The raspberries have moved. Well actually the plants moved, the berries have long since been picked and either eaten or consigned to the freezer for later use. The plants needed a hand to move of course - they're raspberries not triffids.

The land at the back of the plot has not been very useful. The soil is very sandy and light here, so we have been steadily improving it with compost. We moved the raspberries here, with a good dollop of compost from our bin under each one. The original plants came with the plot and we have struggled to clear the bindweed from around them. Digging them up made it easy to clean the roots of all of the weeds before moving them.

The whole plot now looks pretty tidy, but the old raspberry plot needs another dig over to completely rid it of the weed roots.

The next stage could be to move the fence. We've decided to not fence the new fruit bush area - rabbits should leave them alone. It will make it much easier to dig the weeds out from the bottom of the hedge and so stop them spreading to the rest of the plot. We also have some young trees around the edges of our plot and the original plan was to move some into the hedge to replace the grotty elderberries and supplement the hawthorn bushes. We have all winter to do this.

Less rhubarb

2010-10-25T16:49:00.000+01:00

A bright, calm day tempted us up to the plot. We took some more leeks and some good-looking beetroot. The beetroot seems to have slowed down, so most of what is left might turn out to be small. A few of the bigger beets had been nibbled - it looked like mice.

Jean dug over the piece where the courgettes were, next to the newly planted garlic. The winter onions are sprouting and some of the spring onion seeds have sprouted too. We dug our first parsnip. It was huge, probably our biggest ever. One parsnip that big is more than enough.

The biggest hassle was digging out a chunk of the rhubarb. The clump of rhubarb is much too big and is full of bind weed, so we dug more than half of it up. We might yet dig some more of it up.

Onions

2010-10-23T16:20:00.000+01:00

The last of the summer onions is going in tonight's phat thai. They have been lovely, but small and we didn't grow enough. the winter onions won't be ready until the middle of next year, so quite a gap on shop onions.

There was never any idea of self sufficiency and our plot would be hopelessly too small, but it is good to eat your own produce for as long as possible. This year's onion crop suffered from being too dry, but we also didn't grow as many as we could have done, so next year I might plant another row or two and try to keep up with the watering when it is needed.

More digging of the plot is still to come.

Garlic squeezed

2010-10-14T17:07:00.000+01:00

We planted the garlic today. There were more cloves than would fit in a single row so we squeezed it up a bit, I hope that was a wise move.

There were lots of beetroot to take and we took some more leeks. The beetroot is great, the leeks are wonderfully crisp and tasty, but they are quite small so we will go through them rather quickly. next year we must water them if it's dry.

Take a leek or two

2010-10-08T21:06:00.000+01:00

The courgettes have finally finished so we dug them up. The last few tomatoes were ripe too. There were some great beetroot ready and one chewed by a mouse. I pulled up the last of the red cabbages, they have been a big disappointment: very tough, tasteless and boring. Jean lightly dug some more of the plot and planted a row of broad beans planted in pairs.

We took the first leeks of the season.

Onion time

2010-10-02T17:17:00.002+01:00

Some winter onion sets were planted today, two rows each of white and yellow. The winter onions we harvested this year were great, so I hope these do well too.

We also sowed three rows of spring onion seeds. We've only had success with spring onions sowed in pots and planted out, but we've not sown spring onions in the autumn before. They should grow over the winter so we can harvest them, well, in the spring.

Getting ready

2010-09-29T11:48:00.006+01:00

Yesterday the first batch of autumn digging started. There has been very little rainfall this year, but lately there has been more rainy days, so I expected that the ground would quickly become a muddy mess, as usual at this time of year. I was wrong. The rain we have had has not soaked the ground at all, so digging it over was easy and the resulting tilth was lovely, crumbly, damp soil not great clods of mud and not dry, unbreakable lumps either. In fact it seems almost perfect.

We now have enough ground turned for our onions, spring onions and garlic to go in, but first it wants a bit of blood-fish-and-bone raked in to give the onion sets and garlic cloves a good start. The spring onion seeds need really fine soil so an extra rake over there is needed too.

The next spot to dig will be a space to plant broad beans to stand over the winter as an experiment. If that doesn't work we will just plant broad beans in the spring as we have done before, so there's no risk of not having broad beans which would be a big loss.

All of this is using up space when we haven't yet planned out the layout for next year. I will make a plan up, but as usual it will only be a starting point rather than a strict plan.

The extra rain has helped our leeks a lot. They are still not as big as last year, but they are doing well now. They were covered in rust earlier on, but now that seems to have gone. Reading about rust on leeks has left me feeling that people may have mixed their ideas about it. It's called rust because it is small, rust-coloured spots on the leaves. People equate rust on iron with water, so I think people have followed that thinking through to leeks, but I think that is wrong. The rust was there this year, and last year, during the dry spells. When there was plenty of rain it disappeared, so I think leek rust is a disease of dry weather and not wet as my books say. This time last year we were already taking big leeks, we will start taking some next week I think.

Next plantings

2010-09-22T21:08:00.001+01:00

Today we bought some onion sets and garlic. The onion sets were fifty each of white and Japanese yellow which should be planted about now. The garlic will be ready to be planted in a couple of weeks. We want to try growing some spring onions over winter too, so the seed needs sowing while the ground is still warm.

Disappointed

2010-09-16T18:17:00.001+01:00

The crops on the allotment have been a bit poor generally. The extreme lack of water through the whole year has been broken to some extent recently, but still much more water would be welcome. The leeks are beginning to fill out, but they should be twice as big as they are by now.We'll start to take a few leeks soon but even though we planted more this year and that almost all of them have grown we will have less to eat because they are so small. They also have a bit of rust.

The sweet corn is delicious, but many of the cobs have not been fully pollinated, so some of the kernels have not swollen. I expect to grow sweet corn next year, but I'll have to improve the pollination rate. I have read that the male flowers on the top of the stalks can be cut off and the pollen introduced to the female tassels, so I'll try that.

We have continued to take courgettes and beetroot, both are good, but the courgettes have not been as plentiful as expected. The tomatoes are almost done. They have been good and they were spared the drought by being watered in the greenhouse almost daily.

It's time to start thinking about the winter crops and any changes in the layout. Winter onions and garlic are certainly on the cards again and we will try growing spring onions and broad beans over the winter too.

We are planning to move the fruit bushes to the back of the plot and digging up at least half of the rhubarb. I'm also thinking about moving the fence so the fruit bushes will be outside of the fenced area. It should make access to the compost bins easier. Moving the fruit should give us much more space on the very best soil too. I hope the weather lets us make the most of it next year.

Sweet

2010-08-19T18:21:00.001+01:00

We've been gathering tomatoes over the last few days, with a few courgettes now and then. Jean took some more beetroot today which still has a lot to come.

Today's highlight though was the sweetcorn. I've been watching the cobs growing and waiting until the tassels have all died back. I opened up the top of the cob to squeeze the kernel. Today the juice was milky rather than clear so it should be ready.

Sure enough a few minutes in a roasting pan and it was easily the best sweetcorn ever. If you eat a lot of sweetcorn, don't try it when it's very fresh - you be so disappointed with everything else.

Autumn already?

2010-08-11T16:58:00.002+01:00

We had a bit of a clear up this morning. The pruned raspberry canes proved to be too short to be kept for pea sticks. Last year's canes were nearly half as long again. It goes to show what a difficult year it has been and still no real rain. We cut the peas, mange touts and broad beans off at ground level, leaving their roots to feed the soil from their nitrogen nodules. All the tops went for composting. Last year's pea sticks came up without a problem so we'll keep them for next year.

There was a courgette to take along with four nice beetroot and some tomatoes. We now have only about a dozen onions left to lift, the rest are either drying, hanging up at home or we've eaten them. I took the garlic home from the shed to hang up too. It is good garlic, but very mild, if anything a touch too mild. The sweetcorn cobs are still fattening, both it and the courgettes need more rain. Our sweet peas are still producing flowers, but only just. The red cabbage is just about beginning to produce hearts. Parsnips and leeks look fine, but some of the leeks are a bit small still.

All of this tidying up makes it feel like autumn. Some of the trees around the village are clearly suffering from the lack of rain, with horse chestnut and sycamore both showing yellowing in their leaves. Even a couple of beech trees look yellow, which is a problem because beech trees are known for losing a big branch suddenly if they under stress. The apples on the two small trees near the entrance to the allotment have a lot of apples, many are already quite red, but they are very small.

Pruning

2010-08-05T18:57:00.001+01:00

The raspberries are now history, so today the old wood stems were pruned to the ground. Over the winter I think we will move them, but for now they can grow the new shoots that will bear next year's fruit.

The last gooseberries were ripe so they were picked. We have had nearly three kilos from our single bush. A few more mange touts were ready too. A few more onions were ready for drying, I've dried them on a shelf in the greenhouse for a day or two and that seems to work.

Crossover

2010-07-31T16:23:00.001+01:00

I write two blogs, one about openstreetmap and one about our allotment. Today I decided to post the same entry in both blogs because I surveyed the plots on our small allotment site. You can see the results here: Allotment map.

More detail is still possible, more sheds, the position of the water butts, and perhaps the plot numbers, but the detail of which crop is where I'll leave alone.

Thorns

2010-07-28T11:22:00.001+01:00

Gooseberries are mixed up fruit. Not that gooseberries think of course, but evolution and the hand of breeders have still left them mixed up. Soft fruit is all about attracting birds and animals to eat the ripe fruit to disperse the seeds, but gooseberries don't seem to get this. They produce succulent, delicious fruit, in our case purple dessert berries. You watch them slowly swelling and eventually ripening ready to pick but the bush has other ideas. It defends the fruit from all-comers with dagger-like thorns hidden under the leaves to assail you as you reach for that juicy berry. They scratch and stab you, they tear at your clothes and leave chunks in you to remind you later that you stole those berries.

Is it worth this attack to get at the fruit? Oh yes. They are well defended but the assault is well worth it. So maybe the gooseberries are mixed up, but they are delicious too.

Tomatoes and asparagus

2010-07-24T20:23:00.001+01:00

The courgettes are still going strong - there are going to be courgettes given away up and down the street. The beetroot are also growing well, with a few getting to the size ready for us to use. The onions which we took up are dry now so they are at home now.

Another milestone was our first tomato of the year. One small niggle is the asparagus. We purchased the plants as only male ones. We don't want the plants to produce berries, both because we want the plants to fatten the crown for next year and not waste energy making berries and because if any of the berries ripen and fall they can crowd out the existing plants. Unfortunately one of our plants is female and producing berries. Today I pulled off some of the berries before they ripen and I'll pull the rest off soon.

See what the rain does

2010-07-20T12:28:00.001+01:00

Today's harvest was nearly half a kilo of raspberries, a half kilo of wonderful gooseberries and three large courgettes. The first tops of the summer onions have turned, so I pulled these up and put them to dry in the greenhouse for a day or so. They are firm and a good colour, but they are smaller than last year.

We've had some rain over the past few days. The ground is not soaked but it all helps. The older sweet corn stems have responded by throwing out flowers. The male ones are dancing in the breeze on the top of the stems and the female ones are just showing on side shoots. The sowing in batches looks good because not all of the plants are ready together.

Beetroot

2010-07-19T12:16:00.002+01:00

We made a quick visit today and came away with some new potatoes, some mange touts, some sweet peas and our first beetroot of the season.

We have left the beetroot to grow into bigger beets this year, more like tennis balls than golf balls. There looks to be about a dozen that are about ready, but we took only the biggest three to try. They are currently boiling in the kitchen and smell pretty good.

Wind and rain

2010-07-16T13:31:00.000+01:00

Finally there has been some rain and the temperature has dropped. Today it is very windy which is due to drop later today. I'm hope our sweetcorn all survives the blast. Jean has been round with a hoe to combat the weeds that the rain has brought out.

Our beetroot has been quietly growing, benefiting from the water we gave it earlier in the year. Some of the earliest batch should be ready to take soon. We have allowed it grow much more this year to try to get bigger beets, some of which we will freeze.

The dry spell hits

2010-07-11T19:36:00.000+01:00

The very dry spell over the first half of the year has had a bad effect. The broad beans have finished. It was a bit of a surprise but the plants are dropping their leaves. I've gathered most of the pods, which was nearly a kilo, and left a few to ripen for next year's seed if they will.

The raspberries are ripening quickly. They are juicy but very small. There's still some more to come. The blackcurrants are all gathered in, there was about four kilos in all. I dug some more potatoes, which look good but there are not many to each plant, again they needed more water. The peas are over. I picked a few pods but the plants are shrivelling up. The mange touts have continued to produce more pods than we can eat, so more go into the freezer. The courgettes have produced another fruit today.

The dry spell is forecast to end this coming week. I really hope so.

New fence post needed

2010-07-07T14:04:00.000+01:00

The flow of harvested fruit and veg continued this morning. We took about 1kg of blackcurrants, 350g of raspberries, another batch of mange touts and our second harvest of broad beans, which, out of their pods, was about 500g.

The blackcurrants continue to look great, fat and juicy and they smell wonderful as you pick them. The raspberries are rather smaller than usual, but juicy all the same. I think we have taken about a quarter of the broad beans, but I need to leave some of the best pods on the plants to ripen into next year's seeds.

Mange touts are hard to harvest. As I stand over the plants looking down on them the pods are thin, match the colour of the rest of the plant and hang down often under leaves. As we leave the plot I often notice a few pods that I have missed. Today I leant over the fence to pick a couple and broke a fence post. I'll have to replace it now but I might take the chance to change the fence and gate layouts.

Spuds we like

2010-07-05T18:34:00.000+01:00

I have been trying to decide when to dig up some of the potatoes. They have been in the ground for twelve weeks, but the first few weeks were very cold and the whole twelve weeks have been very dry. Today I dug a single plant and found a collection of smallish tubers. They were very good to eat, so I'll look forward to having some more and probably plenty to give away.

We also took out first courgette today. There's a lot more to come, but they have made a bit of a slow start. They will need watering as there is no prospect of rain. I took a lot more mange touts and some peas too. There are still more pea pods forming, but the mange touts look as though they may be slowing down. The last winter onion came up today and went into onion bhajis for lunch.

Jean picked nearly a kilo of blackcurrants and I picked over 300g of raspberries. This year the rasps are on half measures because we dug up and gave away about half of the canes. We will still have loads for us and some to give away.

The harvest continues

2010-07-03T19:29:00.000+01:00

Yesterday we harvested about another 800g of black currants. There's so much fruit to still fully ripen, it is hard to see that we have taken any fruit. The strawberries are over and have been disappointing. They just didn't get enough water. At least the fruit we did get were very tasty. The first of the raspberries were ready to pick. They are surprisingly plump and juicy. I have watered them a bit, I would have liked to given them some more.

We took lots of mange touts, most of which we froze. There were some peas too. They are sweet and good to eat, but there are not very many.

Today we took some more mange touts, some made their way into an omelette for lunch. A few more peas were ready too. I cut another batch of sweet peas, with some of the darker flowers opening up now. Jean planted the last batch of beetroot. The first batch is beginning to form beets so I hope it will be ready soon to try.

I took the first broad beans today too. There seems to be lots to pick, but only a couple of handfuls were firm enough to be ready to take. I watered the courgettes which are beginning to produce small fruits. They are also putting out plenty of new leaves and spreading as I expected they would. We have four plants, based on last year that is probably twice as many as we need so there will be lots to give away.

Produce of the rain

2010-06-30T16:50:00.001+01:00

The rain has helped to water the plot in a way that watering cans never can manage. Today the first of our blackcurrants were ready to pick. We took about 600g with much more to come yet. The strawberries have been very poor this year, small and not many. I'm going to allow the runners to grow and root so we have a few more plants next year. We covered the raspberries with a net to keep the birds and the berries apart.

There were many more mange tout pods to pick, with more to follow and a few pea pods to pick too. They are both very good to eat, but I'm not sure that peas give a big enough return for the space they take up. There were also a few sweet peas to bring home too. We took some spinach to eat later. The remaining spinach plants seem to be bolting so that might be the last for a while.

I dug up the garlic and hung it to dry out in the shed. It looks good, decent sized bulbs and quite firm. All but two of the winter onions were ready to take today too.

Hooray

2010-06-28T22:33:00.001+01:00

It's raining, I hope pours all night.

Strawberries, leeks and dry ground

2010-06-24T18:53:00.000+01:00

This morning we went to try to water as much of the plot as possible. The north west of England are close to a hosepipe ban. We are not quite as dry, but it has been a very dry start to the year. The local weather man says the driest since 1964. We did what we could, concentrating on the most vulnerable stuff, but we will need to water some more in the next few days if the weather forecast is right and no rain falls for the next week. Watering is boring, lugging watering cans is a nuisance and I always manage to water my feet.

Jean planted the last batch of leeks. They looked really strong and I expect them to do well. We took some more spinach and a couple of winter onions. The best harvest was about 300g of ripe, little strawberries. They are a bit small, more water would have helped, but they do look perfect. There are more berries to come and with the extra water they might swell a little.

Peas

2010-06-23T17:14:00.000+01:00

The dry spell is now extending. The weather is hot and dry and the plot is beginning to be baked dry. Some heavy duty watering is going to be needed soon, but some things like courgettes and sweetcorn will benefit from the sun if we can deliver some water too.

The peas and mange touts have yielded pods ready to pick, so we'll see what they taste like shortly. The strawberries are producing fruit, I left it to fully ripen on the plant. The blackcurrants are beginning to turn black. There's a decent crop coming and, because we have watered them, the berries look a good size. Raspberries are covered in small, swelling fruit, but they haven't had much water yet so they need gallons. Our potatoes do not have any sign of flowers yet we might have new potatoes in late summer at this rate.

The newly planted, small plants need water almost every day. The forecast is to stay dry and get hotter.

Grass, plantings and harvest

2010-06-15T19:47:00.001+01:00

The grass around the edge of the plot has got out of hand. It is a nuisance because it grows in amongst the fence so cutting it is awkward. I tried to deal with it with some weed killer, but that's awkward too, I don't want to risk anything on the plot. Jean did a good job with the shears, but it will need attacking again, and more regularly.

I planted the remaining sweetcorn, so we now have 18 plants out at varying stages of growth. The remaining spring onions went out as well as the spinach. While I was watering in the new plantings I put some blood fish and bone onto the asparagus and watered that in too. The tomatoes have the first truss of flowers opening and two other trusses are appearing. I fed them and the strawberries with tomato feed. I was expecting to feed the courgettes, but they still have no open flowers, although the plants look very strong.

We gathered some of the older spinach to eat, norman gave us a super lettuce and we took our first mature winter onion home.

The rain works its magic

2010-06-10T12:14:00.000+01:00

The past few days have seen much cooler weather and quite a lot of rain. We popped up today to check the stuff in the greenhouse and do a couple of jobs. We came away with some spinach and some rhubarb.

I tied up the sweet peas. The plants are growing well now, but they were not climbing the canes so I tied them in. The mangetouts, next door, are growing up the old raspberry canes I provided and a few are getting flowers. Last year they quickly went from flowers to pods, so maybe we'll see some crunchy mangetouts in a stir fry soon. The peas have pods, not yet filling out, but looking good. These are a new crop for us, so I'm not sure how to tell they are ready, but they certainly are not ready yet. The broad beans have shot up on the last few days. They were already covered in flowers and now even more so. The first pods are appearing too. I added an extra layer of support strings above the existing one. It is breezy today and I don't want to see any damaged by the wind.

Our potatoes are looking strong, but no flowers yet. Some people's earlies are getting flowers, but there's no hurry. Our tomatoes have their first truss of flowers. They look tidy and strong, but they will need some support soon; they won't stand up with the weight of fruit that I hope they will get. They need feeding and perhaps pollinating with a dry finger to ensure the fruit all sets.

The rain also makes the weeds grow - I wish they were edible too.

Strawberries

2010-06-09T21:43:00.000+01:00

The rain has finally fallen and everything is damp. We took the first two strawberries, hardly a feast, but very tasty nonetheless.

First leeks go out

2010-06-07T21:32:00.000+01:00

Today was greenhouse emptying day. We had a few spare tomatoes, courgettes and cabbages. No one wanted any of them, and they looked so sick that today they went on the compost heap.

The big event of the day was planting the leeks. Leeks get planted in a hole about 15cms deep. Last year we used an old hoe handle as a dibber to make the hole, but the ground was hard and it was difficult to make the hole deep enough. This year I added a couple of metal brackets to stand on to help push the dibber in. It failed completely. The first time I stood on it the bracket bent and collapsed.

The ground was hard again, so Jean loosened the ground with a fork and then the dibber went in easily. Each of the 85 leeks went into a hole which is then filled with water. We still have about 65 leeks to plant, but they need to be a bit bigger first.

Sweetcorn

2010-06-02T12:37:00.006+01:00

This morning we planted out our first sweetcorn. Seven plants looked big enough to go out, with as many again to plant out at a later date. The ground is damp, there's only a light breeze and the sun is out. This is the forecast state for the next few days, so the corn should get established.

We replaced two of our courgettes with spares. That doesn't leave us with any more spares, but the warmer weather should do them some good.

We took some asparagus and some rhubarb both looked very good. The rain yesterday seems to have released some pent up urge to grow, but especially in the weeds and the grass around the edge of the plot, so they need dealing with quite soon.

Spring onions and beetroot

2010-06-01T21:11:00.001+01:00

Yesterday we planted out some spring onions and some beetroot. I fed the strawberries with tomato feed to encourage the fruit.

Today it rained hard for a few of hours, which was very welcome. The next few days are forecast to be warm, dry and calm, so the plants can make the best use of the rain.

More, soon.

2010-05-30T21:38:00.001+01:00

The promised rain for yesterday arrived and fizzled out. Today the ground was dry with no real sign that there had been any rain. We took some asparagus, which continues to be delicious. We watered the stuff in the greenhouse and the newly planted courgettes, which need a lot of water to do well.

Some more beetroot will be ready to go out soon, as will some spring onions. Leeks will follow soon after, and everything will need watering again very soon.

Courgettes

2010-05-23T11:33:00.001+01:00

Jean planted four courgettes out today. They look strong and healthy, I hope they are as prolific as the ones we had last year. We got some more asparagus which had grown very quickly in just a couple of days. Another winter onion had bolted, so it will become part of a salad. The recently planted beetroot was wilting in the heat, but the water it got should revive it. We have very little water left for watering in the greenhouse, never mind the outside plot and no real prospect of rain.

Warm spell

2010-05-21T15:02:00.001+01:00

We went up to the plot today to do a few small jobs. The first was to plant out the strongest of our beetroot. Where Jean turned over the soil before planting it was surprisingly damp under the surface. We have more beetroot in the greenhouse coming on - part of the usual successional sowing. I used the metal frames from an old clothes dryer to make a frame to support the peas. They are doing well.

The last job was earthing up the potatoes. We planted ours fairly deep and waited to see them appear before covering them with another layer of earth. Some people earth them up as soon as they plant them, but the potatoes then grow out of the side of the banks as they seek the light. We'll leave them to grow now and only add water as needed.

The forecast for the next few days is increasingly warm - the local forecasters on the BBC seem to confuse 'mild' with warm, I can't describe 27°C as mild in May. There doesn't seem to be much prospect of rain either, so the watering needs to continue.

A few more of the winter onions have bolted, so I pulled them to use. There were some long asparagus spears to take too, the warm weather seems to have prompted them to grow really quickly now. Two of the asparagus plants have not yet produced spears, so, sadly, it looks as though they may have perished.

Carrots, not this time

2010-05-17T16:55:00.000+01:00

We've just given up on carrots. I don't understand what we are doing wrong, or what we're not doing, but carrots don't seem to be interested in out plot. One the other hand, everything else is doing well.

We have planted out the rest of the mange touts. I added the remaining pea sticks to support them, but I will need a few more. The existing mange touts may have been nipped by the frosts, but they are picking up.

We planted our peas out too, using some of the space set aside for carrots. As in the past my space planning has been a bit off, but by juggling the space based on what is available there is always somewhere to plant things.

The potatoes are coming up now too. I wonder if we planted them deeper than most people but their timing seems pretty good because they missed the frosts. Some people's spuds have been badly nipped, but look as though they are recovering.

We also planted out some red cabbages. I protected them with the frames made over the winter, which should keep the pidgeons off.

Flowers you want and those you don't

2010-05-13T16:15:00.000+01:00

It looks as though some of our sweet peas may have sucumbed to the few nights of frost. I hope at least some of them survive. Close to them, and certainly subject to the same frosts, the mange touts seem to be thriving. The spinach we put out recently is fine. It's a much warmer day today so let's hope the frosts are done.

The very dry weather could be taking its toll too. One of our winter onions has a flower spike on it. They seem to bolt when they get too dry, I hope the others are not thirsty. Past experience tells us that as soon as an onion has bolted it will not grow into anything useful, so I pulled it up and it will probably end up in a salad.

Cold and upside down

2010-05-12T11:58:00.001+01:00

The ground looked damp today, I was all set for watering but didn't need to. The air is so cold (8°C) that the soil is not really drying out. We planted a few tomatoes into a growbag, still in the greenhouse and planted row of spinach out. A few weeds were pulled up and we headed home to warm up.

We have some spare tomatoes, Brenda wants a few I think, but I'm going to try growing one upside down. There has been an advert for a tomato growing device that hangs the plant upside down. I'm not sure what the advantage is, but I'm going to find a way to try it, probably just outside the back door at home.

Frosts

2010-05-11T18:50:00.000+01:00

Last night there was a hard frost. All of the plants we have out withstood it, but some other plots suffered. Another hard frost is forecast tonight.

We had to water again and no prospect of proper rain. If the weather gets warmer we will need even more water.

A few jobs

2010-05-08T16:32:00.000+01:00

Over the last week we've done a few jobs, but I haven't posted a blog about them, so here's what we did.

We lightly dug and raked over the hedge-end of the plot, ready for spring onions and spinach. We raked the opposite end for the mange touts peas. The spring onions were looking limp in their seed tray and needed to go out, but the weather has been cold so we've been waiting. In the end we planted them out, the weather turned even colder and windier and they look pathetic and weedy. I'm not sure that many will survive. To give us a second go Jean sowed some more spring onion seeds in cardboard tubes, which is what we did last year, to see if we get any better luck with them.

The mange touts were looking big and strong. Jean planted the best ones and I pushed some supports for them into the ground. These were the prunings from last year's raspberry canes, kept specially for this purpose. Today they all look strong except one which has been broken by the wind.

The winter onions are forming bulbs. This is the vulnerable time, if they get too dry they will bolt and the bulb will be lost. We watered them today, even though we have had a shower, the ground was not even damp in some places.

Tomatoes in the greenhouse are looking good and almost ready to plant into a growbag. Beetroot and red cabbage will not be long before they are ready to go out, but we need the weather to warm up first and that does not look likely yet.

The carrots might have a very few shoots showing, but they might be weeds. There is no sight yet of our potatoes even though other people's are beginning to show. All of our summer onions are growing well and the asparagus continues to produce delicious spears.