Fruits Of The Season
Well, it’s been pouring down at plot 69 (as well as everywhere else of course)!
Contents of the fruit cage is wild. Raspberries, tayberries (or are they logan berries?) all doing very well and we’ve picked quite a few too. As you can see from this photo (just!) the red currants have been ready for picking, so we’ve had some of them too - my two young daughters had great fun. Gooseberry bush has gone mad and will need a damn good prune at the appropriate time.
Elsewhere on the plot, the potatoes need digging up as the foliage is now dying off. In fact, I bumped into plot 60 owner Jenny this afternoon and she mentioned that George said that potatoe blight could be a problem.
Suspect my onions need to come out now too I reckon, well guess to be honest. I’ve got no idea yet about you plant in the ground where the potatoe and onions have resided for several weeks?
Stuff in the greenhouse is growing well and several tomatoes are now showing. Something is attracted to the cucumber plants, a black tiny aphid or something - not sure if this is a problem, plants still growing well?
Back outside, either my water butt at the front of the greenhouse is leaking, vandals are messing about or someone is helping themselves. I’m guessing it’s kids messing about.
Little Cucumbers
Great to see something growing. The cucumber plants seem to be doing alright at the moment. Suspect I’ve not pruned the tomato plants correctly ‘cos they look a little bushy and I don’t think that they should. Aubergine plants are a lovely purple colour and look healthy enough.
Outside, the pea and mange-tout seeds just haven’t appeared for whatever reason. Maybe I planted them a bit too deep? Next time I’ll start the seeds off in a length of gutter in the greenhouse and then plant them on.
Made another bed in the front section and just need to dig it over again to get a few more weeds out. Need some more timber to mark out a few more beds.
Next door (plot 68) neighbour Simon was dropping off a load of paving slabs to use on his plot as new paths. Nice to bump into Liz, Chris and family too for a chat at the level crossing on the walk home.
Onions v Weeds
Shock. Horror!
It’s been raining (a bit). Must be the first time in ages. According to neighbours Lesley & George it hasn’t rained since the big storms back in January. Not sure myself, but it has been really ages. Anyway, as I was very keen to actually do something so I put my wellies and waterproof on and walked down to the plot.
I took some newly acquired old timber with me. I intend to make raise beds on the plot ‘cos they look neater and make crop rotation (yeah, like I know what I’m talking about!) far easier. The newly acquired timber has been acquired from a few sources. Like skips for instance - I’ve become obsessed with nosing in skips to see what there is …nabbed a good pallet last week from a skip on the main road. I’ve also started to use the Wirral group of freecycle.org - a great site where everything is free. Stuff like tellies, PC’s, furniture is being offered! I emailed this bloke from Rock Ferry who was offering some old glass and double glazing sealed units that he didn’t want. I’ve taken them for making cold frames with. It’ll be ace if someone offers a shed! I need me shed on plot 69.
Anyway - the onions and the weeds…. had a good go at the weeds in and amongst the onions. Think I really need to go over the rows again and get even more weed up. I now read that ‘cos onions don’t produce much in the way of leaves the weeds have more chance to grow ‘cos there isn’t much to cramp their style. Whilst reading up on how to grow onions I come across this page from the rhs that has a good onion growing video (fw the boring bits). Now why doesn’t my soil look like that??
Actually that video has given me an idea. I could record a video or two of some plot action and host it youtube and then embed it here at growing my own. A bit of an experiment if nothing else.
An hour or so soon passed. On the walk back I stopped to chat to Lesley & George. Bloody hell their plots (3) are completely weed free and immaculate. Good tip from Lesley …as carrots are so tricky to grow on our site ‘cos of the dreaded carrot fly, just grow them in the greenhouse from January and pull up when you’re ready for your tomatoes. Georges’ onion tops look bigger than mine, but then size isn’t everything is it?
Looking forward to getting some beetroot, parsnip and other seed in this week. Need to get my main potatoes ordered too. Maris Pipers. That’s what we have for our roasts and jolly tasty they are too.
What Weed Is This?
Lovely day down on the plot yesterday - really warm.
Where my onions are growing I’ve got a decent covering of weed but I’m not sure what it is. Chickweed maybe? Think it is but I’m not sure. Bloomin’ pain anyway. Hey-ho !
Had a chat with Eddie, my neighbour over the back. He was saying that I missed out on a shed that was going free. Now that would have been really handy - I need my own shed but I’m hoping to get one on the cheap.
Bought a few packets of seeds the other day in Tescos - will post about them in the next day or so. Need to get them planted!
Spuds Are In!
Spent an enjoyable couple of hours down on the plot this sunny afternoon planting my first attempt at potatoes. Second earlies I think they are - so they’ll be ready in the summer.
I just about managed to fill the section behind the fruit cage - a portion of which has been taken over by the rampant raspberry bush. Need to do something with this at the end of the growing season.
I made some wooden spaces yesterday (with the help of my 6 year old daughter) and I used the 12 inch and 6 inch today. Potatoes went in 6 inches deep, 12 inches apart. Each row 18 inches apart. I’d been chitting the potatoes at home in the garage, though they’d only sprouted a little. Please grow!
The idea for the spacers came from watching a recent telly programme where a blind allotmenteer used wooden spacers. He hung them up on the back of shed door. Like a good scout I’ve prepared… I’ve drilled holes in the spacers even though I haven’t yet got a shed door to hand them on.
Onions are coming on - slowly. A few more have sprouted. And a few more have been pulled up by the birds. Just stuck ‘em back in.
I’ve developed a bad habit …eyeing up the contents of skips. Happened to spot a decent wooden pallet this week, so I rescued it and barrowed it down to the plot. Need to crack on with my compost bins.
Met another neighbour today. Eddie manages the plot behind mine for about 5 years.
Also met Rose and Fil and managed to get a freebie plastic tray with lid that should make a useful propogator. And just as I was leaving Simon from next door turned up.
Well My Onions Are Growing
Well, since my last post about finally getting around to planting something, things are on the up - the onion sets are starting to sprout. Only just, but it’s great to see something growing. Actually, I’ve had quite a few of these small onion bulbs popping out of my light soil and I’ve simply been plonking them back into the soil. Broadbeans are doing okay I think?
My potatoes that I’m chitting have only sprouted a little whilst they’ve been sat in my garage. Plan to plant them in a week or so - looking forward to that.
On recent visits I’ve been digging up more of that bleedin’ couch grass. I had a fire a week or so ago to burn some of the dryer weeds and stuff but the couch grass is way too green to burn so I’ll keep on bagging it up and bringing it home to brown bin.
Spent an hour on the plot this afternoon and met my neighbours Simon and Sabina. We’ve not seen each other on our plot for weeks. They’ve made some progress too and have managed to get some stuff planted including some onions and some raspberry canes. Talking of which, my raspberry plant in the fruit cage is looking a tad wild and maybe I need to prune it some more - am I too late?
Getting a little concerned that I’ve not got seeds etc ready for sowing. Beetroot, carrot and the like can all start going in now and I’m not really geared up for it yet! Think I need to be getting a bit more organised.
Other thoughts: Need to get the glass back in the roof (at least) of the small greenhouse to catch some rainwater. Need to come up with a way of guttering my side of the main greenhouse to catch a lot of rain that is currently going to waste. Also want to create a flickr account to have all my plot 69 photos available to the world.
Enjoying it all a lot!
Hoylake Allotment Association AGM
Attended my first AGM on Friday evening, held at Hoylake Social Club. I’m not normally one for meetings but I actually quite enjoyed it.
Got speaking to a couple of new plotters; Ros from plot 38 and Jean (an old neighbour) from a plot near the shed.
More Couch Grass Digging
Another session of digging up couch grass today for an hour. Seem to be digging for ages without getting very far at all!
Weather is mild if not a little breezy.
My neighbours at plot 68 don’t seem to have had time to do much (like me!) but Frank and Dave have obviously been busy preparing for the new growing season.
Mild Today At Plot 69
A mild day today down on plot 69 at The Sandringham Avenue allotment site. Wanted to run around Hoylake today but I haven’t shaken off a heavy cold so it was an opportunity to do more weeding.
Walked down pushing my trusty (and rusty) barrow so that I could bring back some bags of nasty, dug-up couch grass. A few plotters have told me not to compost this tough-as-boots weed, so I bring it home and plonk it in the brown bin for recycling.
Did more weeding today on the rear section where I think I might plant some spuds. A helicopter was flying over quite a bit - suspect someone was having lessons or something.
Said hello to Les & George (I think it is) - they seem to be regular allotmenteers, though I seem to recall that they manage 3 plots. I think there are new plot holders at number 38 - they’ve put up a smart new fence on the front of their plot.
Visit Report
Yesterday, Sunday, we had a family trip down to the plot for the first time and the girls seem to like their new “garden”. Didn’t actually do anything.
Today, Monday, I popped down for an hour or so. Simon & Sabina were already there attacking the privet hedge between their plot and number 67. It’s now a lot lower and it’s made a big difference as it’s opened up their plot a lot. Buster, their dog, seems a friendly chap too.
So, I did a bit of weeding on the section behind the fruit cage. I haven’t quite decided yet but I think I’ll have to dig up the fruit bush that has sneaked out from under the cage and grown a fair bit into this section. I’ve no idea what kind of fruit bush it is.
Also pulled out the tomato vine from the greenhouse and that has made it look a lot tidier.
Weather: Dry. Windy. 11c
-
Seed Shopping
-
-