The McArthur's Allotment

Mid January

2012-01-22T17:07:00.001Z

Popped over for a couple of hours this afternoon. Borrowed Oliver's rotavator and dig over the top bed.

Need to make a definitive plan of action for the coming weeks.

Early January

2012-01-17T15:18:00.001Z

Todo list

Fix post for raspberries

Weed strawberry and raspberry patches

Fix gutter on shed

Dig over top bed

Sieve compost

Rhubarb Rhubarb

2011-12-10T19:47:00.001Z

Popped over today, cleared up a bit of minor wind damage.

Also planted my new gooseberry bushes and rhubarb plants.

Early December

2011-12-04T16:00:00.001Z

Just general tidying up today, and dug over a bed and covered it with black sheets.

The garlic I planted has started to put shoots up. Not sure if this is too early, or whether I should cover them with fleece.

November

2011-11-13T13:52:00.001Z

Been a little lax with my posts, so a bit of a catchup.

Cleared a bed ready for more gooseberry bushes.

Transplanted strawberry runners to a new bed.

Cut Down raspberry canes.

Took down bean supports.

Dug over two more beds.

Gave the grass the last cut of the year.

Planted out the garlic.

Built a new compost heap with pallets.

Weekend update

2011-09-04T21:36:00.001+01:00

I managed to get to the allotment yesterday for around an hour. Just enough time to shake some compost from the heap, and pot out some strawberry runners. I also sowed some rocket and radishes into the old onion bed.

Today I managed a couple of hours, and took my mum for a visit. I dug up around 30lb of potatoes (didn’t get the chance to weigh them before they were raided for the dinner), around 2lb of raspberries, a few stalks of rhubarb, salad leaves, a small fennel bulb, some runner beans and French beans.

I did a bit of weeding, and cut down some of the old summer raspberry canes.

Update

2011-08-30T20:39:00.001+01:00

Didn’t get down at all at the weekend due to horrendous rain. But made it down for the whole of the bank holiday Monday. Collected another couple of pounds of raspberries, some salad leaves, courgettes, dug some potatoes. One of our neighbours also let me have a few apples.

I also weeded, dug over and raked a lot of the now empty beds, and mowed some lawn.

Hoping to get down tomorrow, for an hour in the morning, to pot out the strawberry runners, and sow some more rocket and radishes.

Potatoes

2011-08-22T14:34:00.001+01:00

Today I picked 33lb/15kg of potatoes, I reckon that is about just under half, so back tomorrow to get the rest.

It also included this contender for odd veg of the week.

At the weekend I lifted 19lb/9kg of onions (although that is with stalks), a pound or so of raspberries, several very large courgettes, and a few normal sized ones too.

We also picked 7kg/15lb of apples from local trees.

Sitting in the shed

2011-08-20T14:42:00.001+01:00

At the allotment, I've picked the onions and some courgettes. Done some weeding. Now hiding in shed from rain, having a cup of tea.

Rain

2011-06-17T18:39:00.001+01:00

Rain rain go away.

Despite the weeks and weeks of dry weather leading towards drought, a few days of rain and I've had enough. Hoping for some dry weather so I can get down to the plot.

More berries

2011-06-16T14:09:00.001+01:00

Another 1.5lb of raspberries and 2lb of strawberries.
Put a net over another bed, did some weeding and watering.

Berries

2011-06-12T13:20:00.001+01:00

Picked 2lb of strawberries & 1.25lb of raspberries yesterday, Hannah immediately claimed the raspberries to make jam.

Today, Iots of weeding. Then I had to fence of the runner beans and climbing beans as something has been eating them.

A good visit

2011-06-07T16:48:00.001+01:00

Popped over for a couple of hours this afternoon, and they were very productive.

Cut the grass, trimmed the long grass around the strawberry bed. Filled the water butts. Sowed basil, rocket, cucumbers, lettuce, salad leaf. Dug out more compost. Fed everything with chicken manure. Watered everything, and built nets over the salad bed.

Unfortunately a little late for the cabbages I planted on Sunday, as they've bees stripped. I am hoping they will recover.

All in all pretty pleased with the plot so far.

Forgot to bring tubs for strawberries and raspberries, I will have to pop back later or early tomorrow to pick them.

Sowing & planting

2011-06-05T17:36:00.001+01:00

Today I planted: broad beans, climbing beans, runner beans, cabbages and basil. I sowed courgettes, carrots, beetroot, coriander, rocket.

I gave everything a good watering too, despite the threat of rain.

Early June

2011-06-04T18:54:00.001+01:00

First time down in a week, due to a visit to Scotland. Everything looking good.

Good crop of strawberries and some early raspberries. Everything planted is still alive, despite the lack of rain.

Update

2011-05-08T22:41:00.001+01:00

This week I have finished digging all the beds. Today I weeded the raspberries, and measured up the plot.

I need to update my layout and planting diagram.

May Day

2011-05-08T22:36:00.001+01:00

Catching up with the work at the allotment. Only one bed left to dig. Potatoes in. Onions in. Grass cut. Strawberries weeded again.

To do:
Weed raspberries.
Dig last bed.

Beautiful Sunday

2011-04-17T22:30:00.001+01:00

After a long visit with the kids on Thursday, where I tried out my new manual lawnmower (good on short grass, horrendous hard work on long grass), I got back down today, for more tidying up. Moved the compost heaps, more mowing.

I need to clear the two top beds which are very weedy, the top one never actually having been dug, and merge them together. This big bed will be where the potatoes go.

I feel that I’m very late with my planting this year, but having a large amount of planting last year killed by frost and wet weather, I’m trying not to get too stressed by it.

Day 3

2011-04-12T17:14:00.001+01:00

A short visit today, and interrupted by phone calls. Still, made a start on clearing the third bed.

My plan is to get some planting done in the first two beds this week, whilst clearing the rest of the beds.

Second Visit

2011-04-12T13:33:00.001+01:00

The whole family headed down for another visit yesterday. Hannah got on with weeding the strawberries and raspberries whilst I weeded and dug over another bed.

First serious visit of the year

2011-04-10T20:38:00.001+01:00

Today was my first serious visit of the year, and I was shocked at the weed covered beds. Though it shouldn't have been as I didn't cover the beds over last winter.

Still an hour's digging has cleared one bed and started another.

I also picked some rhubarb which looks good.

I need to get down with the lawnmower and strimmer and tidy it up a bit.

First Day of Spring?

2011-02-24T23:00:00.000Z

It was a beautiful day today, and I took the kids down for a look around. It was only my second visit of the year. I was immediately hit with guilt as I looked around and saw everyone else much farther along.

A quick look around the plot shows me that I have to get down and do some digging.

This year I want to move the strawberry beds, plant more rhubarb, and some gooseberry and blackberry bushes. For the rest of the plot, I think onions, garlic, courgettes, beetroot and potatoes. And of course, runner beans. Not planning on growing any greens as I just don’t have the time they require.

Back from Holiday

2010-08-31T11:21:00.001+01:00

After nearly a month away from the plot, I come back to find things not as bad as I feared. The weeds are, of course, high but the raspberries are looking good, as are beetroot and carrots. The runner beans seem to have recovered and are starting to bear. Lots of courgettes and marrows. Don’t think the peas made it though.

Picked some potatoes. Lovely.

Need to get down for a decent long visit and sort a few things out, especially plant some of the strawberry runners.

Green things growing

2010-06-30T15:52:00.001+01:00

And not just weeds. The French Beans I sewed last week, have already popped their heads out.

Also, a few strawberries have come through, I’m pretty sure there have been more, but it looks like some pest is getting them, despite the net. Also the first of the raspberries have appeared and are ripening nicely.

I’ve been along every morning to water and all is looking good. I sewed some more carrots yesterday. Hopefully these will germinate.

Back at it!

2010-06-24T14:40:00.001+01:00

After a month or so of short and sporadic visits, resulting in the loss of runner beans, carrots and leeks, I’m back at it.

I made it down on Sunday to scythe the weeds and cut the grass, and I’ve been down 3 times this week before work.

With the beautiful weather it’s been wonderful. Planted some more runner beans, courgettes and cucumbers, sewed some French beans, weeded onions and strawberries.

What we have here is a failure to germinate

2010-05-19T00:14:00.001+01:00

Slightly better weather this weekend. I managed to get down on Sunday morning and got the grass cut. All looking much better. There’s some frost damage to the potatoes. But the big disappointment is that the carrots, leeks and beetroot sowed a few weeks ago haven’t germinated. Hopefully, with better weather this week, we might see some action.

Two wet weekends

2010-05-15T23:54:00.001+01:00

The last two weekends have been wet, and limited my visits to quick checks to see how the allotment is doing. Everything seems to be growing well especially the weeds. I scythed a lot down last week, but haven’t been able to make it over with a mower yet. Hopefully tomorrow.

A Busy Day

2010-04-26T00:11:00.001+01:00

Two visits today, the first with Beth and Mary, the second by myself.

I managed to dig over the bed 7 which, although covered, was very weedy. This bed will be host to runner beans, peas. Forked over bed 1 and planted a row of leeks, and a half row of carrots and a half row of beetroot.

Onions and Garlic are starting to show. No sign of potatoes as yet. Raspberry canes starting to come through. Rhubarb is doing very well.

Flying visit

2010-04-21T14:54:00.001+01:00

Only had time for a flying visit this weekend. I made it over for an hour, early on Sunday morning. Watered the garlic, onions and potatoes, and brought home a few stalks of rhubarb.

The weather has been very dry since I put the potatoes in, I’m slightly concerned, that it will affect them.

A Busy Easter week

2010-04-12T17:07:00.001+01:00

It didn’t start off too good weather wise, so I didn’t get down to the plot till Easter Monday. I made up for it with 5 hours of digging. Beds 3 & 4 and the new potato bed (5 & 6) were dug over and weeded. Back down again on through the week to plant the garlic(which should have been in ages ago) and onions.

Back down again on Friday for another dig over the potato bed, yet more weeds, and again on Saturday to plant the potatoes.

We picked two lots of rhubarb and have had two very nice crumbles.

At home, I planted out a plum tree.

Next jobs needed:

replace some dead strawberry plants.
dig over beds 7, 8 and hopefully 9.
clear out large “compost” heap. This is really just a heap of weeds and turf. I’d rather have the space for bed 9.
A friend is giving us some gooseberry bushes so I need to find somewhere to plant them.
Also really need to get some planting going in the greenhouse – I’m running a bit late on this.

Dig! Dig! Dig!

2010-03-29T16:26:00.001+01:00

After missing out last week due to family commitments, I was determined to get down this weekend and despite the showery weather, I managed to put in 5 hours or so on Saturday. Some sitting in the shed out of the rain was necessary, but by and large a very productive day.

Finished digging over the bed for the potatoes. This will still need forked over again before planting.
Dug over last year’s potato bed. This will be split into two beds, one for beans and peas, one for garlic & onions.
Forked over and manured bed 2 in preparation for Brussels Sprouts.

Lots of digging. Very tired by the end.

On Sunday, I cleared out the greenhouse at home, and planted a plum tree in the garden.

Spring has sprung!

2010-03-15T11:58:00.001Z

Yesterday, it really felt like spring has arrived. The weather was so good I got a touch of sunburn on my head.

The whole family headed to the allotment and watched me dig. Well, actually everybody did help a bit.

I managed to get another bed and a half dug over, Hannah my wife dug a bed, the girls found half a dozen parsnips. Also cleared out some brambles from the top of the plot, and fixed the raised bed round the rhubarb.

I need to remember to take a pump to pump up the wheelbarrow tyre.

Better Weather

2010-03-07T22:39:00.001Z

March has arrived and with it better weather. It was bright and sunny, but still cold. I headed to the allotment myself, and got lots done.

Fixed some wind damage – blown over rain barrels.
Dug over bed 1.
Got 10 barrow-loads of manure.
Distributed some manure to the raspberries and rhubarb.
Started digging over bed 2.

The digging was a bit of hard work and I’m really suffering for it now.

Also, got some new neighbours in the empty plot next to me. They have started well and cleared a lot of bramble growth. They will still need to dig the roots out. But a good start, let’s hope they keep coming back.

My potatoes are chitting in the porch, some growth started.

No Improvement in the weather

2010-02-23T00:43:00.001Z

Still cold and wet, with snow showers occasionally.

Had another trip to the allotment with Heather and Mary. I tried to do a bit of digging, but it was too wet really. Contented myself with some weeding of the raspberry bushes.

I also finally got around to measuring the plot, 20ft by 94ft. I used GrowVeg.com, who have a rather excellent planning tool. I plotted out my plot as accurately as I could. Then chose my which veg was going where, based on crop rotation from last year. The GrowVeg planner should help with this for next year as I think it helps with the crop rotation planning.

It also provides a planting/harvesting calendar based on your plants. I need to go through this and work out a monthly task list.

GrowVeg is £15 a year, I’m going to look at it a bit more, before I commit, but I think it might be worth it.

I’ve got my seed potatoes in egg boxes in the porch chitting away. Hopefully, weather permitting, be ready to plant the earlies in a couple of weeks.

Let’s hope for some drier weather.

Cold & Wet.

2010-02-15T16:40:00.001Z

Another cold, wet weekend with snow on Saturday, luckily it didn’t lie.

Went to the allotment on Sunday with Heather and Mary, who were excellent little helpers.

I finally pruned the raspberries, hopefully not too late. I’ve also realised that I had planted them in a different order than I thought.

I have Malling Minerva, an early variety. Glen Ample, a summer variety and Joan J an autumn cropper. Anyway, they are now all pruned. I need to weed them, then mulch them down with some manure or compost.

I also got a wheelbarrow of woodchips for the strawberry bed to cover the black sheeting. I’ll probably need to get another couple next time I’m over.

I started to dig over one of the beds, before rain called a halt. While doing that I dug up 4 parsnips that I had missed before. Two average sized ones, and a couple of monsters, the largest being 625g (1.3lb).

To do:

More woodchips
More manure
More black sheeting
Chit potatoes
Fix greenhouse window
Clean out Greenhouse

Hiding Out

2010-02-08T15:47:00.001Z

Whilst over at the allotment yesterday, the rain came on pretty hard, and Beth and I hid out in the shed and had a cup of tea. Best cup of tea of the day. (oh, the biscut tin has the remnants of last years seeds, no biscuts I’m afraid).

A wet visit

2010-02-08T15:44:00.001Z

I headed over yesterday, with Beth my 7 year old. It was cold and wet, but I dug over one of the beds, and turned over one of the compost heaps.

Bed 1

Last year had Jerusalem Artichokes, sweetcorn, courgettes and cucumbers.

Grass has encroached over it, needs dug over and weeded. Still has some Jerusalem artichoke.

Bed 2

Last year, Brassicas including Brussell Sprouts. cleared out and dug over.

Bed 3

Last year, potatoes, courgettes and cucumbers. Currently covered with manure.

Bed 4

Last year, Cabbages and cauliflowers.

Bed 5

Last year, lettuces & parsnips. Currently covered over.

Bed 6

Last year, Runner Beans. Little Gem lettuces in the wooden bed.

Bed 7

Last year - Weeds

I’m currently working on a proper crop rotation plan for next year.

This year’s seeds

2010-02-08T15:24:00.001Z

Beetroot – Boltardy
Broad Bean – Bunyards Exhibition
Brussels Sprout – Clodius
Cabbage – Hispi F1
Calabrese – Samson
Carrot – Flyaway F1
Cauliflower - All The Year Round
Chard
Climbing Bean – Blue Lake
Courgette – Astia F1
Florence Fennel – Chiarino
Garlic – White
Gherkin – Bimbostar
Leek - Musselburgh
Onion – Stuttgarter
Parsnip – Archer
Pea – Kelvedon Wonder
Pea – Mangetout Delikata
Potatoes - Arran Pilot (First Early)
Potatoes - Desiree (Maincrop)
Radish – French Breakfast
Radish – Zlata
Runner Bean – Scarlet Emperor
Salad Leaves Baby Leaf Seed Mix
Spinach – Hector F1
Spring Onion – White Lisbon

An unexpected visit

2010-02-04T12:24:00.001Z

I unexpectedly found time for a flying visit on Saturday. The sun was shining, but it was seriously cold. This is a shot of the ice on the water trough.

I didn’t have time to do much.

pinned down sheeting on strawberry bed that had come loose.
covered up another bed with sheeting.
weeded round raspberries.
dug up some artichoke.

I have a little little shopping list:

More black sheeting
More strawberry plants?
Manure
seeds & potatoes

I also need to take over more empty plastic milk bottles as weights for the sheeting. And most importantly a tea cup.

I need to get lots of wood chip for the paths and to cover the strawberry bed.

We’ve got little planned for the upcoming weekend, so hopefully I’ll manage a longer visit.

Interruption in Service

2010-01-24T23:56:00.001Z

Thanks to the terrible weather, birthday parties, and visiting friends, I haven’t been back since the 3rd, and I don’t think I am going to make it next week either. I am feeling very frustrated.

First Visit of 2010

2010-01-03T13:25:00.001Z

After last year’s pitiful postings (1), I’m going to try to do better this year. Also made it to the allotment three months earlier this year.

A quick visit today, picked some sprouts and a globe artichoke, covered up a couple of beds with black sheeting. I’m using old plastic milk bottles filled with water to weigh them down.

Water barrels were frozen over, and so was the water trough, ice an inch thick.

Priority tasks:

get wood chips and cover strawberry bed
and paths
get more manure
cover more beds
order up seeds
fix broken window in greenhouse at home
clean out greenhouse

First visit of the year

2009-03-01T15:22:00.001Z

I made the first visit of the year, things didn’t look to bad.

List of things to do:

Weed strawberry bed. It’s very bad. Get some feed on.
Build proper supports for the raspberry canes. Feed and mulch.
Fit guttering to the shed.
Cover all the beds with sheeting to help them warm up.
Dig two more beds at the top of the allotment.
Tidy up the very top of the allotment, build a better long term compost heap for all the very weedy stuff.
Get lots of manure and compost.
Order up potatoes and get them chitting.

However, going through my seed box, which I for some mad reason left in the shed, it looks like the mice have been in and had some seeds.I’m also unsure whether seeds will keep from year to year. So got to make a list of new seeds to buy.

I have ordered my potatoes -Maris Peer 2nd earlies.

First visit in ages

2008-12-30T21:45:00.001Z

I took the kids over to the allotment for a couple of hours today, to enjoy the sunshine. It’s the first time I’ve been over in a couple of months, due to work, family commitments and the weather.

I finally took down the bean poles, and cleared the last bed which had some rather past it lettuce and a few beetroots which still look ok.

Lovely weather, the kids enjoyed it, and I got some work done. Looking forward to the new year. Lots to do.

Planting

2008-07-24T00:17:00.001+01:00

I've now got to decide what to put in for the rest of the summer and for winter.

More lettuce, radishes and beetroot for the summer. Not so sure about the winter though.

Update

2008-07-24T00:15:00.001+01:00

Been beavering away as often as work and family allow.

Strawberries - a bit disappointed with the crop this year. A few fellow allotmenteers have said the same, I don't know if it's a local weather problem.

Runner beans- not been great, but got off to a bad start thanks to a rabbit killing half the plants. A fence has helped and there are now a few pods coming, but nowhere near as abundant as last year.

Broad beans - not a great crop, but not too bad. Also learned something. I dug a couple up out of a bed as they weren't looking to good, and noticed that the roots were covered in nodules. Fearing some disease, I googled and found that they are used by the plants to gather nitrogen which is a good thing.

Courgettes - 2 plants killed by slugs, the other 3 producing well.

Cauliflower - good, but don't know if I'll grow again next year due to the amount of space required for such few plants.

Brocolli - see cauliflower.

Potatoes - still waiting. I've put a main crop in, all my neighbours have had early crops. hoping for the best.

Onions - they've been good. Collected around 50 I think.

Catch up

2008-05-30T00:20:00.001+01:00

It's only the blog that's been temporarily abandoned not the allotment. In lieu of the blog, I've been keeping a short diary of my allotment visits . Here's the last week or so:

28/5.	evening visit. heavy rain since weekend. something (rabbits?) has been eating the tips of my runner beans. put a temporary chicken wire fence around them. applied slug pellets around brassicas.
24/5	afternoon visit. covered bed 6 with compost, bought as mine isn't quite ready. planted out more mystery plants and sewed carrots,cabbage etc. build a frame of mdpe pipe and netting.
23/5	morning visit. finished digging bed 6. started digging bed 7.
22/5	evening visit. planted more runner beans, cauliflower, and some mystery plants
22/5	morning visit. dug over and weeded bed 6
21/5	evening visit. weeded strawberries. used mdpe blue water pipe to build frame and net strawberries.
21/5	morning visit. weeded raspberries. weeded brassicas
20/5	evening visit. cut grass on paths. weeded raspberries. covered compost heap.
19/5	went along in the evening . weeded the onion bed.

Bed 7 isn't progressing well, every time I have it half dug, we get a downpour and it regresses to a puddle. Which is leaving me without anywhere to put the last of my potatoes. I think I'm going to have to give up on them this year.

Here are a few photos:

Disappointment at Easter

2008-03-29T10:27:00.001Z

I had really been looking forward to Easter, four days off work. Surely, I could spend some serious time at the allotment. Instead we got this:

I did manage to spend an hour, but having taken the kids, an hour was enough for them. To cold and bored. This weekend is looking better, hopefully I'll get down there soon.

Last weekend

2008-02-27T22:47:00.001Z

Annoyingly I didn't get to the allotment last weekend. I did manage to get the greenhouse cleared out, and I planted some runner beans and broad beans, sewed some cauliflower, broccoli, mint, sage and lemon grass.

Late January & Early February

2008-02-13T01:13:00.001Z

An update on the last three weekends:

I planted out the 30 strawberry plants, and dug one of the new raspberry beds.

I've also dug over the three beds I manured last year.

I added some bark to the paths around the shed, but the allotment stock of free bark has run out.

I've also managed to clear out most of the rubbish pile, digging out a rusting wheelbarrow and several sheets of bent, buckled corrugated steel.

The weather last weekend was wonderful. A real pleasure to be down the allotment. I hope for more of the same this weekend.

New Book

2008-01-31T23:16:00.001Z

I recently signed up for a subscription to "Grow Your Own" magazine, and was given the free gift of a copy of "The Allotment Book" by Andi Clevely.

It arrived today, and I have to say it looks excellent, a really good in depth guide to having an allotment. It talks about sheds, paths, soil improvement and much more.

Well written, with beautiful pictures and tons of information.

Recommended. Either get it with the subscription, if it's still available, or buy it.

Getting busy ... and mucky

2008-01-21T00:35:00.001Z

Having felt ill all week, I perked up a little with the coming of the weekend, and dragged myself down allotment for some fresh air.

My raspberry canes and strawberry plants have arrived, so I needed to clear some room to plant them out. I forked over the bed I had my runner beans in last year, added some compost and put in some posts (I need to get bigger ones) and wire and planted the summer raspberry canes. The ground was too wet to clear new beds, for the autumn raspberries so I had to settle for planting them as two bunches in the raised bed planned for the strawberries. This I cleared out of the remaining brussels sprouts and leeks and added compost and covered with a black sheet.

I repaired the damaged compost bin, and examined the contents. I'm afraid it wasn't composting too well, too much woody material and too dry. I transferred the contents to a pile at the back of the allotment which I intend to become a larger composting heap, and cleared out the compost bin. The other bin seems to be doing fine.

The ground was mucky and getting worse as the day wore on, so I had to make a bodge job of putting down some slabs in front of the shed, just laid on some sand. Need to put down some proper concrete when the weather dries up a little.

Luckily there is a few bark chippings left, courtesy of the council, and I managed to get four barrow loads of that down on the paths which helped. Could do with a few more though.

Didn't manage to get the strawberries out though, and with the weather looking dodgy for the rest of the week, I think I'm going to pot them up and keep them in the greenhouse, till next weekend.

Tasks to do next weekend (weather permitting):

1. dig bed for autumn raspberries, and transfer them over.
2. plant out strawberries
3. more bark down on paths.
4. fork over beds for brassicas and cover with sheet to warm it.
5. concrete base for the slabs.

Through the week tasks:

1. Dig out some compost
2. pot strawberries
3. make a proposed sewing diary based on seeds I have.

With the weather being so bad, there was nobody around, I'm hoping to get a contact number for the guy who delivers manure, because I could do with a load on my plot.

The photo shows the summer raspberries out, the autumn raspberries in clumps at the top of the raised bed, which is covered over. Oh and the mud, you can see lots of mud.

PS. The sprouts were excellent, I've blanched some and frozen them for next week.

Allotment Visit

2008-01-15T21:06:00.001Z

I've not been feeling too well the past couple of days, so today was sanctioned as a duvet day. I made the call to work and stayed in bed. This afternoon, still feeling horrible, I decided to drag myself outside for some fresh air, and ended up walking over to the allotment for a quick inspection. I took a few quick photos.

This is the view from the path. It shows the two small raised beds for the kids, the top one has rocket and leeks, the bottom has strawberries. The large raised bed on the right is where most of my veg grew this year. The bed covered with black sheeting is where the runner beans, potatoes and courgettes grew.

The plan for this year is to plant raspberries where the potatoes and runner beans were, the raised bed will have strawberries.

Then there is the shed and the two compost bins.

These are the brussels sprouts, with leeks, the only (edible) things growing.

This is a view from the other side of the shed looking towards the top of the plot. showing several beds covered in manure, and a lot of work still to be done.

This is a view from the top of the allotment looking down to the shed. As you can see I've still got quite a bit of ground to clear, and it's too wet to dig at the moment.

It left me feeling a bit depressed with the amount still to do, but I had a chat with a fellow allotmenteer, and that cheered me up a bit, and then I came home and looked at some photos from the last February when I took the plot on.

So progress has been made, despite 2007 being a bit of a bugger of a year personally. Looking forward to seeing how it compares this time next year.

Seed Order

2008-01-08T00:48:00.001Z

This is the list of seeds and plants I have ordered:

Broad Bean Imperial Green Longpod Seeds
Climbing French Bean Cobra Seeds
Beetroot Action F1 Seeds
Broccoli Marathon F1 Seeds
Brussels Sprouts Cascade F1 Seeds
Cabbage Puma F1 Seeds
Carrot Maestro F1 Seeds
Cauliflower Nessie F1 Seeds
Courgette Tosca F1 Seeds
Cucumber Marketmore Seeds
Green Manure Seeds - Mustard White
Basil Seeds: Sweet Basil
Chive Seeds
Coriander Seeds
Dill Bouquet Seeds
Lemon Grass Seeds
Mint Seeds
Oregano Seeds
Rosemary Seeds
Sage Seeds
Thyme Seeds
Leek Carlton F1 Seeds
Lettuce Little Gem Seeds
Garlic Solent Wight Bulbs
Onion (Spring) Guardsman Seeds
Onion Sets Setton (400g)
Parsnip Albion F1 Seeds
Pea Alderman Seeds
Pea Sugar Ann Seeds
Potato Maris Piper - 3 kg
Raspberry Collection
Strawberry Twin Pack - Perfection & Malling Opal

I just hope I can fit everything in.

The New Year

2008-01-03T23:56:00.001Z

A Happy New Year to everybody.

I've ordered up my seeds for the following year. I'm really looking forward to getting started. There's not much on the allotment at the moment, just sprouts and leeks. Roll on spring.

November and December

2007-12-21T00:46:00.001Z

Pressure of work and bad weather have kept me away, bar a couple of days. Dug a fourth bed, planted some onions. Picked some Brussell Sprouts. And that's about it. Roll on Spring. I'm hoping to get down for a couple of visits over Christmas. Get another bed dug.

Late September and October

2007-11-01T00:58:00.001Z

A busy month for me personally, so I didn't get down to the allotment very often. However, I managed to spend most of the day there last Saturday. I cleared out the dead courgettes, the unfortunately dead rhubarb, and covered up the bed they were on with black sheeting.

I also spread some bark on the path around the shed. And turned over compost heap number 1.

I moved some of the good quality soil from the hill of twigs etc that was and to some extent is taking over the top third of the allotment.

Then as dark fell, I had a nice bonfire, clearing out the two stacks I'd left earlier.

Looking forward to getting back next weekend.

Early September

2007-09-18T21:18:00.000+01:00

I've only managed to get down for a few hours each of the last two weekends. I've done some badly needed weeding, finished off clearing bed 3, continued chopping down brambles and started digging them out at the top of the plot.

I've picked a few courgettes and some more runner beans. The rocket is coming on and so are the beetroot, no sign of much else though. Going to make a big effort to get down on Saturday, but I've got family visiting.

Weekend work

2007-09-03T23:23:00.001+01:00

I managed to get about 5 hours at the allotment on Saturday, and managed to clear bed 3 of carpet and brambles. I gave it a quick dig to break it up a bit. I'll give it a proper dig next week.

I also cleared more brambles from the top of the allotment using the scythe which makes things a lot easier.

Although I've found several interesting things buried in them so far, a large bit of corrugated iron being one, a dead tree being another.

Also picked the last large marrow, and two courgettes, a large handful of french beans, and half a bucket of runner beans (not many left now), and some potatoes (which tasted lovely).

The rocket we sewed a couple of weeks ago has poked through, though no sign of the cabbages yet.

I also got back on Sunday to set up another compost heap.

So plans for next week: dig bed 3, clear bed 4, cut more brambles.

Also, need to do some weeding, I've been concentraing on the digging, but do need to make sure that the weeds aren't taking over the existing beds.

A late visit

2007-08-29T22:29:00.000+01:00

I took my two eldest daughters, Beth and Heather, down to the allotment tonight, to pick some carrots. We took up the last batch of carrots, the last of the spring onions, a batch of potatoes and a few runner beans, and the last of the beetroot.

The runner beans look to be on the way out.

Also spoke to our neighbouring plot owners, Brian and Liz, (we have half of the plot each). They had brought some friends to help and were having a good bonfire clearing out the huge mound of branches etc at the top of the plot.

A busy weekend

2007-08-28T01:03:00.000+01:00

With the bank holiday weekend, I managed to spend some time on the allotment every day.

Saturday
Finished digging the second bed, and cover it with manure. I also got to try my new scythe, it's going to take a while to get skilled with it, but it's much more pleasant to use than a petrol strimmer. It allowed me to clear the long grass and nettles at the front of the allotment, and clear the overgrown brambles from what will be bed 3.

Sunday
I cleared some more brambles and undergrowth. I started digging out the third bed, but found it had been covered in carpet several years ago, and this was now a level or so down with brambles growing through it, managed to clear out some of it. I picked some more runner beans. We have a rather pitiful stand of french beans, which are just starting to produce. I also cut back the potato stalks, and dug up one plant. Not a great crop, and some of them had been attacked possibly by wireworm, I'm going to need to find photos in a book to confirm this. Still, not too bad and quite tasty.

Monday
Just a quick hour and a half, I managed to get most of the carpet rolled up, I'll leave it a couple of days to dry out, which should make it easier to get the rest out. Dug some more of bed 3 out, using my new azada, which I got from Get Digging. It's pretty good, the ground is really compacted and full of brambles and it's managing to get through. Hopefully, I'll finish off bed 3 this week. Picked some more runner beans, and carrots. I've got about half a row of carrots left.

A few photos:

Beds 1 and 2 dug over and covered with manure. Bed 3 digging started and the carpet found.

The pile of stuff that was on the allotment when I arrived, slowly clearing it.

The carpet, and the cause of some serious back pain.

Plantings

2007-08-24T23:21:00.000+01:00

Last Saturday, after clearing out the remnants of the sweetcorn savaged by badgers, we planted some rocket, beetroot and cabbages.

Introductions

2007-08-24T22:58:00.000+01:00

I'm John, and this blog is primarily a diary to keep track of happenings at my allotment. I took on the allotment back in at the end of February, when it was very overgrown. Here it is:

The same week I got the key my wife gave birth to our third daughter. So I didn't make a very quick start, and then my dad became very ill and died in April.

This set back the work on the allotment badly, and unsure of how much time I'd get I settled for creating a large raised bed and planted sweetcorn, carrots, brussell sprouts, beetroot, spring onions and leeks. Not too much of any but enough to get going. It's my first allotment and indeed my first time growing anything so it's been a bit of an adventure. I also planted a few potatoes, and runner beans. A couple of courgette plants and a squash, were donated by my wife, not sure of the varieties.

Everything's produced well. Although a badger got my sweetcorn, the night before I was going to pick them.

Anyway, progress has been slow, I've managed to get a shed there, and start work on preparing some proper beds.

That brings us up to date.