November and December

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Introductions

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.