Got bored digging, so decided to tidy out the shed. This was the first time I had ever tidied the shed - it went up about 6 years ago. I had accumulated a lot of rubbish over the years, mainly old packets of seed and plastic bags that "might come in useful".

Anyway, an hour later it is tidy and clean - well cleanish. I swept it out as best I could. I also discovered that I have two dutch hoes. One had been hidden behind a load of other tools.

Thieving Barstewards!!!

"I don't believe it!" Some thieving barsteward has stolen my sprouts. Stripped them bare on a couple of plants.

Think it must have been children as it looks like they made their escape via a small gap in the hedge (now blocked with chicken wire). Hard to believe as most kids hate sprouts.

They were my best sprouts too that I was saving for a dinner party I am holding for a couple of townies that are over in a couple of weeks. Mind you - the thief might not be so impressed if he were to know the reason that these sprouts were the best. They were part of an experiment (which was having good results) - we don't have any loos on our allotment site and my house is a 10 minute walk. 'nuff said I think.

Today was a nice warm day and I got two rows of broad beans planted and a bit more clearing and digging done.

Silly Seasons

Having not been up the allotment for 3 weeks due to a holiday, I was expecting a wilderness of weeds. Thankfully, the recent cold weather seems to have halted their development.

This weekend I harvested the last of the tomatoes (3), some leeks and PURPLE SPROUTING!!!!

Strange but true. Don't think I have ever picked purple spouting this early in the season.

I spent about 3 hours tidying and digging and managed to totally tire myself out. I kept thinking "I'll go home now" and then I would think "I'll just take down the runner bean canes" or other such jobs. It wasn't until I started the walk home that I realised how tired I was. In fact if the OH had been home, I would have called him to drive up and pick me up.

Got in first this time

Well the allotment didn't happen this weekend. We were out all day on Sunday and Saturday I actually did some housework and shopping.

However I did make a rare trip up tonight. Spurred into action by a report on the news that there could be a pumpkin problem. Apparently a lot of the commercial growers are stuck with a lot of green ones which haven't had enough sun to make them grow orange.

Now this is where I feel particularly smug. For some reason I planted out my pumpkins early and actually harvested a couple the other week. In fact I ate some for my lunch today. I had seven still up the allotment, and after hearing that particular news item, decided to venture up tonight and remove them to a place of safety.

Normally I remove them from the allotment before mid-October before the 'Bastard Children' from the neighbouring estate decided to liberate them. But decided that they might decided to strike earlier in the month if they had heard the same news report as I.

Also managed to collect the last two courgettes and picked a good handful of the French Beans that had been belatedly planted. The flat podded variety doing far better than the pencil ones (really wish I was better organised and labelled things properly).

Piss Boiler Part 2

Yet another group of allotment holders are suffering. This time due to relocation for the Olympics.

Allotment Holders to relocate

Apparently they are being moved to a new site and will be allowed back after the Olympics has finished. Which again proves how clueless the government is. No doubt, after having been worked on for over 80 years, a lot of time and effort will have gone into improving the soil and the new site will probably contain stuff like couch grass and bindweed.

Grrrrrrr

Magic Beans?

Apologies for the quality of the photo - but these are my "Magic Beans". My Dad until recently, grew his own veg and had done so for about 50 years. He always saved seed from some produce for next year's crop. This included tomatoes, runner beans, sunflowers, broad beans etc.

Anyway, over the years his runner beans developed into black beans as above and he gave me some about 5 years ago, to carry on the family tradition. The runners from these beans give nice long pods with very little stringing. I have never seen any in a seed catalogue - white beans - but not black.

Like my Dad I always save seed for next year's crop. These ones that I picked today are huge as you can see from the 20p piece.

They're Back!!!

Well only one of the little critters. But it is the first one I have seen since the "Bastard Children" episode of 31st May (see post "It's all gone Pete Tong"). I am quite attached to my family of slow worms and found this one when I lifted the lid of one of the compost bins.

Now I have a quandary - I was planning to empty the bins to use the compost on the allotment - but I might disturb my slow worm.

Hard day's work

Well not quite a whole day - about three and a half hours, which was enough giving the fragility of my back.

Digging was not an option - not because I wasn't up to it - but the ground is still concrete (see the photo left - the plant pot is a 3.5" one). There is no moisture in the soil, despite the recent rain.

I did however get a few jobs done. Mainly making a start on clearing of the strawberry patch. This was planted about six years ago and the crop has been poor for the last couple of years. The plants originated from three "Marshmellow" plants that I got for a £1 and they had now come to the end of their natural life, probably not helped by a lack of weeding on my part.

But half of the patch is now cleared ready for digging and a bit of manure - if I can find some.

The rest of the time was taken up with housekeeping, sweeping my little patio, cutting back the hedge and collecting seed.

I also dug up a few leeks - way too early I know - they are much better after a good frost, but with over 240 planted I am sure we will have them to spare.

And, providing the nights are not too cold, we should be eating French Beans next week.

Oh fffffffffffffudge!

Well this was the weekend set aside for the "big push" up the allotment - weather was looking good (with some rain earlier in the week to soften the ground) and I had no visitors or visiting. But OH HELL - Friday afternoon my back starts to twinge. Saturday morning it has moved down my leg - so no allotment for me today.

I have consoled myself with a bit of retail therapy (needed for the upcoming holiday to the USA) and hope that a few light duties and a night in the spare room will ease it for tomorrow.

Thankfully two seed catalogues landed on my door mat last week (Local outfit Kings Seeds and the Thompson & Morgan one) - so that should keep me quiet for a few hours.

Cracking Ground 2

Well the promised rain on Friday didn't happen so there was little I could do up the allotment as the soil is concrete again. So it fell back to favourite standby of cutting the grass on the paths. (mental note to add small push mower to my Christmas present list) I did also clear a small area of the strawberry patch.

Pictured left are some French Beans - I planted them late this year due to my failure to clear the area of weeds in time. Can't remember if it was late July or Early August - but they seem to be producing beans. Although I am not sure that they will continue with the recent change in temperature (only 6 degrees last night).

Wasn't a bad harvest this weekend, beetroot, carrots, courgettes and a couple of small pumpkins. I will need to make sure that I clear the rest of the pumpkins well before the end of October.

I have now eaten the last of the potatoes and the tomatoes are starting to run out.

Phew!

Well having spent the last three weekends either visiting or being visited, I am looking forward to being able to spend a fair amount of time on the allotment this coming Saturday - I am certainly having withdrawal symptoms.

So far the weather is looking fine for the weekend, with rain on Friday which will make the soil perfectly workable.

I have only managed brief visits over the last few weeks - but the pumpkins are looking good, as are the leeks. Although the brussels look good (no flea beetle this year) - they are not developing little sprouts like they should be.

So hopefully this blog will be back to normal at the weekend - watch this space.

Catching up

Even though the last month has been manic, I have still managed some allotment time. Last week I had a glut of courgettes - well they were more like marrows. Thankfully I managed to get rid of most of them at work.

I have also been picking a steady supply of runner beans and my first cabbage.

The autumn raspberries have been starting to come on. This weekend some of them even made it home. Normally I eat them all as a reward for my hard work weeding. I will have them with some ice cream later.

I also picked my first two sweetcorn cobs today. In fact the only thing on my plate tonight not grown by my own fair hands will be the roast lamb.

My sunflowers must be the tallest on the allotment block- well over 10 ft. I will try and save the seed before the birds strip them later.

Better late than never

Soilman tagged me a few weeks ago with seven random facts. Well here they are.

1. Like Soilman, I have a bad back. I was diagnosed with a scoliosis when I was 27, although it was evident when I was a teenager. It has caused me some problems in the past, but I have been managing it quite well over the last few years.
2. To prevent back pain, I swim. One kilometre, twice a week. I could swim from the age of five and have a collection of certificates and medals - including the bronze medallion for life saving. I did actually save someone from drowning once.
3. I used to be an Estate Agent before I went into Marketing. I did actually love the job and would go back like a shot - if it didn't mean working every weekend.
4. I also like to watch motorsport. My OH and I tend to get to at least two races each month during the summer. We have gone to France for the last 4 years to watch the Le Mans 24 hr race - I don't mind camping or the squat and squeeze toilets.
5. I am fascinated by personality disorders. I took the test http://www.4degreez.com/misc/personality_disorder_test.mv and have mild OCD and mild anti-social traits. My Uncle was a total narcissist; an amazing achiever, but totally unable to show empathy for anyone else.
6. I used to go horse riding when I was young. Then I got worms and my Mum wouldn't let me go anymore.
7. Actually my childhood was "strange" - which goes a long way to explain why I am a bit eccentric I guess. My Dad used to bring home roadkill for us to eat.

Well that is my seven random facts. I would tag some others - but I don't know how. Really must read up on this blogging stuff ................

Anyone still there?

Can't believe it is over a month since I last blogged. Things have been manic. Firstly I spent a while cleaning a friend's laptop - over 184 trojans. Followed by a weekend away in Suffolk. Then my beloved cat Casper, was seriously ill with some gastro problem and took a lot of TLC to get him near normal health. Followed by another weekend away and now my OH needs nursing as he has a bad back. (not from digging I would hasten to add - he doesn't DO allotments).

So hopefully this weekend I can catch up on some blogging. But please indulge me and let me post a photo of my Casper - who managed to defy my worst fears and is still here today - even more needy than he was before.

Strange find at MacDonalds

We had a MacDonalds this week - we tend to eat there about twice a year - just to remind ourselves how bad food can taste. Anyway - I found these seeds on the counter. Little strips of carrot seeds in tissue. They have been planted - I am not expecting miracles.

Next week I will be .......

PICKING RUNNER BEANS!!!!

Looks like my early gamble with the runner beans has paid off and sometime next week I will be picking my first runner beans.

This week I harvested all my first earlies - some of which are huge, my first lettuces and some broad beans.

Marathon effort

Thanks to a weekend on my own (he was golfing in France) I got two mammoth sessions up the allotment over the last two days and tackled the weeding. The wet and warm weather had done it's worst and everything was covered in a carpet of weeds as you can see from my before and after picture of the brassicas.


I have always hand weeded my plot - I have never been able to manage the art of hoeing. But hidden in the depths of my shed I found a previously forgotten "claw" tool. It is part of a number of Wolf tools which are quite ingenious. I have a selection of different "heads" which are interchangeable and clip onto one handle - thus saving space. I removed the larger weeds by hand and then used the claw tool to pull out the smaller weeds and break up the soil.

Hopefully another stint next weekend should have everything looking ship shape.

I harvested broad beans, the courgette pictured last week which was now approaching marrow proportions, sunflowers and sweet peas. I also picked a few blackcurrants - and deliberated about digging the bushes up while I was doing so. The bushes are several years old - I have tried cutting back, but they never seem to give a decent crop. Maybe one more year.

PS - news about the Bastard Children. Apparently they have been visited by the local Police and will hopefully not be visiting the allotments again.

A piss boiler

Found this on the BBC web site.

Allotment Group Lose Court Fight

I really hope they appeal. Using allotments for housing should not be even considered.

My first allotment was closed by the Parish Council - but they were renting the land from the Church Commission and they increased the rent. I lost a year trying to cultivate a previously unused and impossible plot about half a mile from my house (the first allotment was 2 minute walk) before I was offered my current plot about 5 years ago.

Think I might check out the Allotment Association web site to see if there is an appeal fund.

Out of control?

Well, following a holiday in France, things are starting to get out of control on the allotment. This weekend provided a mere two hours of allotment work. Due in part to social events (thanks Glenn for a wonderful day out) and also the weather, which has been wetter than wet.

I did however harvest some broad beans and I have a courgette making an appearance, along with a lot of weeds. I will be busy next weekend......

Starting to fill up

Had a good three hours up the allotment this weekend. My old Dad came over to help me - bless 'im. He gave up his veg plot last year at the age of 81, but his garden has wonderful soil - they have a stream at the bottom of their garden and idyllic views over the Suffolk countryside.

Anyway - he started my leeks off for me as they germinate much better in his garden. So he came down on Saturday with the leeks and helped me plant them out. Friday's rain made the job a whole lot easier. I used two dibbers - one with a metal spike on the end and the other was his dibber which was a lot wider. I made the holes, he drilled the leeks and we shared the watering. We planted about 240 in total (a mix of Musselburgh, Bandit and Autumn Giant) and have two blisters - one on each of the palms of my hands.


I also planted out some brassicas (Cabbage, Sprouts and Brocolli) which I have netted off with some excellent netting my Dad gave me - I hope that the snails leave them alone.

But there is not a lot of space left now. I have about a couple of rows, in which I will plant some french beans. I also have some more purple sprouting seedlings that will go out in a few weeks.

The good news is that some of the allotment holders caught the bastard children that had rampaged through my rhubarb and french beans. Not sure what the outcome was - I will no doubt get the gossip from my cat sitter next week.

It's all going Pete Tong

Not having a very good week with the allotment. Firstly something has munched my brassicas - they were being brought on in the mini greenhouse at home. I initally thought it was a slug or two - I found some large examples lurking around my tomatoes and threw them over the fence. I covered some of the plants as best I could, and moved some out of slugs way. But they are still being munched - it could be birds I guess.


Then tonight I made a rare mid-week trip up the allotment to pick the promised strawberries - only to discover that some bastard had beat me to it. Well bastard children - as they have also trampled my rhubarb and french bean seedlings and uprooted the paving slabs in search of slow worms. I am very tempted to write to the local school to ask them to remind the bastard children that slow worms are protected species and it is a criminal offence to remove them from their natural habitat.

Thankfully I managed to salvage some of the rhubarb - especially as today I treated myself to a home winemaking kit to deal with the pre-bastard children excess. I have trawled friends and foes to find a decent recipe without using sulphates - which make me sneeze.

Rhubarb Wine

Cut 2-3 lbs of rhubarb into chunks – freeze overnight in freezer

Add 2lbs of sugar and half a pound of squashed white grapes to the rhubarb and cover and leave for 24 hours.

Add 1 gallon of boiled water that has been left to cool, then strain into a demi john adding a sachet of wine making yeast.

Leave to ferment (approx 3 months) then rack into bottles.

Rain stopped play

The last 48 hours have seen about two inches of rain. I have been forced to stay indoors and do some housework!! Including four months of paperwork filing and shredding.

One of the best presents I received that was allotment related was my Dad's old Mantis Tiller. He has been gradually cutting back his veg plot at his home and now at the age of 82 he has grassed it over with the exception of a small area for runner beans. He gave me the tiller a couple of years ago. With my clay soil, it has been a God send. The picture below demonstrates the before and after


The soil on my allotment is heavy clay. In dry weather it is like rock - in wet it is a heavy solid mass. However when it has the right amount of moisture, it is a joy to work on. After the rain of the last two days, I will need at least a couple of rain free days until I can do anything. Otherwise I will end up with heavy feet having collected a large amount of soil on my boots. Tedious.

Strawberry Fair

I picked my first strawberry today - not the one in the picture as that is not quite there - but it was a big fat juicy one - and I devoured it before remembering that I should have photographed it. Tasted delicious.

After last year's dismal crop, I had decided that the whole strawberry patch would get a make over at the end of this season and had largely ignored it. This year I have got a good supply of nice fat strawberries developing nicely. The patch has been there for about 6 or more years, having been generated originally from 3 plants (Marshmallow) that I bought for £1 from the Kitchen Garden. I will keep some of the runners, but intend to replace them with Royal Sovereign which I think is a much better cropper, judging my my neighbour's plot.

I have also got a few tiny flowers coming on my runner beans. I took a gamble and planted them out early to much scoffing from the old hands. Looks like my gamble paid off and I will be the first one to be picking runner beans this season.

The Melons also got planted out. Unfortunately I am suffering with the munchings of slugs and snails this year and came up with an ingenuous method to protect the young plants - hope it works.

Ambidextrus digging

Did you know that ambidexterity is also know as Cross-dominance! Oooo er.

Anyway - after last week's marathon effort digging, I suffered more than the odd twinge of back ache. I initially thought that this was due to the office chair, but when I started to dig the old brassica patch, I realised that it wasn't.

When digging, I always use the same actions. Press in the spade/fork with my right foot, lever with my right arm and lift with my left arm - hence the muscle ache below my left shoulder blade. This weekend, I decided to try and dig using the other side. How strange it felt. I was certainly not as quick - but hopefully it will prevent an over development of muscles on one side of my spine.

I only got 3 hours up the allotment this weekend due to social stuff, but it was a productive 3 hours. In addition to the digging, I planted more runners, carrots and some peas. The peas are a gamble. I gave up growing peas the season before last. I was losing the battle with pea weevil and mice; but I had some seed left and it seemed a shame to throw it away without giving it a fighting chance.

The bad news is that my onions are going to seed.

Knackered

Part of the satisfaction in doing a task is knowing that you have had an effect. This could be why I enjoy weeding.

Today I cleared the area where the beetroot were planted. I am afraid to say that some beetroot were still there and sprouting well. I hadn't harvested all the beetroot last year - this was due in part to a lack of storage jars and also a lack of time to cook it. As you can see it was well overgrown.

Three hours later, after some weeding, some digging and a seeing to with the tiller and some edge trimming - it looked like this.


All ready for the melon plants that are growing on the window cill in the lounge.

After a marathon 6 hours today, the allotment is starting to look like it should. I planted pumpkin, courgette and lettuce plants and sowed a row of dwarf beans (Opera). But now I am knackered - even after a long soak in the bath, I am aching like I have run several miles.

Just as I was packing up the heavens opened and it has rained off and on for most of the late afternoon. Which has saved me some watering-in.

Rain at last

Today it rained. It started overnight and rained on and off for most of the day. The water butt at home is now nearly full - it was down to a third full the day before.

I was up the allotment on Saturday - but there was very little I could do as the ground is still rock hard. I finished the shed painting and trimmed the grass on the edges of the path. Weeding is impossible as the ground is still rock hard.

Amazingly enough the runner beans are doing well even though I planted them out a bit early.


I planted some more runner bean seeds out this weekend and they are on the window cill in the lounge hopefully germinating.

Phil, my allotment neighbour picked his first broad beans this week.

Still no rain

Well that is a lie actually. We did have a small amount of rain this week - but it didn't even register in the water butt.

Got up the allotment this morning to some disarray. Some little buggers had been skulking around at some point last week for slow worms and had disturbed various pots and paving slabs - damaging one of my blackcurrant bushes in the process. Little sods.

I spent several hours up the allotment today - but it is depressing. The ground is rock hard. I really need to dig the area where the brassicas were - but the fork wont even go into the soil. I did hand weed an area that was dug in the autumn and sowed some spinach and lettuce leaves. I am still picking purple sprouting and picked a good supply of the forced rhubarb, which had turned a lovely shade of ruby red in last week's sun.


So being unable to do very much, I painted the shed. Considering it is about 7 years old and only cost me £160, it has served me well. But it needed the roof re-felting over Christmas and I decided to treat it to a fresh coat of wood stain. It is no longer orange, but now blue and looks very smart

Well tomorrow we are off to the Norfolk Broads with some of the TVR car club mates, so no further allotment stuff this weekend. Yesterday was my last day at my old job - I start a new one on Monday. Still in landscaping - so hopefully I can still get a good supply of pots and stuff.

Cracking ground

Well, several weeks without any rainfall at all is having a toll on the soil. My clay soil is almost rock solid - especially around the areas that didn't get dug - eg around the brassicas. The photo shows the extent of some of the cracking to the soil.

However, today I achieved a whole 5 hours of hard graft up the allotment - excluding the time spent chatting with Phil my neighbour and drinking coffee. I have taken a major gamble and planted out my runner bean seedlings. I only sowed them 2 weeks ago, but they were already over 6" tall. I have covered them with some clear plastic and mulched them with some grass cuttings, so hopefully they will survive.

Unfortunately the mouse's nest in the compost bin has gone. In it's place are several slow worms. I would imagine that the mouse has found a new house as the bin becomes a sauna in the afternoon when in full sun.


I also planted out the sunflowers and dahlias. I also got the final row of potatoes in - Charlotte. I struggled to dig up the brussels and the early sprouting broccoli, although I have left a couple of the broccoli plants as they are still producing spears. Not exhibition standard, but very edible. I also picked the first of the rhubarb. This is the first year I have tried forcing it and I removed the covers today and picked the biggest shoots. The thinner ones should red up nicely over the next few days.

Spuds in!

Today being Good Friday, is the traditional day for planting first earlies. I am using Foremost and have Charlotte which will be planted in a week or two.

The weather has been very dry and the clay soil has hardened up, making digging not fun. But the spuds are in.

Also had a mini- surprise in one of my green plastic compost bins. Removed the lid to see a little mouse scuttling into the depths. And the beginnings of a nice little nest as photo. I decided to leave it in situ and try and resist taking a peek for a few weeks.

Productive Planting

Having nearly finished the digging, I made use of the time to plant up some seeds. The weather wasn't particulary warm, so I moved seed compost, pots and trays into the kitchen and spread them out on the floor.

Today I planted Brussels, Tomatoes and Dahlias. I don't normally do flowers, being from the "if you can't eat it, why grow it" camp, but decided to give them a go. Planted seeds included:-

Tomato - Golden Sunrise, Thompson & Morgan
Tomato - Tigerella - Kings
Tomato - Garden Pearl - Mr Fothergill
Tomato - Sub Artic Plenty - Thompson & Morgan
Brussel - Oliver - Kings
Brussel - Evesham - Thompson & Morgan
Burssel - Trafalgar - Thompson & Morgan
Dahlias - Cactus Mix - Kings

Unfortunately, my favourite Brussel Sprout "Diablo" appears to be no longer available in seed form.

First day of Spring?

Weather was really warm today - I was working up the allotment in my shirt sleeves.

The digging is almost finished - only about 12 sq metres to go. But it is the patch that has not been touched for many years. I am uncovering a piece of carpet that I put down as a root barrier about 5 years ago, that is now covered in about 10 cms of soil.

I also managed to dig up a couple of semi-hibernating slow worms. Whoops. I buried them straight away and am leaving that area undug for the moment. Got the bit round the rhubarb weeded.

Next weekend will see a major seed planting fest to get an early start on some of the crops.

Cold Weekend

Managed to get a bit more done up the allotment this Sunday - although the weather was not particularly good - grey and cold. The digging is nearly finished - but I have left the horrible bit to the last - the very over grown bit that didn't get dug last year. As a consequence I can only manage a few rows at a time.


I did manage a trip round the local garden centre and bought some clay breaker to try on an area to see if it makes a difference. I was also treated to a strange barrow to transport stuff from home to allotment. It it a lot easier than a wheelbarrow - I normally end up with arms like an orang-utan betime I have barrowed up the compost from home.

Managed to plant up some sweet peas and a few leeks to start off indoors and picked brussel sprouts, leeks and purple sprouting

Busy weekend

Only managed 90 minutes up the allotment this weekend due to other things happening. Still it was 90 minutes more than I managed last week.

Dug up some leeks and picked some purple sprouting and managed to dig a few rows.

Next weekend is looking more hopeful.

Christmas

All the Christmas decorations were down by Friday evening. Was a discussion as to whether the 12th night was the 5th or 6th January.

Anyway, Mr C recycled the Christmas tree at one of the local garden centres and we received a free small root ball sapling - a Swiss Pine to grow our own tree.

I potted it up and will see how it does.

Strange graveyard tribute

On my walk up to the alloment this morning, I cut through the graveyard of the local church as normal, only to notice that one of the graves had a pint of beer in addtion to the normal floral displays.

I think it was a can of Tetleys. Although I couldn't actually see the point of putting it in a glass. Surely if the recipient was to enjoy the beer, it would have been better poured on the grave where some of it would hopefully sink through the soil.

I took a photo with my phone hence the poor quality.