Putting the Cloches to use

I love using my Cloches. My Dad bought me a pair of the like I have never seen before and I got to use them up my allotment this week as my allotment neighbour - Phil - had left me some winter cabbage plants which were duly planted out.



I then used the plastic hoops and the metal rods to make the frame and then clipped the supplied netting in place. The kit also came with plastic sheeting too. I must ask him where he got them in case I need more.

Back!

Can't believe it has been 2 months since I last updated the blog.

I always knew that September would be difficult - away for 2 week's holiday in the States and then away the following weekend, but I did hope that I would get some blogging done during October.

Instead I have been busy harvesting. The apple tree in the garden yielded the best ever crop and every weekend in October I was pealing and stewing. I have a drawer full of stewed apple in the freezer. Then when I thought I had finished, my parents gave me another carrier bag full.


I am not sure which variety my apple tree is. It is a cooking apple and the skins are quite waxy. The flesh is very white and is quite frothy when stewed. The above are not the best samples.

I have also been harvesting leeks and some purple sprouting and brussels. In fact one row of the sprouts are quite good - I need to check back and find out which variety they were.

Been busy

Not updated the blog for a few weeks, so will now try and catch up with a few retrospective posts.

I made a big error in buying my other half an Archos for his birthday. This is a most excellent gadget which will let him view DVDs and listen to music on the train. Only problem was that he a bit of a technophobe, so I have spent evenings ripping DVDs and then compressing them so he can watch them on his way home from work and have therefore not been updating my blog.

Anyway, today was a lovely day - just the right amount of sun and a cooling breeze. So I achieved a good three hours up the allotment digging over what was the broad bean patch to make an area for the winter onions.

As you can see the sunflowers are looking good. If there was a prize for the tallest sunflower on the allotment, then I would win it. I also was pleased to see one of these - if you look closely you will see it is a sloworm. The lads off the estate usually take them - but this one was sunbathing in a bucket. I did disturb him and move him into the compost heap - just incase it did decide to rain.

The bad news is the brassicas. The caterpillars have left me just stalks. I did spray them last week with derris, which I hate doing as I try and be organic - but that hasn't worked. I must get some washing up liquid and give that a go.

Strawberries? (retrospective)

Well this was a surprise. A strawberry in mid-August. I re-planted all my strawberries this year and included some I had grown on from plug plants so I am not sure if they are a late variety or just catching up. They were a variety unknown to me called Elan which apparently do produced strawberries into the autumn.

Rain, rain and more rain (retrospective)

Today I had to take refuge in the shed from a heavy shower. The rain has soaked the ground making my heavy clay a big effort. The bottoms of my boots soon become clogged and need scraping every 15 minutes or so making it a real chore.

Can you see at the bottom of the photo a tiny doll's head. It is one of the many odd things that I did up on the allotment. Bits of bottle, lots of clay pipe and buttons, but the china doll is the best "treasure" so far.

I attempted a count of the pumpkins today. It is a bit like trying to count the Rollright Stones in Long Compton. My parents used to take me there when I was a child. Folklore states that you can never accurately count them. I don't think I ever got the same tally twice.

Well I might have 6 pumpkins or there might be 7 - it is difficult to tell.

My butt is empty

How quickly things change - the waterbutt is now empty. In fact I used it as an excuse to give it a good clean and wash out the sludge in the bottom.

The tomatoes will now get refreshed with tap water.

Talking of tomatoes - I picked my first today. Garden Pearl. Funny how whatever the weather conditions it is always the last week in July that my tomatoes ripen. Thankfully I remembered not to buy too many in Tesco's this week. Can't wait for the yellow ones to catch up.

Redescovering the Strawberries

I replaced the strawberries this year. I never intended to get much of a crop from them - but to let them run riot and produce lots of runners to provide additional plants.

This they have done - and so have the weeds. Today the conditions were perfect for weeding. Plenty of rain in the last few days meant the weeds were coming out without any resistance.

An hour later the strawberries were uncovered along with numerous runners which I am going to have difficulty tracing back to the original plant. I had planted four varieties - Cambridge Favourite, Honeyoe, Royal Sovereign and one called Elan that I had never heard of but found in a garden centre.

Harvested today were pototoes - the pink fir apple has almost redeemed itself - courgettes, broad beans, runner beans, lettuce and raddish. I overheard one of my fellow allotmenteers talking to another saying he had never picked peas and runner beans at the same time before - and he has been growing veg for 60 plus years.

My butt is full Part 2

And here is the photo to prove it. Before the weekend it was almost empty. Now it is overflowing and that is just from the run off on one side of a garage roof.

It is July, I have put the central heating on, I am eating curry for dinner. Hmmmmm

Wonder if I will ever get a normal year weather wise for the allotment. Currently it is boom or bust.

Big decision.

Well I have come to a decision about the allotment. With our social life it is a big struggle for me as I tend the whole thing on my own - save the occasional assistance with watering. I have never come away feeling that there is nothing more that needs doing - and I appreciate that this is unlikely to happen until I retire or no longer work full time.

There is an area at the back, about 8-10 ft wide, which I can never get to - currently it is a wilderness. The blackcurrants are in the middle of this area and haven't produced a crop for a few years.

However, my neighbour Phil mentioned to me that following his recent retirement, he would like a little bit more space. So I am letting him take it over until I retire in about 16 year's time. He will use it to grow spuds. I will have to move my strawberry patch - but will probably transfer them to pots and bring on at home.

I do have a slight feeling of failure. But it is a much less drastic action than giving the whole thing up.

Losing control

Well I knew that having two weekends away out of four would do my allotment no good. The weeds have won the war.

So this weekend it is weeding, weeding, weeding. Problem is the lack of recent rain has meant that any weeds with more than one inch of root are concreted in. But I did manage to make a bit of a difference.

To cheer myself up I decided to harvest some potatoes. Big mistake - the fork just wouldn't go in the soil. I did manage to get some up by chiseling into the ground and they came up nice and clean - but not a great crop - especially the pink fir apple. Don't think I will bother with them again.

However, the broad beans are the best yet - no blackfly and a really heavy crop. In fact I picked two carrier bags.

I also picked runner beans!!! Even earlier than last year - which were early.

Got some help today!

Well having been in France last weekend for the Le Mans 24 hr race, I had a lot of catching up to do. Thankfully my Mum and Dad paid me a visit this weekend. For some reason I can never get leeks started on my plot or at home in the garden. My Dad has done the honours for me for a few years now. He has lovely soil in his garden. Rich, beautifully dark and not at all like the clay I have up my allotment.

Well they came over this weekend with Prizetaker, Bandit and Mussleburgh. We only managed to get about 150 planted - I have another 150 or so to go.

Today I took a picture of my Dad on my allotment - he turned 83 last month. It is due to him that I have an interest in growing vegetables. He had a good area at home and we were self sufficient in veg all year round. I used to "help" from about the age of three. He would give me worms to feed to the chickens next door - until he discovered I was eating them myself. Eventually I had my own area in the garden where I would grow a few beans and sweetpeas. Now I have my own allotment - thanks Dad for your influence and knowledge.

My Butt is full

How wet has it been. The waterbutt in the garden is overflowing. As we are away next weekend (Le Mans) I needed to dig over the area for the leeks. It was very hard going. The clay soil was sodden and very sticky. My boots had 2" platforms of mud which I peeled off after each row. But I am now ready for the leeks.

I couldn't wait and dug up some potatoes. Enough from one plant for a meal for two. But they were soaking. So much so that I disturbed this little fellow - which was a surprise as there are no ponds nearby. I am seriously thinking about growing rice next year.

Doh!

Remember my New Year's resolution (see post 1st Jan 2008). Well I was going to label all my plants. Part of the reason being that I like to try different varieties. I have still to find a sprout that grows well on my heavy clay soil. My last allotment loved Trafalgar - but on the new one it crashed and burned. I had some success with Oliver last year and have added Bosworth and Wellington to the plot.

So I have stuck to the resolution and each plant has had it's own label with added information such as date of sowing. I marked them using a permanent marker such as I would use on a CD.

But guess what - have a look at the Courgette (or is it a Pumpkin) below. The sun has bleached the marker pen and I am totally clueless as to which variety it was.

Bargain of the week

Yes - just £1.50 from Tesco (half price) Ladies part leather gloves.

I bought 3 pairs.

They are still a couple of sizes too big for me as I have small hands. But at that price I can't be fussy.

The allotment didn't happen last weekend - I knew it was unlikely as we had family stuff (wedding and family party). Still we have a weekend coming up with no visitors and no visiting - bliss.

Mighty tree

Made a rare mid- week trip up the allotment to check on the pumpkins, courgettes and sweetcorn I planted and give them some water. As I walked up the lane that runs adjacent to the allotments, I could hear some laughter. I soon found that a couple of lads were up to no good. They tried to get out the side exit once they saw me - but it was padlocked. They were apparently looking for slow-worms. I gave the the lecture about protected species and then marched them off the allotments. The only damage seems to be a few bruised potato plants where they had been rooting under the grass mulch. Unfortunately I probably put the fear of god in them - my excuse was that I had not had a good time at work today.

Anyway - on the way home I stopped to wonder at the sight of this Horse Chestnut tree in the Churchyard. I don't think I have ever seen one as huge. What a magnificent sight.

Busy busy busy

Woohoo! Got two stints up the allotment this weekend. Three hours on Saturday and two on Sunday. Saturday was digging to prepare the ground for the planting on Sunday. It was heavy going. The recent rain had made the top four inches of the soil very sticky, but under that it was dry and hard. I had some company - a very scruffy blackbird (apologies for the picture quality - he was not a poser) who was gorging on the worms. He was quite vocal but had a strange squeak rather than a chirp. And I was digging up some BIG worms.


Sunday was planting. Courgettes, pumpkins, sweetcorn and a row of beetroot and a row of carrots.

It was also a defining moment as close inspection of my trusty gardening boots revealed that the soles were parting way. They have lasted well - but will now be added to the rubbish. I need to decide whether my old walking boots are old enough for the allotment yet. I have a nasty feeling that my trusty Barbour of 25 years is also heading the same way. As yet I don't have anything half way scruffy enough for the allotment. My current Barbour jacket is still looking good at 7 years old. Might need to scour a few charity shops.

What a fine specimen!

For once this year I have some sprout plants to be proud of. No being eaten by snails - no being knocked off the window cill by someone other than me. This one is looking good.

I wish however they were all like this. I only have 5 or 6 that are this good. The others suffered with a scorching and lack of water when we were on holiday. But this year I have great hopes.

Taking a flyer

I had no choice. My runners were running away - so I have planted them out. Now normally I don't do this for another week or two - but the roots were bursting out of their peat pots.

I also planted out the tomatoes at home. These are up against a south facing brick wall and seem to be ok.

Thing is this current hot spell has caught me by surprise. It is like we have gone from winter straight into summer. I found it hard to motivate myself during April and as a consequence haven't sown much and I haven't given much thought to where I am going to plant things either. I still have some areas that need digging too.

Actually, in the 10 years I have kept an allotment, I can't think of one year that has been "normal" weather wise.

Not very popular today

Today I did the annual emptying of the household compost bin. This happens either because the bin becomes full, or my tomatoes are ready for planting out as the compost is used at the bottom of the tubs.

This year it was because the bin was full. I was squashing all the kitchen scraps in the bin and then using all my weight to close the lid - poor worms.

The downside of this job is having to remove the top layer of stinky half rotten food (first picture) to get to the bottom layer of nice compost (second picture). The smell was pretty strong and probably not appreciated by the neighbours who are having a party tonight. It was probably not helped by my bad habit of putting old unused eggs in the bin whole and not smashing them up first. Five month old eggs do pong a bit. Thankfully my sense of smell is very poor having not properly returned following my nasty dose of Chicken Pox at Christmas.

Can't wait to get it up the allotment tomorrow.

One possible consequence of my activities today was a small present I found in the dining room. My two cats have been part of the family for 8-9 years. During that time we have had one baby blue tit and one mouse - ours do not do the hunting thing. But I discovered this - what a large mouse I thought - closer inspection revealed that it was a baby rat. I think it must have been Casper and not Chloe. He has been prancing round the house looking very pleased with himself today.

Couch Grass 0 - Me 1

I have a problem with couch grass on my allotment. There is an area by the shed that has become riddled with the stuff. This is the area that I failed to dig last year and around my blackcurrant bushes - which I was intending to remove.

Today I decided to declare war against the couch grass and cleared an area about two metres square. I won a small battle - but the war will be messy - about another10 or 15 metres to go (see photo below).

I also planted parsnips and lettuce today - during an exhausting four and a half hour stint.

Sickly Seedlings

This is one of my Purple Sprouting seedlings. They are all looking very sick and I am willing them to get better - but they are a tad scorched around the edges.

I have a nasty feeling that it is a result of lack of water during our recent three night trip to Devon and failure (despite a polite reminder notice) on behalf of the cat feeders to give them some water. (They also failed to empty the cat litter tray resulting in us finding a "dirty protest" in the dining room when we got home but that is another story)

I might plant some more seed just to be safe.

Do you like my flowers?

Spent a whole four hours on the allotment on Saturday. Planted a row of runner beans, my onion sets and some peas (Little Marvel). Harvested some leeks (which are rapidly going to seed, but still usable with the core removed), some purple sprouting that the birds had missed and some rhubarb - which is also flowering along with the autumn planted broad beans.

I made use of the rhubarb flowers which are now proudly displayed in a vase in my lounge. Wonder if they will catch on.

Snow Joke

After some promising warm days mid week, I was hopeful of at least one good day this weekend. But no it has been rain, hail and snow.

Yesterday we went to Silverstone to watch a friend race his MG (see picture below) - he did quite well - 5th I think - plus the only bit of sun during the day was the 20 minutes or so while the race was taking place. It was very cold though and I was not sorry to get home and soak in a hot bath.

As for the allotment I haven't ventured up yet - the F1 on the TV has had a greater pull. I really need to get up and dig up some more leeks. We are away next weekend to Devon so I am starting to panic.

Cheated :o(

Well today was supposed to be wet according to all the forecasts - so I planned indoor jobs - filing, shredding, cooking, cleaning.

But - NO!

A small amount of rain in the morning gave way to a nice warm sunny day. By which time I was too deeply involved in what I was doing at home to change my plans.

I could have possibly got the tiller up the allotment and got a bed prepared for the onions. Or I could have planted some seeds.

Still at least the clocks have gone forward this morning, so I will have a hour or two of daylight when I get home in the evening.

I console myself with a photo of the leeks I dug up yesterday and the thought that the ground was probably still very very sticky.

New Coat!

This was the find of the month - a replacement plastic "coat" for my mini greenhouse. The original one had become cloudy and brittle with age and I was thinking about having to buy a new one and using the shelves in the garage. But I found the replacement cover in a local garden centre which solved the problem at a fraction of the cost.

Covers can also be found on line here

Spent some time up the allotment today, but the recent rain had made it very sticky. I dug a small area - about 2 sq metres - but it was hard going.

Harvested a row and a half of leeks, the last of the sprouts and some sprouting broccoli that had not be ravaged by the pigeons.

Nothing doing

Well this is the view over my back garden. I haven't even bothered to go up to the allotment over this Easter break, although I really could do with some leeks. I should also be potting stuff up to start off indoors - but it is cold and I can't get myself motivated.

The long range weather forecast on the BBC web site isn't offering much hope of warmer weather either.

Spuds in

Well I managed to get the spuds planted today. Two rows each of Winston and Pink Fir Apple. I have used Winston before and they are a good choice. Not a very dense potato, but if left a bit longer then they are good baked. This is my first time for Pink Fir Apple - supposed to have a very good taste.

Unfortunately I left my spud buying a bit late and was a bit restricted on choice. I had meant to buy a mixed selection box from one of the seed suppliers - but spud buying slipped down the list of my priorities I am afraid.

Ready! Get Set! Go!

Well I decided that today was too cold and damp for a session of allotment digging, so I made a start on the seed planting.

We only have one serviceable window cill in our house and that is in the lounge. I purchased these seed trays as they fit nicely and are not too wide after my other half managed to knock the wider ones onto the carpet when opening the curtains.

So I am hopeful this year that they will survive the curtains and, once transferred outdoors, the snails and I will soon be seeing little shoots.

Planted today were:-

Brussel Sprouts - Oliver & Topline
Cabbage - Redcap
Cauliflower - Snow Prince
Tomato - Golden Sunrise, Garden Pearl, Harbinger
Purple Sprouting - Early, Rudolph & Redhead

Incidentally - it looks like Oliver has been dropped from Kings' seed catalogue, which is a shame as it was by far the best performing sprout on my allotment.

Grave Situation

I always have a good look in the graveyard on my walk up to the allotment. I do have a vested interest as the allotment land is owned by the adjacent church and obviously at some point in the future will be given up for graves.

There is currently an area of about an acre that is available for graves that is gradually filling up. Thankfully the fashion for cremation means that the demand for burial plots is not great and I estimate that the allotments should be safe at least in my lifetime.

Anyway - image my surprise to see not one, but two new graves this week. Odd thing is, that with the earth piled high, it did cross my mind for a milli-second that these must have been very fat people. I did resist the urge to see if the top soil was better than that on my allotment.

Catching up 2

Well I have been a bit lazy with my blog over the last few weeks - partly because not a lot is happening at this time of year and partly because of other issues. It is taking me a long time to fully recover from the Chicken Pox and as a consequence the digging wasn't getting done as I simply haven't had the stamina or the energy.

However, I have now found myself out of work after the company I was working for decided to terminate my contract so I have found time to work up the allotment and update my blog.

This week I took advantage of the excellent weather and got about a third of the allotment dug. I have to do it in short bursts so as not to give myself a bad back. About an hour a day is all I dare manage. But the conditions are currently perfect. We haven't had any rain since 5th February resulting in the soil being quite dry for this time of year. The temperature has been delightful so that I have on some days been digging in my shirt sleeves.

Anyway, to demonstrate I have attached a photo of the local church, the grounds of which I walk through on my way to the allotment.

Overview of 2007

Well, I guess it is time to look back over the last year and review the successes and failures of the growing year.

Successes include:-

Sunflowers - Giant - up to 9ft tall and Pastiche which was a multi-stemmed for cutting
Brussel Sprouts - Oliver - produced the best sprouts by far
Leeks - Think that Porvite (Autumn Giant?) was the best. Difficult to tell due to labeling failure
Broad Beans - I used mainly saved seed from last year's crop
Runner Beans - Took a gamble during the warm April and started harvesting at least 2 weeks before everyone else.
Sweetcorn - I was given six spare plants from my allotment neighbour
Pumpkins - Nice nicely sized pumpkins.

Failures include:-

Melons - The cold July/August killed the plants
Strawberries - Fought against weeds, theft and an aging crop
Blackcurrants - Need to replace aging bushes

This year I am going to try another shot at parsnips and swede. Normally they don't do well. Neither seem to germinate too well. However, other allotment owners germinate their seed in trays and then transplant with a degree of success.

Happy New Year

Well 2007 didn't quite finish as I expected. A very nasty dose of Chicken Pox laid me flat and prevent the winter digging getting done as planned over the Christmas break. I felt ill when I got home from work on Friday 21st December and took to my bed with what I though was flu. On Christmas Eve morning I awoke covered in spots. The Dr diagnosed Chicken Pox. I can't remember ever being so ill. The planned Christmas dinner with home grown veg didn't really happen. I have been signed off work until 11th January.

The first time I ventured out was 30th December when my other half and I took a slow walk to the allotment. He dug up some leeks and I picked brussels. I spent the rest of the afternoon recovering in bed. It is going to be a long haul.

Anyway - one New Year's Resolution. I am going to make a big effort to label my plants. I start out with good intentions, but I never have enough labels and lose the bit of paper which shows the allotment planting plan. I have managed to label two items - one was a lovely sunflower called Pastiche and the best Brussel plant was one called Oliver - which I originally sowed on 17th March. There seems little point in having a success if I am unable to identify it.

So I have purchased a packet of 100 plant labels so that every plant can be tagged.