Happy Christmas to Our Reader

Does anyone actually read this drivel? If you do leave a Christmas message!

After weeks of snow, it was necessary to go to the allotment today and try and chisel out some parsnips for Christmas lunch. In fact with a lot of hard work we harvested parsnips, carrots, celeriac, and leeks. The ground was well and truly scarred afterwards ... we need new snow to hide the mud.

Being the shortest time of the year, snow, poor light etc, the photos from a phone are VERY black and white.

Have a very happy Christmas.

Snow

We have been covered with snow for much of the week, so no allotmenteering.

Curiosity got the better of me today, so I donned boots, hat, gloves and multi-layers and made the 1.5mile trudge through the snow with the camera.

This is what greets you as you come through the pedestrian gate:

We now know where the one vote for England's world cup bid came from:

The path towards our plot:

Views over our plot:

It was so cold I couldn't get the fork into the ground, so no leeks, carrots or parsnips. I managed to grab one cabbage, but by then my fingers were too cold to attempt to pick sprouts (not that they are worth picking.)

Raspberries

Despite the cold, this afternoon I erected the posts for the raspberries and planted the canes.

There are three varieties, three canes of each:

• Glen Ample (Summer)
• Glen Moy (Summer)
• Autumn Bliss (Autumn)

New Shed

As I mentioned last week, the new shed has come for the garden at home. This means the old one can finally be demolished to make way for a greenhouse, and the windows/wood will be used to make a cold frame for the allotment. Cunning plot (pun?).

I spent a few days fitting it out with storage and workbench. For those who know my lack of woodworking skills, I hope you agree it's impressive!

Pink Soup

Earlier in the week I made some lovely soup. It was the usual recipe... bung everything in with an onion and a stock cube. It also had a whole leek, a whole celeriac, a load of celery, a couple of small potatoes, a carrots, some beetroot that were too small to cook, and the juice of one orange.

The effect of beetroot and the orange juice was impressive, but it tasted great.

Postman calls

At long last the postman delivered the awaited parcel this morning, or at least some of it. The raspberry canes haven't arrived yet, but the asparagus and rhubarb did.

Hence off I tootled to plant them. One row of asparagus (Pacific 2000) and four rhubarb crowns (2 Timperly Early, and 2 Stockbridge Arrow.

Also, I sowed half a double row of dwarf broad beans (Sutton), and along the boundary in "no mans land" I planted out the lupins.

The other good news is that the new shed at home comes on Monday, so I can then start demolishing the old shed and then prepare a base for the new greenhouse.

Gone with the Wind

The plastic greenhouse we purchased from Wilko earlier in March is no more. It is dead, blasted, removed, bent, torn. It is now neither green nor a house. It is still plastic and is stuffed inside the shed (which will also be a "has been" by the end of next week). Still, it did pretty well all year, and I was amazed how much wind it withstood, but last night's battering was a puff to much.

At least it means I don't have to take it down carefully to prepare for the proper greenhouse.

Potatoes Ordered

I was nearly too late to order potatoes for next year from the allotment association.

I've ordered:

7lb Javelin (early) - same as last year
3lb Romano (main) - same as last year
3lb of Picasso (main) - instead of Kestrel. Picasso are said to be excellent bakers.

I only popped up to get a few carrots, a leek and some lettuce on what was a lovely, but cold, day. It was very busy, more so than the last few Saturdays.

Talking to John S, I was admiring his winter cauliflowers. They take a lot of space/time, but look super. Definitely worth considering. I might also consider "The Sutton" broad beans.

It also seems few people are doing well with sprouts: we're certainly not.

Water turned off today. Last night was the first frost.

Arsonists Strike

When we arrived at the plot this morning we realised the door to the shed had been opened since last week. The only thing missing was a pair of ladies gardening gloves. It is the second time this has happened and both times ladies gloves were taken.

Talking to John, the association secretary, we found out that many sheds had been entered last Saturday night/Sunday morning. No one else has found anything missing, but sadly two plot holders had their shed burnt down. The fire brigade cut through the padlocks, so at the moment the allotments cannot be locked.

Meanwhile, we continued a bit of a tidy up and harvested some carrots, cabbages, romanseco and celery.

Leaves Wanted

The Great Autumn Clear Up - part 2.

After a few glorious days in Devon it's time to resume the story of the plot, or should that be the plot of the plot?

I feel very pleased with myself having actually cycled there today, bringing produce back in my rucksack.

This little fellow (I think it's a she) was enjoying an old flower pot. It is Araneus diadematus and is one of the most common and best known orb weavers. It is easily identified by the distinctive white cross on the abdomen (although in some specimens it is indistinct or missing). This spider is most commonly called in England the 'garden spider', it is also known as the cross spider. They are common in woodlands, heathlands and gardens. They build circular orb webs and can be found either sitting at the center of the web with facing down or in a retreat at the end of a signal line a short distance from the web itself.

Are you impressed?

Most of the beans have been taken down now, which opens up the view again:

I also removed the dead sweet peas from the front of the shed:

It's interesting to compare these shots with those of July, April and last October to see a full year's cycle... did I say a went round on my bike today?

The Great Autumn Clear Up - part 1.

Why part one I hear you ask? Well I expect the clear up will take some time, so it saves thinking up new titles all the time. In reality the clear up has been going on for a few weeks, but it now seems to be picking up pace. Ooh, there is another cheeky robin staring at me through the window: that has nothing to do with the post, but I thought I would tell you anyway. The robins in our garden are very territorial and the blue tits, coat tits, great tits and dunnocks all cower in fear, knowing the robin will soon chase them away. This has nothing to do with the allotment however. My friendly "allotment robin" didn't say hello today, perhaps he's busy chasing other wildlife away as well.

Meanwhile...

You may remember that in August (I think) I planted some second crop potatoes as an experiment. Today I gave up and dug the area over again. All the growth had died down and only about three plants had showed any promise. Well, from two rows I harvested about 6 marble sized tubers. I won't try that again. The space is two precious. Here it is freshly clearer again, waiting to be covered over for winter. (Correction, I didn't take a photo: imagine a freshly dug bit of soil. If your imagination is as fertile as the soil, your mental image will be better than a photo could be.)

I've removed all the marigolds and sunflowers from the pottager: It now looks very bare and boring. Can you spot what I'm referring to? (Aah, I can't find that photo either. Imagine more bare soil... it's like that with a cabbage and six leeks in the middle.)

So you don't feel I'm cheating, here is a view across the plot:

A week or two ago I sowed some broad beans and peas to over winter. These have come up well:

Finally, and most exciting, here is the area where the courgettes and french beans were. I'm growing cardboard boxes instead:

Universal Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

• Produce of the day (in any combination)
  
• Onion
• Stock

Method:

• boil it all up
• season to taste
• blend and dilute if needed
• enjoy

Today's soup included celery, chard, carrots, onion... yum.

Dairy Entry

No photos today after the abuse from my daughter in law.

It really feels as if the season has changed properly now, and whilst it is exciting it is also a little sad that the main growing is over.

All the french beans have been removed today, and the ground forked over and covered with thick brown cardboard. Mr Robin loved this, and was always only a few feet from me gobbling up worms and insects.

The sunflowers have been removed and the stems are drying out ready for some useful purpose, whilst the sweetcorn stems have been cut into short lengths and bundled up ready for some insects to make their homes.

Runner beans are still cropping, but we'll leave most of them now to save the seeds.

I'm not impressed with the second crop of potatoes experiment. I don't think there will be a serious harvest, and I expect the frost will kill off most growth anyway.

We took home a good crop of beans, red and green cabbages, Swiss chard, carrots, and celery, all of which contributed to a very nice soup.

A walk round the plot.

Today has been a glorious Autumn day, just like the weather man predicted, for a change.

The main activity has been clearing the courgettes and transplanting some spring cabbage seedlings.

Mr Robin kept me company all afternoon, and even tidied up some of the insects inside the shed.

Here is a video just for those who asked.



One day I'll remember to turn my phone round when taking video!

The weather man was wrong again.

It was supposed to be hot and sunny today, but it is humid and wet.

As the rain descended I thought it might be time to video the evidence:

I had once again attacked the old tree stump....at long last it's out:

I made two new friends today, Dave and Robin. I didn't photo Dave:

Update

I've been told off for not keeping everyone informed of life on the plot for a week or so. In reality there isn't a lot to tell. There is a lot of growth, more beans, courgettes, cabbages, cauliflowers etc.

A few things are starting to die down.

Leeks are being lifted sparingly... I want to ensure there are still some for winter. Sprouts are starting to form. Broccoli (Romanesco) are also showing good heads.

Oh yes, weeds still grow very quickly!

Next door has finally had a good clear up, but it will be interesting to see if it lasts.

At home, the great shed shift has started. The old raised bed has gone, and I'm excavating to prepare the new shed base. It's slow work.

Wrong sort of slug?

I'm sure this is a black slug making itself at home in the cabbage:

If so, then it should be somewhere else e.g. the compost heap, where it could do some good. Sadly it has now become a two course lunch for the birds (work it out)!

Overall I'm quite pleased with the various cabbages, but less so the red cabbage, where only one has really formed a decent heart so far:

An area of onions and carrots has been cleared and will soon be home for over wintering broad beans and early peas.

This weekend will be the end of one year of allotmenteering. I'll have a party... courgettes with candles in?

Butterfly

Does anyone know what sort of butterfly this is? It was sun bathing on the pepper plant today.

Meanwhile a lot of back breaking effort has removed the remains of the old gooseberry hedge. There are two small oak tree stumps in the middle of it that will require more effort over the coming weeks.

Gaining Ground

Visitors to the plot will be aware that it is a half plot, but the tenants(s) of the other half have not tended it all year.

When we took on the plot we agreed that the old gooseberry hedge was the boundary. In fact by the time we had cleared everything our half seems a bit bigger, but then not of the plots are the same size anyway.

It's now time to remove the remains of the hedge as it will cause future problems if we don't. Our neighbour hasn't done anything, so we're removing it. The issue is, whose plot is it now on? If we remove it can we have the land. It's a bit like is the line in or out in tennis? We're taking the view that the line is in, so will plant it up. We've already created a new compost exactly on the hdge line.

Meanwhile, the hollyhocks look a bit tatty, but I love them anyway.

Hard Labour

No photos at the moment, but bank holiday Monday involved extreme physical work from 8.30am to 2.00pm.

Two more old bushes from the old gooseberry hedge were removed (4 done and not yet 1/4 of the way), then the rest of the time was spent digging the original spoil heap, creating a new compost, turning the old compost into the new one, creating space next to the shed, and finally making another compost at the far end where the gooseberry bushes were. This one of for the soil from the spoil heap, mixed with grass cuttings.... it's a long story why this is needed.

Very tired and very pleased with ourselves.

Something's been eating the sweetcorn!

And it was me, yesterday!


Very tasty it was too, our first ever sweetcorn.



We also pulled lots more carrots and loads of other stuff including beans and courgettes (!).


There was also a feast of blackberries from the hedgerows and later in the day we scrumped 2 carriers full of apples from a friend's garden. Yum.

These seeds were also sown:

Little Gem lettuce
Offenham 2 cabbage
Lollo Rosso lettuce
Mixed salad leaf
Beetroot (Detroit)
Spring Onion
Carrots Nantes Frubund
Chard

Rain

It's been quite wet over the last few days, and after a few days away from the plot, the change was very evident, especially the weeds. Everything seems fine overall. No sign of blight anywhere (shouldn't have said that!). Tons more courgettes and beans and potatoes, and carrots and chard and cabbage...

It's the potatoes I'm really pleased with. Two sackfuls in the garage, and plenty more to come.

The ankle is still sore. so I only spent 2 hours digging!

The sweetcorn will soon be ready.

Sitting with my feet up.

This is the life!

Sitting outside the allotment shed in the sunshine whilst wife and son are busy labouring.

Unfortunately it is because I sprained my ankle on Saturday and cannot walk or stand for too long.

So, what is going on here?

The last of the early potatoes have been removed and some second crops will go in.

There is a general clean-up going on, especially removing brambles.

Shouts of "look at these carrots!" are to be heard.

Yet more courgettes!

Best of all my Hollyhocks are starting to flower. It's the first time in 27 years I've managed this. I assume it's the soil here.

Cabbage Whitefly invasion

On inspection today I found that all the brassicas are infested with cabbage whitefly. Reading around suggests that there isn't much that can be done about it, but that it's not a major problem.

The nasturtiums are now covered with blackly, but the beans are clear, so it looks as if they've done their job.

We're still harvesting tons of courgettes and beans.

The garlic was also lifted and is drying in the sun. More spring onions were sown and some more lettuce was planted out.

At home great schemes are being discussed about a new shed and greenhouse.

Puzzled

Why are my sunflowers pointing North? (So are everyone else's on the plots).

Comments?

Surprise, Surprise

Quite a few hours were spent on the plot today. There was a lot of weeding and tidying up to do, with the brambles still trying to show everywhere you look.

I dug over and mulched the empty broad beans and pea beds, which gives more access to other things for harvesting.

Surprises included:

• The sunflowers in bloom
• Cauliflowers ready (and now harvested)
• Lots of runner beans and french beans
• Lots and lots and lots of Courgettes (some now made into courgettes bread and courgette with chard and ginger soup.

In addition, more potatoes, carrots and beetroot were also harvested.

Quick note

There was some welcome rain last week, as well as lots of harvesting.

The broad beans are finished, and most of the peas also. Potatoes are very tasty, and the first carrots and courgettes are being eaten.

Weeds are growing well!

I plan to do some more tidying up later today.

The Cage.

On Saturday three of us spent over twelve hours weeding, tidying, harvesting and building a brassica cage.

We have eaten and frozen pounds on peas and broad beans, and continue to enjoy the early potatoes and chard. We also ate the first carrots.

In the jungle

The growth is now very rich and fulsome. Here are a few photos I haven't put elsewhere!

Squash in the beans:

Runner, Broad, French and Human Beans:

Garlic and celery:

Carrots, Celeriac and Parsnips:

Beetroot and Onions:

Freshly weeded!

Runner Beans: