Christmas Eve?

No one told the summer fruiting raspberries that it's Christmas Eve.

A few veg from the allotment for Christmas Day

Squash

Pumpkins, courgettes and winter squash have also done well!

Broad Beans

Winter Squash

Pumpkins ripening

Cosmos on the 'lottie

Beans

French beans drying.

Harvest washed

Roots washed and ready for use.

French Beans for Storage

Like the colour!

Beans, Cosmos, and Potatoes

Celeriac

Red Cabbage

Onions

Pears

Apples

Sunflowers

 

The Sunflowers on the allotment are spectacular this year, and full of bees.

Getting Going at Last

Warmer weather has enabled us to do a bit more clearing.

We have also planted onion sets and sowed parsnips, radishes, broad beans and peas.

January Snow

These photos are a few weeks late,and were taken by a fellow plot-holder for me, but here is 54 in this January's snow.

Bean Trench Completed

Another very busy few hours has seen another large area cleared, the bean trench dug, filled with leaves, home made compost and soil, and then the poles put up. Note the arch in the middle...

Two by Two

Two of us working over two days for a total of 13 (wo)man hours has had a big impact on 54a. It is starting to look like one plot at long last.

Looking from the shed you can see that most beds are clear and ready for the new season, even if the path needs tidy up. What used to be the end of the plot is now only half way!

At half way are piles of roots and nasty weeds that need disposing of. The piles are pretty high! We will make a seating area here.

 Two thirds of 54a are now clear, with potato trenches now ready, and the bean trench started.

Looking from the road. Just a few hours work to finish clearing, then the hard work starts!

Mean whilst at home sowing has started in the propogator and the greenhouse. 

Clearing 54a.

It seems very strange to spend time on the allotment on a sunny (but cold) day after months of bad weather! After a few hours on Sunday and nearly three today it is possible to see some progress on what was the worst corner of 54a. It is thick in nettle roots. Still, Michael says that nettles only grow on hood soils!

2013 - Happy New Year

It always happens. People start a diary, or web page or blog, and after a while it's not used so much. Looking back at 2012 this seems the case. Reasons are various, but it's not because the allotment isn't being tenderly cared for so much! Despite the wet weather we survived 2012, and as 2013 starts are still harvesting red cabbage, sprouts, kale, beetroot, spinach, and over wintered cabbage is looking OK.

Little has been done since November, however, when we weren't busy, the weather was too wet, or the days were too short. Today at least I found 2 hours to dig 54a.

54a I hear you all ask?

Yes, the other end of our plot, which has been neglected since before we took over in 2009, become available in October, so we now have all of plot 54, and are in the process of vacating 53b which we've borrowed for the last two seasons. It is hard work clearing it, with deep rooted perennial weeds and nettles, but I hope it's ready for March.

Here's some pictures I took in early December:

This is looking from the end of 54b across 54a and the rest of the site. I've just covered as much as possible with black plastic and weighted it down with junk!

This end near the road was full of nettles and deep roots, so I've started at this end first. Today I double dug it,a nd added about 10 bags of donkey manure before planting the decorative willow hedge!

The boundary between old and new. I hope to make this a seating area!