Ali's Allotment Plots

The Frost didn't come so I got of off my Bum....

2012-01-30T16:59:00.000Z

....and went to my Lotty for another tidy up!

Before

After

Before

Oops I forgot the After, but trust me, it's been done

This is the other side of the Brassica's - you can just see the After bit to the left

This bed didn't really need much weeding but it was good to turn it over

I don't know if you can see from the next two pictures, but I made a ridge all along the edging

You can't really see it unless you squint but it's there - trust me - I'm an

Allotmenteer!

And so is he - that's Doug who stopped for a chat today

Vegetable Seed Order

2012-01-29T13:38:00.000Z

This is a list of the seeds I ordered today:

Lettuce - mixed
Tomatoes - Gardeners Delight & Money Maker
Peas - Early Onwards
Dwarf French Beans - Safari
Beetroot - Bolthardy
Courgette - Green Bush
Cucumber - Burpless
Savoy - Best of All
Leeks - Zermatt
Cauliflower - All Year Round

I got all these from http://www.vegetableseeds.net/ and all for only £10.05 !!

I still have the following to get from the Trading Hut:

Cucino (baby cucumbers)
Rocket
Mizuna &
Pak Choi
Onion Sets

On Order:

Various Potatoes (Desiree etc.)

Already in / growing at the allotment now:

Cabbages (various)
Onions
Garlic
Leeks
Strawberries
Spinach

I do not have 121 (half off) this year, so I am down to One Plot 144 and I am NOT going to be tempted to grow anything that I haven't been successful with in past years e.g. sweetcorn etc. or anything that I don't like to eat e.g. Okra - I hate Okra!

And I am going to stick to that this year 2012!

My First Dig & Weed of 2012

2012-01-22T13:26:00.000Z

As the weather was dry today, I decided to visit Plot 144 and get Digging & Weeding, however, as all allotmenteers know, if you say you are going to the allotment for an hour, you really need 2 so that you can get all the chatting in too, especially when the weather is favourable and more plot holders are on site!

So when I arrive I find a "Dalek" type composting bin by my wooden compost bins. I was mine, once, but I gave it to a fellow plot holder as he was just starting out. He happened to be there and told me that he didn't have a need for it any more, so I decided to put it to good use by putting anything new from kitchen scraps to weeds in there from now on, which meant that my current 2 composting bins - the wooden ones - could have a rest and the bits that are already in them will have a good chance to get on an make me some compost!

I then had to take all the kitchen scraps that I had put into the wooden composters and move them to their new home

I then got to weeding the Garlic in the 1st raised bed.....

And the onions next to that.....

And then I dug the patch next to that and weeded it at the same time

So a good 2 hours spent there today and a good third of my plot weeded and dug over!

Hooray

2012 - Greenhouse Damage

2012-01-06T13:00:00.000Z

The Back roof Panel

And the front Corner panels too!

I went to look for all 3 panels and came back with 5!!

Poor Hilda isn't looking her best - she reminds me of Amy Winehouse now!

And Tatty's brains are falling out.

I will have to make them over this year!

Last day of November....

2011-11-30T12:54:00.000Z

Toad is still in residence

It was a lovely sunny morning so I went to weed and dig today

I managed to do this large patch

But not this one as I ripped my nail of my finger half way down and it's very painful.

Courgettes in November

2011-11-09T14:08:00.000Z

I went to the lotty today and to my surprise, not only did I find 3 large courgettes to harvest, but new growth on the plants!

Crochet & Cabbages

2011-10-30T14:21:00.000Z

I was on Allotment Trading Hut duties today. It was a very quiet time, so I took my Crochet along to help pass the time (see my other blog www.macscrochet.blogspot.com) which it did indeed do - help to pass that time that is, as well as listening to the old boys chattering away about their war days!

On the way back home I have to walk past my plot. I had to pick up a savoy cabbage and I only had my Crochet bag with me, so they had to share

Crochet & Cabbages!

Digging after the rain & the return of the FROG

2011-10-28T14:45:00.000+01:00

All that rain we had in the last few days has done me a favour! The sun came out today and I went out to the Allotment to dig!! It was like putting a hot knife through butter & I had the added bonus of a little harvest of baby sweetcorn and some beetroot!

To add to my delight of digging over a large bit of my plot I found my friend the frog! He was hiding in a compost bag. Now this was unknown to me at the time and I tipped the little amount of compost left in the bag onto the plot and out came this frog who was covered in compost dust - he did look a sight, so I got my watering can and gave him a shower. He then rewarded my by posing for some photos....

School Pots and Hanging Baskets.....

2011-10-06T14:44:00.000+01:00

Did I ever mention that I garden for a local school? Today I transformed the pots & hanging baskets from the "Summer" (these pictures were taken back in June, so the Bacopa, Lobelia & Geraniums were all in bud form).....

.....to the "Winter"

In the pots I used Cyclamen, Winter Pansies & Gold Crest

And the hanging baskets speak for themselves!!

FAB!

Potatoes!

2011-10-06T09:15:00.000+01:00

It's goodbye to plot 121 - I have now ended my "tenancy" there as I no longer have the need or the time to work this extra half plot!

One lot of Cara Potatoes going from 121 to 144 by trailer!

Desiree potatoes drying off in the greenhouse

Another tray of Cara

This is the tray that was in the trailer

So all in all a good potato harvest

Special Delivery!!

2011-09-05T07:43:00.000+01:00

The Apple puddings were packed up to take to the Trading Hut & when I arrived, the boys were just having a cup of tea!

Derek enjoying his pudding - his dog Laddie also enjoyed some!!

Free Apples & I dug up some Desiree

2011-09-03T15:20:00.000+01:00

Yes, right there in the Trading Hut was a big tub full of cooking apples and I was told to help myself, so I took about 2lb's and brought them home along with some Desiree potatoes that I dug up from 121 and a handful of Onions from the greenhouse that I haven't got around to stringing up yet.

I got Delia's recipe out from the recipe scrap book and made some Apple/Almond puddings, some of which I will take to the Trading Hut tomorrow for the boys to try out.

Before

After!!

They are now cooling in the kitchen and I can't wait to try one Mmmmmm

Progress!

2011-08-31T16:35:00.000+01:00

I am greeted by this lovely sunflower on my arrival at the allotment at the moment - it's so cheery!!

Ok, so down to work - I had trouble getting this stake out, so I had to leave it until I could get some "man power" behind it.

As you can see, there are several "extra" stakes along this side of the last raised bed, which I had forgotten about, but they were put in for a reason - to provide extra support to this side.

So in the end I decided to leave it where it is (the side of the raised bed that is, and now I have this lovely area to one side of the fruit trees.

Here is the view from the other side - it to me ages to break up and rake the soil. I also put in a good few handfuls of 6X - a chicken poo fertilizer thing which other allotmenteers swear by.

If you look carefully, just past Tatty the Scarecrow and focus on the middle of the picture, you will see a little pussy cat, helping itself to water from the bird bath

Closer....

And closer! Naughty pussy cat.

I also managed to rake over the soil (and 6X it) to either side of the leeks

So I had a few good hours well spent at the allotment this morning

Thankfully no more blisters today....

2011-08-24T15:13:00.000+01:00

The first thing that I had to do was to lift the strawberry plants from bed 2 and put them in what was the raised bed from plot 121.....

I found that a few split so I put them in separately in the hope that they will take, so this is the finished Strawberry bed, which I have covered in netting.

Thankfully the rain did it's thing and I was able to fork over the old path area on both sides of raised bed 2. It was still hard work but I thought it would be more beneficial to loosen up the areas that had only the other day been pathways!

As you can see, with little effort the ends started to come away, that's how bad it was getting.

I managed to get the sides and the lengths of wood away from the stakes and leaving the top end in place, I stored the wood neatly as they may come in useful. So here you see the frame work removed. Wow that space is already looking huge and like fantastic growing space.

I must say, the soil is very very nice and will only need a little TLC this year.

You can see here, how badly rotten the stakes had become!!

Blisters!

2011-08-22T21:45:00.000+01:00

I have decided to give my plot a make over!! Yes, I have been watching 60 minute make over for some time now and I have made that brave decision - to get rid of two of my big raised beds!!!

I am going to keep RB no.1 which is closest to the gate area as that will keep a nice "start" to the plot but I am going to get rid of no. 2 and no. 3 due to two factors 1. being deterioration of the wood used and 2. because I actually like the other half of the plot which is just neat rows.

Further more I will be giving up plot 121 this year, which is where I am currently growing loads of potatoes, and I have a scaffolding raised bed on there which I will bring up to 144 and place down the other end by the greenhouse / shed area.

So, today I thought it would be sensible to rake up the wood chip paths between the raised beds. So I raked and raked and raked and got a blister the size of a 20 pence piece on my thumb joint!! I raked some more and spread these wood chippings (recycling) over my path that's by the fence and to the front area by the fence.

After that I had to chip away at the top level as this had been compacted down with all the walking up and down. This was hard work as the ground is so dry, but I am hoping that the forecast rain, tons of it over the next few days, will help, so that's the reason I spent over 2 hours there today.

It's falling apart!!!

The top layer of wood chip has nearly gone

Just need the rain to come along to help now!!

Once the rain does it's thing, I will remove the wood sides and let the soil that is in the raised bed, tumble over and then I will have completed my "makeover".

Hey Presto.

More soon - promise.

Stringing them up....

2011-08-19T18:38:00.000+01:00

...my onions that is!

I learnt how to do this last year from this site:
http://www.powen.freeserve.co.uk/Guides/stringonions.htm

Give it a try - it's the best way to store them

Sorting out the sizes - Large, Medium & Small

The first string in progress

After trimming off the roots and the ends the first string is ready

Three Strings later (the one to the far right are the over wintering onions) and I had to call it a day as there are about another 5 lots to go!

Recent Harvests

2011-08-17T16:23:00.000+01:00

Savoy Cabbage, Apples & a Pear

Plums & Cucino (Baby Cucumbers)

Cherry Tomatoes, Cucino, Courgettes & Cucumber (not in photo)

Onion Harvest

2011-08-10T08:56:00.000+01:00

I needed to get to the allotment desparately. After recent events, I have let it go to pot a bit, well a lot actually! So, once there I tidied up the peas - well pulled them all out actually, dug over their spot and the earth to the left where the first earlies were grown, so that was a good 5ft across dug over and raked!

Then it was time to lift the onions. I planted 3 rows (staggered) along the width of the plot (17ft??) so there were quite a few of them!

I put them in the Greenhouse to dry for a few days - I couldn't risk leaving them outside as the risk of showers is still prominent!!

The first haul.....

Some more....

Had to put some on the floor (on a tray).....

And more on the other shelf opposite...

And finally some were put on the wine box - phew!!

5th Place + Onions & Garlic

2011-07-24T11:04:00.000+01:00

Yes, this year, probably due to the fact that I have an 8 year old in my life, I didn't spend as much time as I would have liked to at the allotment. I came 5th in Sutton in Bloom. The usual came 1st (boring) and my fellow allotmenteer from Roundshaw came 2nd - well done Andrew!!

I did manage to dodge the showers and get down to plot 144 yesterday and I strung up my over wintering Onions & Garlic. I brought some home & left some hanging in the allotment shed for now.

July 1st 2011 - Update from 144

2011-07-01T13:22:00.000+01:00

I planted some of the chilli & sweet pepper plants right outside the greenhouse & to the left you will see that I have put in 2 artichoke plants

This is an over head view of the sweetcorn interplanted with butternut squash - I tried this "companionship" last year and it worked well

The perpetual spinach which is keeping our family well fed

Beetroot in between the parsnips

Tomatoes of different varieties to the right and courgettes / squashes to the left

Dwarf broad beans with some peas behind

The Runner Beans

Strawberries - what's left of them - I think I have one fruit on there now after the glut I had earlier this year

Baby Sweetcorn plants in front of the chilli & sweet peppers

I finally got around to digging up the onions and garlic today

These are now "drying out" in the greenhouse.

Today's Harvest.....

2011-06-14T12:46:00.000+01:00

Just a quick trip to the allotment today revealed my first Tomato on one of the green house tomatoes

I harvested spinach, peas & 1st early potatoes for tonights dinner!!

Brave Decisions & water conservation

2011-05-25T22:25:00.000+01:00

Sweetcorn interplanted with butternut squash.

As you can see I have built a "wall" around them to keep the water in the area

These are baby sweetcorn which can be planted in rows, again within a "wall" to conserve water

The canes are ready for the dwarf french beans

and the first lot of beans are put out on the plot

Inside the Greenhouse the 3 lots of 3 varieties of Tomatoes have been potted on

Back outside on the plot - a last minute "gift" of Primo Cabbages - i found a space next to the baby sweetcorn and Junior's plot for them to go in (running out of space)

My brave decision - to plant out the 3 lots of 3 varieties of Tomatoes - The yellow you can see are yellow pots that I have sunk into the ground by each plant to conserve water.

To the left of the picture are my courgettes & marrows - all under cloches and all "walled"

I spend 90% of my time at the allotment, watering my plot and little else these days as we haven't had rain for over 2 months now!

Phew!

Earthing up!

2011-05-18T11:11:00.000+01:00

Yes I spent the morning earthing up all 8 rows of my main crop potatoes on plot 121. As I earthed up, I also weeded as this was a big downfall for me last year - I just left all the weeds in and they pretty much took over, so by the time I came to digging up my little golden globes of loveliness, I had a war with weeds too - so this year I am NOT making that mistake!

Pictures from my Greenhouse and plot 144....

2011-05-12T21:01:00.000+01:00

Tomatoes - 3 varieties - Money Maker, Cherry & Roma

Cucino - baby cucumbers

Sweet Peppers & Chilli's

Sweetcorn

Beetroot

Baby Sweetcorn

Leeks in individual toilet rolls (just in case you were wondering)

Courgettes

Salad leaves in an old wooden wine box

Carrots - could these be my first ever crop?

Cos Lettuce

Butternut Squash

Broad Beans (on Junior's plot)

Peas

Cos Lettuce

Parsnips

Spinach

Cauliflowers (forward) Cabbages & Pak Choi to rear

Onions (right) & Broad Beans

Peas

1st Early Potatoes

Onions & Garlic (over wintering)

Spring Onions & Broad Beans

Runner Beans

& finally Strawberries!

Another visit to the greenhouse .......

2011-05-07T15:01:00.000+01:00

These are Baby Sweetcorns - you know the ones you find in Chinese Stir Fries? I haven't grown them before so it will be interesting to see what happens. Not only have they been in the greenhouse, but I was advised by the writing on the seed packet to put a cloche over them, and this is what the result is so far!

Yesterday I found one carrot seed germinating, but today there were mor than a dozen in the hessian sack that I have bought especially for the reason of growing carrots, as I have had no luck with them at all outside!

These are the Sweet Peppers & Chilli's (on the right) and the leeks in toilet rolls on the left

Here are the "normal" sweetcorn - I am not sure whether I should block plant them or put them in a row again? I did one of each last year and under the block I put in butternut squash which worked well, so I might try that again.

Now compared to yesterday I am really impressed witht he progress of the Butternut Squash plants - amazing how much they grow in one night!

Strawberry & Seedlings!

2011-05-06T21:23:00.000+01:00

It was such an exciting day today as I popped in to water the plants in the greenhouse, as I saw lots of germination going on! It's all thanks to this nice warm weather we are having....

Butternut Squash

Cucumbers

Cucino

Carrots (it's the little green thing to the left of the picture)

Marigolds

& a Strawberry!!

I had a plan!

2011-05-01T18:30:00.000+01:00

And that plan was to find Junior a job or two to do, so that I could get stuck into thining out the parsnips, and even transplanting a few.....

The row went a little wonky but nothing that can't be gently coaxed into place next time

I also got the row of spinach ship shape

And whilst I was doing all of this, I got Junior to water his plot and my triangle of peas + I had the brainwave of getting him to collect some woodchip from further down the site, trolly it (in the bike trolly) back to plot 144 and distribute it over the exisiting wood chip - I didn't really need any more put down, but it kept him busy and he enjoyed it so much that he asked if we can do it all over again tomorrow!!

Here he is in action!

Lack of rain.....

2011-04-30T20:04:00.000+01:00

....meant lots of watering today and with a dribble coming from the hose it was going to be a long hard slog, but I managed to water all that was planted in the plot.

However I did have my son Junior with me, so I had to make sure that he had lots to do too, so after he watererd his plot, I asked him to water my triangle of peas, then I sent him to the shop a few times asking for prices of canes etc. so he was back and forth and he seemed very content.

Watering the Broad Beans (2nd planting)

The Runner Beans are doing well

Junior helping to even out the new heap of grass thrown on the compost

Junior also helped me to erect a wire fence in between the row (not the triangle) of peas as they were getting very big and in fear of getting blown over now!!

I did want to attempt some weeding but the ground is TOO hard! well that's my excuse anyway!!

For Kate & William's Big Day!

2011-04-28T14:06:00.000+01:00

Beans!

2011-04-26T19:30:00.000+01:00

Yes, today was BEANS day - runner beans and yes, you've guessed it - more runner beans.

With the help of the wigwam thingys on 8ft canes I managed to site all 3 and plant all of the runner beans at the top raised bed - so the blooms will look rather spendid as people enter through our gate!

And here are the last of the broad beans in Raised bed 2.

A little bit of weeding....

2011-04-23T12:51:00.000+01:00

Yes, I weeded my cauliflowers & cabbages - I built a triangular cage from what was left over of the Build A Ball equipment as the snow damaged a lot of it, but I am pleased with the end result! Perfect for what's in there now and the addition of a few pak choi at a later stage. I am not going to do Brussels or Broccoli this year you see, so I don't need a tall contraption.

As you can see I got weeding in between the onion, all along the broad beans and down, back & in between on 2 rows of peas. It all looks SO much smarter now and I am really pleased with my achievements today, considering I had Junior with me.

My greenhouse is "heaving". I had a good POT clearout yesterday, which gave me some space & I also brought home some of the seedling trays that I have been taking down there from the utility room. This allowed me space for my 18 tomato plants - 6 of each, Roma, MoneyMaker & cherry, all of which have now outgrown my coldframe in the back garden!

I will take pictures of the green house tomorrow as I have lots going on in there but didn't have the time to photograph today.

Allotment Threat - Act Now!

2011-04-19T09:36:00.000+01:00

Allotment Threat – Act Now!

Allotments could be facing a major problem. The government has decided to undertake a “Review of statutory duties” with the aim of reducing the burden on local authorities. I think most of us would agree a good idea in theory – especially if it brings the council tax down.

However they considering removing the statutory duty to provide sufficient number of allotments for people in the area who want one. This would have the effect of putting all allotments under threat!

Act Now

There is a consultation process but it closes on 25th April 2011 so you need to act now and let the politicians know that allotments are important and we should be protected.

You can email your comments to: burdens@communities.gsi.gov.uk or write to them on paper

Review of Statutory Burdens Team

Department for Communities and Local Government

3/H6 Eland House

Bressenden Place

London SW1E 5DU

You should also write to your MP – there’s a great site to help you here: WriteToThem

Look at the Government’s web page on “Review of statutory duties placed on local government“. Then fill in the “Statutory duties webform” which is in the top right-hand corner. The webform is a bit confusing, so here are some model answers which you can use.

Please act now!

There is more information on the NSALG web site and thanks to the Hollin Lane Allotments web site for their informative posting and model answers and to Carole Ware and James Driscoll for their emails on this.

Peas and digging holes!

2011-04-09T19:24:00.000+01:00

Progress at the allotment is always very slow when Junior is there with me, but I had a plan! I asked Junior to make sure that his broad beans and strawberry plants were very well watered, due to the last few days and of course the current day of hot weather.

He had brought some pea seeds to plant, he got a packet of peas in a birthday card, so I told him that he had to water the ground well in preparation - this meant several trips to and from the water tank with not only his watering can, but some of my small ones too, as I was watering the plants and seedlings in the greenhouse too - the plan was going well.

When it got to "planting" I got a bamboo stick as a straight line marker and showed Junior what to do - the rest is history - he did his interpretation of what I had showed him and planted away.

This kept him busy for at least half an hour, which left me free to get on with my peas that had been started off in the greenhouse and were due to be planted out any day now!

Junior then decided that he wanted to dig a hole, so I let him get on with that too! He wanted to dig for marbles but found a 5 pence piece instead!!

I was able to plant about 20 broad beans in my broad bean patch to fill in a few gaps. Sorry I forgot to take photo's of both my achievements today, and I say achievements because that's exactly what they were - I had a plan and it worked today as I was able to get on with a few jobs that I had been needing to get on with.

Yesterday, whilst I had some free time, I sowed:

Sweetcorn
Baby corn (1st attempt so not sure what to expect)
Runner Beans (Lady Di a string less variety) &
Dwarf French Beans

So my greenhouse is looking very "full up" now.

I have 3 varieties of Tomatoes in the cold frame at home - Moneymaker, Roma & Cherry and various chilli's, sweet peppers, Cucino (baby cucumbers) and leeks, all at home on the utility room window sill. It's very tempting to put them out but I must be wary of a late frost, which could still come as it did this time last year, so I may just pot on the Cucino, Chilli & Sweet peppers for now and leave the tomatoes where they are!

I did cheat the other day and bought some Cauliflower & Savoy cabbage plants from the garden centre - with Junior around this year, I am not ready to be totally self productive as it's all so new having him around - maybe next year when I am a little more organised.

So much to do!

A few new pictures from 121 & 144

2011-04-03T18:40:00.000+01:00

I started on plot 121 today - all that was left to do there, as the rest of the plot is now full of potatoes (8 rows of maincrops just in case you need reminding) was to weed the Asparagus bed, which I completed in about 40 minutes. I was very pleased to see a whole little group of Asparagus in all different sizes, waiting to greet me. As this is year 3, I should get a lovely crop this year, as year 3 is the year that you should wait for, until you start to harvest.

Now back to 144 - I noticed that the flowers on the Micro Pond were in full bloom today, but sadly there were no signs of life, so I asked Blossom, from a neighbouring plot, if she had and life in her pond (which is massive) and she was happy to say that she had plenty of little baby frogs that she would be more than happy to share with me, so I took along a mug and scooped up a few, carefully walked them back to 144 and introduced them to their new home.

And here they are - well some of them anyway - it's hard to get a photo of them but you can clearly see that they have settled in well.

plot 144 srags

2011-03-30T13:04:00.000+01:00

Main Crops are finally IN!!!

2011-03-30T08:45:00.000+01:00

4 rows of Desiree and 4 of Cara

What more can I say?

I managed to get finished JUST before the rain came too!

Onions & Strawberries

2011-03-27T15:22:00.000+01:00

Today I took advantage of the weather and put 4 rows of Onion sets in.....

This is how I space them - using my "hand telephone" well actually it's how I space out most things on the plot!

I then just had time to re plant some strawberries, that I lifted from the other plot last year, as I knew that I was going to using the raised bed that they were in, to give to Junior. They did well in the greenhouse over the winter months considering I forgot that they were there and I barely watered them!!

Spinach has made it!!

2011-03-25T17:08:00.000Z

Yes, here it is......

...and just in case you didn't see it in the first picture!

Needless to say I am thrilled

More from 144 (and a little from 121)

2011-03-22T18:59:00.000Z

This IS my allotment neighbour Brian, who's always on hand to help me with something - bless him!

He's just so kind to me and so handy!!

Ok now here's some pictures of plants in my greenhouse

First are my sweetpeas

Here are the Peas (back) Rocket (left) and Cos (right)

Broad Beans

Cos!

Onions and leeks are in (this is the raised bed that Brian was fixing for me as it's bowed

Broad beans outside

Progress has been made!

2011-03-19T18:41:00.000Z

As you can see I harvested a dinner from my plot today - Parsnips, Savoy Cabbages, Leeks and some potatoes that I must have missed last year!

This is a picture of the finished "tidy up" that the lovely Brian has been helping with, well I say helping with, I mean helping Derek with!! Derek got rid of all the brambles and Brian leveled it all off and used the surplus soil for his plot and then woodchipped it for me!!

It's looking rather FAB don't you think?

OK so I do have my own claim to brag about today - I was on plot 121 and I dug it over and weeded with the help (if you can call it that) from Junior who wanted to dig but once he got to it, he said it was "hard work" and kept on wanting to take a break!!! These youngsters have NO staying power do they?

After a cup of tea (for me) and an apple juice for my little helper, we made sute the greenhouse plants and seedlings were watered and we came home!

Sowing the seeds of 2011

2011-03-08T15:38:00.000Z

I finally got to the allotment this morning to sow some seeds, seeds that I have been meaning to plant since last week, but always got sidetracked once down there e.g. tidying up, Juniors raised bed etc. However saying that, I did get sidetracked again this morning for a little while, whilst I wood chipped the path.

This path was getting very slippery due to all the extra people using it, now that more plots are being tended, so action had to be taken, well by me and for the length of my plot anyway. I did ask my neighbour Brian from 143, not the "super Brian" from yesterday, if he would be happy if I did this. He said he wasnh't bothered, so I got on with it, but as I was about to shovel a barrow full of wood chip, the allotment angel appearred, as if from nowhere and helped!

Aren't I a very lucky girl to have "super Brian's" help one day and Angel Derek's the next!

This is the end result - very smart I think and once it's trodden in a little it will be so much better - at least there is a little "grip" under our free now - well for a short distance anyway.

Next job was the sowing. I sowed Beetroot......

A very very long row of Perpetual Spinach......

....and finally some parnsips! To give you an idea - the spinach is the full width of the plot to the left of this picture and the parsnips (3 rows) are about half the width of the plot where you see the 3 white markers below. I still have some parsnips from last year in the ground. I must remember to pull them up and eat them very soon.

Still to sow - Mizuna, Pak Choi, Cucino & Cos Lettuce. To pot on - Sweetpeas and to hopefully see germinate soo - sweet peppers and chilli's!!

Tomorrow is another day!

Junior's Raised Bed

2011-03-07T14:18:00.005Z

It was a beautiful sun shining day today and after the school run (I am getting used to it now) and an hour in the gym, I hot footed it down to the allotment.

With the help of my lotty neighbour - the very kind Brian from 144a, I managed to dig up the raised bed that was previously on plot 121 and housed my strawberries last year and somehow, between us, we walked it from one end of the plot to the other with me at the front and Brian at the rear!

It was bigger than I remembered and made from scaffold boards so it was quite a heavy lump, but I am not a girly girl, despite my petite frame and all 5ft of me, so I just grabbed hold and made it in one, without stopping for a rest, although Brian did kindly offer!

As you can see it's been positioned nice and close to the shed and the greenhouse so that he's at the other end of the plot - more in the middle and away from the gate. It's right next to the Patio area too and I have put planks of wood down the sides so Junior has access all the way around. This will be his "little plot". I will take him to see his "surprise" on the way home from school!

I had to dig up all of Juniors Broad Beans as they were in the prime spot. Only 7 had taken from about 12, so not too bad a crop. I then dug 2 wheelbarrow loads of earth from 121 and managed to get the loads up to plot 144 to fill the raised bed and then I re planted the broad beans Junior had grown.

It didn't look very plentiful, so I dug up my 3 - yes 3 broad beans that I planted in November and added them to Junior's little collection, so he now has 2 rows of 5 broad beans to start him off. After that I had to fork and rake over where my broadbeans had been!

I wouldn't have managed all this back breaking hard work without Brian's help! Thank you Brian.

My intention today was to sow spinach & beetroot and to have a good sort out and going through of my seeds in the envelope marked "March". There is so much to do, so many seeds to sow! I really do have to get stuck in tomorrow when the weather is promised to be nice once more.

The other ongoing project at the moment is the wood chipping of the area by the fence. If you look underneath scarecrow Hilda in the last photo, you will just be able to see that all the old brambles have been dug out and woodchip has gone down. I would like this to happen all the way along so that I have access to plot from the fence side and at least I won't get scratched by the brambles all summer.

More preparation work!

2011-03-04T19:25:00.000Z

It was bitterly cold today, but the sun kept on threatening to come out, so I did the same and went out myself, to the allotment, with the intention of a tidy up and nothing much more than that really, but it was so cold when I arrived, that I locked myself in the greenhouse, out of the wind and ended up sowing a load of peas.....

After a while I braved the cold and re dug over a piece of ground close to the shed & greenhouse - this is where the onions and garlic where last year. I then had a lesson in raking - I needed one as I never ever get my ground level!!

So a couple of hours - including chatting to the boys, or I should really say men, well spent!

More potatoes.....

2011-02-27T11:36:00.000Z

....I went to the allotment today to pick up some seed trays so that I could get some more seedlings started off in the utility room. I went down to the trading hut to say hello when Nigel asked me what potatoes I picked up yesterday, so I told him 3kg of Cara and 1kg of Pentland Javelins.

He then informs me that I have 3kg of Disiree!! Oh do I?? I can't remembered what I ordered way back then.

So they are now home and they have joined the chitting area in the corner of my room.

3kg Desiree

Desiree is the most popular red potato – it’s a main crop, dependable and a good all rounder. This red skinned, yellow-fleshed potato produces heavy crops, even in dry seasons. These have a waxy texture, excellent flavour and are great for baking and lovely mashed, it also stores well too.

Main Crop potatoes such as these can be planted in the south ( UK) during the first half of April; further north by late April - the actual time will depend on weather conditions. These potatoes should be planted in rows allowing about 30cm between tubers, and 75cm between rows.These potatoes can also be grown in a potato barrel or a patio potato planter. Remember, these give a heavier crop than the Earlies.

Chit & Shed

2011-02-26T11:57:00.001Z

Yes that was Chit as a title and not any other word!!

YESTERDAY: Firstly let me mention my shed - basically, due to the roof felt not having been pinned back properly when it was first put up in March 2009, my fault entirely, the rain fell off the roof felt, went against the wood and rotted the floor. My very kind friend from the plot next door - Brian 144a - offered to change it for me and that he did!! I supplied the chipboard and he did the work! When I went down there yesterday it had all been done, so whilst I spent a few hours giving the contents of the shed a good sort out, Junior weeded his broad beans and we spent 2 hours happily doing what needed to be done!

TODAY: I braved the rain and made it to the allotment shop with my son in toe. I needed to get down there for my potatoes but he didn't have a choice. Then again neither did I when I was 8 - where my parents went so did I and I can tell you, I never went to anywhere as exciting as an allotment - I think the most exciting place I ever got to go was the church or something to do with it!! Anyway I whiter on .....

It was a slippy road once we went through the allotment gates - but we made it in the lashing rain to the shop and I bought some Cucino seeds (little cucumbers) Runner Bean seeds (Lady Di - Junior says he doesn't like runner beans but he's never tasted allotment ones) and some compost which will be very kindly delivered to my allotment greenhouse!

Then I picked up my Potatoes:

1kg of Pentland Javelin

These first early Pentland Javelin seed potatoes have white, waxy flesh and a creamy texture making them an ideal potato for boiling or in salads. These are slightly later than other first earlies, but grow well in all soil types and have good all-round disease resistance, especially golden eelworm.

Earlies are less likely to encounter pest problems as they are lifted so much earlier in the year. These can be planted in the south ( UK) mid March; further north by late March / early April.The actual time will depend on weather conditions. First early potatoes should be planted in rows allowing about 30cm between tubers, and 60cm between rows.

3kg Cara

Late Maincrop.

Round/oval pinkish-red eyed tubers with soft moist flesh. Particularly good baker. Withstands drought. Very disease resistant, including golden eelworm and blight. The allotment favourite.

I haven't gone as mad this year as I did last year - see http://alithefrog.blogspot.com/2010/02/potatoes-spuds-tatties-are-chitting-in.html as I really don't know what time scales I have on my hands this year with an 8 year old to entertain during the school holidays, so I am downsizing everything including the potatoes, although I may pick up a kilo of Roosters as they are good roasters.

My one dilemma this year is where to chit! Yes, last year, I chitted in the bathroom but this year Junior uses this bathroom including the bath on a daily basis, so I have to find another room. The guest bedroom will be too cold as the heating is off in there, so the only other place is here in my hobbies room, yes I have potatoes all over the floor!!!

Now I am never far from my allotment!

2011-02-23T19:12:00.000Z

First I have to share my excitement, yes, it's my first seedling spotting!!

Its one of the sweet peas, planted on the 15th, so only just over a week old

And here are a few more in the pot next door

And finally, saving the best till last, my lovely Mother in Law made me this mini allotment in a cigar box, yes a cigar box, that I can keep on my windowsill by my computer, so when I can't get to the allotment, I can look at my mini lotty and daydream!

Sowing the seeds of 2011......

2011-02-15T12:13:00.000Z

...Yes its that time of year again - Hooray!! I was very excited that the weather had clouded over and it had been forecast to rain for most of the day today - the reason for this joy of the news of bad weather you ask? Simples - it means that I have a jolly good reason to stay indoors and sow some seeds to get the Allotment 2011 season off to a good start.

So in preparation, I make sure that I have all that I need

and organise the space I have to work in - which isn't very big!

Here there are 6 varieties of Sweet Peas, 3 Tomato (Cherry, Moneymaker & Roma) and some Sweet peppers

I need to get some Pea, Broadbean & herb seeds in. I did sow some Coriander and some Basil Minette, but I was surprised that I didn't have more herb seeds from last year. One herb that I do not need to grow is Chives, as I have noticed that it's popping up in the pot that it was growing in last year.

I planted 4 seeds to a pot. If the all come up then I am a lucky girl, if only one or two work out then I will still have plenty.

More Digging, weeding, tea drinking.....

2011-02-08T13:17:00.000Z

....tidying up, chatting, raking and planning!

It is a beautifully sunny day today. After this morning's frost, I put layers on before braving the allotment this morning, but they soon came off and got hung up on my shed door. After a few minutes digging I was down to a long sleeved tea shirt! It was lovely in the sun, just lovely!

I dug and weeded the old swede and beetroot bed and tidied up all the leaves that had accumulated there over the winter and I re dug and raked last years onion bed too. Both these pictures show a little of the work done today, as I did continue to dig just to the other side of the leeks that you can see.

It was hard to take pictures in the bright sunshine! I also had a go at weeding the back area where the scarecrows are but it's full of brambles and needs some heavy duty work there. Derek our Allotment Angel has kindly offered to come along with his mattock and give it a good "seeing too" for me this year which will be great as that will really tidy up the plot for good.

So another good 2 hours spent there this morning. My only problem today was changing the gas cylinder on the camping stove. You need massive hands and some brut force to extract the old cylinder and then put the new one back in place, but I got there in the end!! (I have small hands and the strength of a sparrow)

My First Day on the Allotment 2011

2011-02-07T13:10:00.000Z

I made it to the allotment this morning, despite the raging wind! I was surprised to see Mavis digging away, and further down Derek, so as that was my plan, I thought I best get on with it.

First I removed the old brassica stems, chopped them up with the spade and composted them. Then I dug over & weeded that area....

...gosh that was hard work but very enjoyable. You forget what a good hard dig is like don't you, especially as my last dig was around October 2010. So after a good hour of digging over & weeding the old Brassica bed, I then moved on to something a little easier.....

Bed one - currently empty apart from a few welsh onions at the far end was weeded....

Bed two - some strawberries to the front and some spring onions to the rear was weeded.....

And finally the Onions and Garlic were weeded using the good old Onion hoe.

So not a bad hour and a half spent there today in the wind!

Snow, snow and more snow

2010-12-26T10:26:00.000Z

I am so glad I dug up my parsnips when I did!!

Parsnips

2010-12-16T10:32:00.000Z

Yes, I braved it back to the allotment plot 144 and dug up a few parsnips for Christmas Day. As advised by the kind lady from Green Lane Allotments, as long as I left them muddy they will store well, so I have put them in this old mushroom crate and into the store room by the garage.

So thank you GLA for your sound advice - with another cold snap predicted I would have a hard job digging them out of solid icy ground!!

If I don't blog again *MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR* to you all.

First Broad Beans

2010-12-15T11:53:00.000Z

Yes, I have managed to walk to the allotment today in -2 degrees, so my smile is currently frozen to my face. I had to get my kitchen scraps down there, or they would start to pile up and I would have to get the bike trailer out to get them there soon!

Anyway since the 2ft of snow that we had I am sad to report that my Brassica Cage (yes, your guess is as good as mine - remember that? it's gone. The snow crushed it so I went last week to salvage what I could of what was left. Some of the rods were totally snapped and others badly bent under the strain of the weight!!

This means that I have now exposed my Brussel Sprouts to the eliments and the wildlife, so the thought of eating home grown sprouts for Xmas this year may not happen after all. I will probably get a few savoy cabbages and if we don't get a white Xmas I might be able to did some parsnips up - although I might just go and do this tomorrow and just bung them in the freezer??

Anyway the good news is that Junior's Broad Beans have sprung to life........

Sow and Extra Row and Help Others in Need

2010-11-21T09:05:00.000Z

I would like to spread the word - please feel free to pass this GREAT idea on.

This is from a fellow Allotmenteer and Twitter from Ireland.

http://greensideupveg.blogspot.com/2010/11/sow-extra-row-and-help-others-in-need.html

My Little Helper - planting Broad Beans

2010-11-02T06:50:00.001Z

These pictures speak for themselves really. Junior prepared a little bed by raking it over and weeding it.

He then planted some Broad Beands

Making sure they were all pushed in properly

He even wrote a marker on an old used one that we cleaned up, as we had a chat about using lots of recycled things for the tasks in Allotment world.

And then in true allotment style, got chatting to our neighbour!

The news you've all been waiting for - Sweet Potatoes on plot 144!!

2010-10-11T17:22:00.000+01:00

It was with GREAT excitement that I too, my spade from my allotment shed and walked from said shed to the Sweet Potato Suite!

In went the spade and out came,

out came,

so rather incey, wincey, teeny, weeny, baby but perfectly formed

SWEET POTATOES !

Yes they were rather small, and for all the effort that I put into growing them they did look rather dissapointing, however, they were lovely, roasted alongside a nice juicy chicken!

MMMMmmmmm

If I do try them again next year I may just try old compost bag in the greenhouse as I think they need the heat to produce a bigger yield.

Potatoes and Piccalilli

2010-09-28T10:00:00.000+01:00

I am on plot 121 here and as you can see my potatoes are REALLY full of overgrowth which includes weeds, brambles & bindweeds from the plot next door. You can see just behind my bike trailer that there is a mound. Well that mound is actually a compost bin from the next plot that is covered in brambles and bind weed, so that's where it's all come from!

I managed, on my first day back from sickness, to dig out 2 rows of Cara Potatoes.

This is them coming out of the ground. Thats the most exciting bit - digging them out!!

I then put them into a large tray and into the greenhouse to dry out as it's still damp out there!

These are my 2 marrows which I am entering into the Twitter Marrow Competition

As I was digging up potatoes, I dug up a couple of parsnips too, as we were having roast chicken - Mmmm - they were delicious!

This is my harvest (mid illness) which I decided looked like a good Piccalilli crop!

So I chopped it all up

Add some Celery from the fridge

And hey presto - Piccalilli will be ready in December

Return from Holiday, Tomato Glut & Gastroenteritis!

2010-09-21T15:41:00.000+01:00

Where do I start? From the begining I suppose would be a good place.

OK, so I return from Marrakech on Wednesday, but had a very dodgy tummy, so I didn't make it down to the allotment until the Thursday & when I got there, I found this lot!

Brian from 144a helped me to pick them all as I was rather "delicate!"

I spent the next couple of days making batches of Tomato Sauce -
The Fiorentino tomatoes made tomato & aubergine sauce and the Roma tomatoes were turned into tomato & courgette sauce - I just used what I had to hand at the allotment!

Unfortunately my tummy bug turned out to be a little more serious than first expected. I was so ill by Sunday morning that I phoned NHS direct. They were obviously concerned as they got the "on duty" doctor to call me, who in turn sent another doctor round to my home to see me. He then wrote a letter and told me to go to the hospital as soon as I could, so I was there within the hour. I was put on a drip (one of 6) and was kept in. The good news is that I am now home (and itching to get to the allotment, but I am not allowed until next Monday)

The foxes at the hospital, sunbathing!

I am proud to present......

2010-09-17T12:19:00.000+01:00

My certificates from the London Borough of Sutton

Sutton in Bloom 2010 &

From London in Bloom 2010

The accompanying letter reads:

"Thank you once again for entering this year's competition which continues to be an excellent way to encourage residents, businesses and schools to improve the appearance of the Borough.

I am pleased to say that you have been awarded a Certificate of Excellence by the London in Bloom judges, as they feel that you have made a significant contribution to gardening and the floral enhancement of the Borough this year.

Your support of the competition is much appreciated, and I hope that you will continue to enter the competition in year to come. "

I must just add that I am THRILLED to have these lovely certificates which I will frame and put up on my wall. I will also copy them, laminate and pin to the shed door at the allotment !!

Today's Harvest & the FROG!!

2010-08-31T17:57:00.000+01:00

Today's visit was mainly to de - erect the Sweet Potato Suite as the wind had blown it over yet again, so with the help of a pair of scissors to cut through all the many, many cable ties that were supposed to be holding it all firmly in place, I got to work, snipping here and snipping away there. I managed to salvage the green plastic which formed the main body of the polytunnel, but the plastic used for both ends was really flimsy and just got torn to ribbons, so in the recycle bin it went.

I then set about harvesting the sweetcorn - the ones that I grew in a block. There were only about 4 left so I put the corns to one side and pulled out and composted all 12 stems.

Unfortunately the branch holding the pears on the pear tree (well it wouldn't be an apple tree now would it) had completely broken off under the strain so I picked off all the pears to bring home and hopefully ripen up a little. I also harvested som salad leaves, a couple of small leeks which looked too good to resisit and my Sweet Pepper from the Greenhouse - all to be used (not the pears) for tonights dinner. Not too sure what I am going to do with them yet, but I have some Chicken Breasts, so possible bake them with the leeks, some tomatoes & the pepper in the oven, serve with salad and some 1st Early (pentland javelin) potatoes - cheap dinner!!

Now, if you remember, I reported a FROG sighting in my GH not so long ago, see http://alithefrog.blogspot.com/2010/07/fruits-frogs-flying-ants.html and lucky for me he or indeed she showed up again today!! I don't know if it is the same one but the markings do look similar. Lets hope he or she is there to stay a little longer.

More Tomatoes, Chilli's, Hangings & a good tidy up

2010-08-29T10:42:00.000+01:00

I had a bit of time on my hands today (Saturday) so I decided that after a few household chores, I would spend some "proper" time at the allotment. I desperately needed to get rid of the onions that have been drying in the Greenhouse, give the said Greenhouse a jolly good tidy up and re- arrange and stuff like that.

This was my first "sighting" when opening the GH door - and that's just one of them!

Another ripe Fiorentino tomato ready to pick

And this is the result of more pickings from the GH and outside. Outside, there are so many Roma, Cherry & Fiorentino tomatoes still to ripen - lets hope they do before the blight comes.

These are the "hangings" - I actually had another lot but I gave one away to a fellow allotment holder that didn't have such a successful crop.

She was very reluctant to take them but I told her of my 5 strings of the over wintering onions currently hanging in my store room at home and I convinced her that she will have some crop more successful than mine so we can swap then!

Now for the big GH tidy up - as you can see the onions are well and truly gone! I inspected all the tomato plants and if they didn't have anything much left on them I composted them.

This means that I can now actually walk into my GH with more ease and I have re located the Sweet Peppers in their growbag from the middle of the floor to the very end by the vents as in this picture to the right.

As you can see, the Sweet Peppers are looking really good. I have 3 Sweet Pepper plants outside too, but they are not doing so well - alot smaller but they will catch up.

And now for my Chilli Plants - next year I won't be going so mad on the quantity of Chilli Plants I grow - I have far too many for only 2 people to consume. I might ask the local curry house if they will do me a swap - a dozen chilli's for a chicken madras - it's worth a try!

This is one of several aubergines thriving in the GH - sorry about the picture - it's sideways and not your vision gone funny!

And last but not least is my favourite Sweet Pepper - my only one that's turning a slight shade of red.

Tomatoes, Onion & a plum thief to report!

2010-08-27T08:45:00.000+01:00

Another load of Tomatoes picked - Now having a little soak and wash before being made it a sauce.

Some of the onions drying out in the Greenhouse.....

But I need the space in there to dig up and dry off the Potates (all 7 rows), so I had to make a start on stringing the onions up

So a few nails strategically placed in the shed

and hey presto, I have already managed 3 onion strings!

And yes, over the weekend, some really awful person has decided that it's ok to help themselves to my plums, my lovely plums that were almost ready before the weekend, as I had tried one myself on Thursday. I decided that a few more days on the tree would help them to ripen that little bit more, and make them taste a little sweeter, but after a weekend away in York and upon my immediate return on Tuesday, they were all gone.

The detective work will have to start!!

August: confessions and harvesting....

2010-08-10T08:21:00.000+01:00

My confession is that I do feel guiltly that I haven't updated my Allotment Blog for what seems like ages, but I do have a very very good reason. You see, me and Hubby have been on the road to "Adoption" since October 2008. We did all the required course and got "Approved" in September 2009. Since then we have been searching for a little boy to come and share our lives. I say little - 5 years old plus. Anyway, it's finally happened and instead of the normal "9months" you would have to prepare if you gave birth naturally or "3months" which is the norm in adoption, we are getting 6 weeks! so now you can understand my slight loss of computer time as we have been busy preparing a room for Junior as he will be here mid Sept!!

Anyway, back to Plot 144:

I couldn't resist this picture - reminded me of someone wearing a little hat!

This was a very juicy "Fiorentino" tomato - Mmmmmm

One of my chilli's is going red!

Another Fiorentino in the greenhouse ready for picking!

The same chilli getting redder!

Oh look at the sweet peppers - nearly ready and way ahead of the ones outside!

And finally, my water butt needed brightening up so I bought so wheelie bin stickers from the Pound Shop and now its very SPRING like!!

We have been eating lots of produce from the allotment including: Lettuce, tomatoes, beetroot, courgettes, potatoes, cucumbers & khol rhabi! I have been planning my recipes around my produce rather than the normal way of findig a recipe book and going off to the supermarket for ingredients! Last night I made Potato & courgette gratin which was a massive hit! Mmmmmmm

Frogs!

2010-07-27T14:11:00.000+01:00

As you know I have a micro pond (a washing up bowl) at plot 144.

It has had tadpoles in it for a few months now.

To my delight I spotted this little fella there this morning!

He let me pick him up and happily sat on my finger for a long time

Before I put him back into the micro pond for a swim

Then Brian on plot 144a called me over as he had just discovered this big

Frog on his plot!

Fruits, Frogs & Flying Ants!!

2010-07-20T11:36:00.000+01:00

Well what a week this has been!

Firstly I will start off with the Fruit Trees, as I haven't blogged about them much lately.

Above is the Apple,

below is the pear and

this is the Plum (just in case you hadn't guessed already!)

They all seem to be doing well and their fruits are swelling nicely.

Now for the horrible bit.

I decided that I needed more room in the Greenhouse, so I put one of my aubergine plants out to play in the Sweet Potato Suite as I believe it will have a similar enviroment to the Greenhouse one and it won't distrub the Sweet Potatoes, which as you can see are doing very well.

Unfortunately, shortly afterwards, a fellow allotmenteer noticed that I had a Flying Ant invasion!

There were everywhere!

However the next day (today) they are nowhere to be seen!!

I harvested my 1st Earlies earlier on in the week (Pentland Javelin) and after sitting on the shed floor for a day or two, to protect them from the rain, they came home, accompanied by 2 lovely looking courgettes.

My neighbours Artichoke had flowered so I had to take a picture of it's splendor.

And this little chap, I rescued from being entangled in a courgette flower.

And finally, when I watered the sweet peppers in the greenhouse today I spotted this Frog.

I am informed on the highest authority (aka AllotmentMate on Twitter) that it is indeed a Frog and not a Toad.

I am very lucky to have a resident Frog in my greenhouse and I hope he stays there for some time!

Caithness Rare Breeds - Raffle Tickets

2010-07-16T22:55:00.000+01:00

Please support Caithness Rare Breeds - they have a great Raffle and tickets are only a pound - yes £1 each!! Take a look at least - there are some great prizes!!

To buy a Raffle Ticket - please click here

This is Sean &

this is Thompson

both these lambs were rescued (along with many many others) by

Caithness Rare Breeds

and will live happily there for the rest of their lives

Wind Damage and other goings on

2010-07-16T14:40:00.000+01:00

This was a very sad sight to behold when I arrived at the plot this morning. I very nearly cried, however I quickly pulled myself together, got some cable ties and duck tape from the shed and repaired my Sweet Potato Suite as best I could. Fortunately the sweet potatoes don't seem to be any worse off for it.

The next damage was to the Gherkin Wigwam - it had completely fallen over, so Brian from the next plot down (144a) helped me to untangle the string that the gherkins were growing up and advised to leave the bamboo canes out for now until the winds died down. In the meantime Mr Chilli Head the wind sock is now in the shed for fear of him flying half way across the county!

More damage was to the tomato support canes both here in raised bed#1 and to the canes supporting the tomatoes mid plot. Again it was the cable ties to the rescue and some more canes for extra support as the winds are still high today. Fortunately I didn't have any "snapped" tomato plants - phew!

I then made a cuppa and after a chat with Brian whilst we drank our tea, I got to work on lifting the last of the Earlies. Due to the small, quick but heavy downpours we were having off and on, I put the spuds on the floor of the shed to dry out.

Not as many as I was hoping for but without the rain this year, this is better than nothing and they haven't suffered with rust either.

In thier place, I planted 2 rows of leeks - a little late in the year, but it worked well for me last year.

So I got my dibber out and got dibbing and dropped the leeks in, and then watered them in afterwards, as the ground is still dry once you getting digging, despite the amount of rain we have had in recent days.

And finally, I put 14 cabbage plants in the remaining potato space - 7 Greyhounds and 7 Savoys, covered them with netting and watered them in.

A few hours well spent today.

Green Tomato, Red Tomato!

2010-07-14T17:22:00.001+01:00

Yes, my tomatoes are starting to ripen & the little cherry toms are getting redder by the day!

Both inside the greenhouse and outside on the plot!

As you can see the chilli plants are also doing well - all four of them

And I even have a sweet pepper growing too!

Now I did have to do a bit of re- arranging in the Greenhouse as some of the plants were going bananas, so to speak! The Aubergines which were under the bench, and hitting the top, had to be lifted and put on the bench itself. I just hope it doesn't collapse under the strain.

And the melons that were on the bench are now both on the floor and they are spreading their arms out like wildfire. I am pleased to report that I do have some baby, baby melons (about the size of a large pea) in situ so watch this space!

And finally, as you already know, I came 4th in Sutton In Bloom 2010. My friend and fellow blogger - see
Andrew Stanley (pictured below) and kindly invited me to Roundshaw Allotments to see their site and his plots, which were fantastic. Andrew came 2nd in the same competition & well done to him. I had a lovely morning, with a nice cup of coffee and a good old chin wag about all things allotment! Thank you Andrew.

More from 144....

2010-07-11T11:25:00.000+01:00

I wasn't planning a long visit to the allotment today, especially after all the hours I put in during the week, but on arrival, the greenhouse needed watering, the tomato canes needed securing and the polytunnel aka The Sweet Potato Suite needed some minor repairs.

On arrival, I watered the greenhouse and fed the tomatoes inside and out with Tomorite. I can never remember which day I last fed the on, but I know it wasn't yesterday or Friday, so I added the correct dosage and watered away!

One of my first jobs was to secures some of the tomato canes together, so with a few bamboo canes and some cable ties, I got this in hand.

I then made repairs to the polytunnel with some duck tape, my teeth, a pair of scissors and some more cable ties!

I then harvested some french beans, baby cucumbers & beetroots, along with some strawberries that only made it as far as my mouth, so sorry for not sharing!

To my surprise and huge delight, I discovered that one of the cherry tomatoes had a slighly "red" tinge to it! How exciting. I hope that this means that a lot more follow and I have a big basket of cherry tomatoes to take home very soon. Mmmmm.

Onions & Garlic have finished sunbathing!

2010-07-10T16:29:00.000+01:00

After a week of basking in the sun on plot 121, my garlic and onions were ready to bring home, so I took my trusty bike trailer with me as I knew that I wouldn't be able to carry 20 plastic bags of them back!

A few of the onions still need some drying out, but I took these back anyway and they are now drying in the back garden.

As you can see, by the time I lifted the garlic into the trailer there was room for little else!

Once home the onions were strung up & will hand in the sun for a day.

~~~~~~~~~

I did try to plait the garlic but after a few dozen failed attempts and getting frustrated in the 30 degree heat I strung them up in the same fashion as the onions!

I also have about 2 dozen Onion & Garlic bulbs that were not suitable for stringing up,so these were trimmed and put in bowl in the kitchen, to be used first and handy for cooking!

Sutton In Bloom 2010

2010-07-09T16:05:00.000+01:00

I bravely entered for the first time, the Sutton in Bloom 2010 competition this year.

I am very proud to announce that I came 4th out of 15 entries.

Judges comments were ‘a terrific effort. Good use of all the space. Very well done. Good composting’.

Cafedirects Sow Your Own

2010-06-30T14:16:00.000+01:00

Cafédirect’s Sow Your Own campaign aims to inspire even garden starved urbanites to grow their own great tasting food anywhere and everywhere this summer. A host of green-fingered celebrities – from Stella McCartney to Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall – have donated a range of everyday items which instant organic garden experts Rocket Gardens have used to create greenprints for bite sized indoor gardens made from everyday objects from handbags to mixing bowls.

Over the coming weeks, we’ll be giving you plenty of practical growing tips, as well as some mouth watering recipes from some well known foodies.

We’ll send out free seeds and tips to get you growing and there’s even a prize for the most imaginative transformation of an everyday object into a micro vegetable patch.

http://sowyourown.net/the-project/

Here's the link to take you to their site

My Patio is finished!

2010-06-29T20:52:00.000+01:00

Thanks to my lovely husband, who took time out to come to the allotment and put in some sweat building hard work in the heat, my patio is finished!

Due to the unlevel and rock hard ground laying more slabs was nearly impossible, so I came up with the idea of putting down some wood chips which we (SRAGS members) can get for free by the Allotment gate as big piles of the stuff are dumped there by the council, so just bag it up or fill your wheelbarrow and take it away!

I love the combination of the patio slabs AND the wood chippings. The wood chips have hidden up all the unsightly little nooks and crannies and I even had enough to put some between the shed and the greenhouse to tidy that up as well!

I am so pleased with the end result, so a big thank you to my lovely husband for all his hard work today!

My half of plot 121

2010-06-29T11:19:00.000+01:00

Please ignore my reference to plot 122 - it is in fact plot 121!! It was 6am in the morning and I had just finished watering plot 144 which too me an hour so an early morning start for me today!

Allotment Plot 144 Take #2

2010-06-28T20:09:00.000+01:00

This is a better video that the first one, hence Take#2!!

My 1st Video!!

2010-06-28T08:43:00.000+01:00

Mr Chilli Head

2010-06-22T17:46:00.000+01:00

This is Mr Chilli Head - my new windsock.

Step by Step - Bed by Bed - A walk along my Plot

2010-06-18T18:04:00.000+01:00

This bed is to the back right as you come out of the shed or greenhouse - It has Swede, Spinach & Beetroot

Directly in front of the greenhouse are Parsnips, Peas and Radishes

Next to the peas are the Onions and Carrots

And next to the Onions and Carrots are a row of Leeks

The potatoes come next, Earlies followed by Desiree & Cara's

Next to the potatoes to the front are the Cucumbers which I hope will climb up and unwanted metal sweetpea column, so I thought I would make good use of it, with a row (not block) of Sweetcorn behind

Alongside the sweetcorn row is a row of Cherry & Roma Tomatoes which are accompanied by some French Marigolds and to the left again are some Fiorentino Tomatoes

Along the back you will find another row of peas and some Primo Cabbages & Kohl Rabi which are under the netting tunnel - To the right and left of Tatty the Scarecrow (this also applies to Hilda) are some Vines which I hope to get some grapes off, and you may also notice some red & yellow dahlias that I planted to liven up the bit of "waste ground" against the fence.

To the left of the Fiorentino Tomatoes are 3 Californian Sweet Peppers which are under cloches for the warmth & some Lettuces which are being protected from slugs with the "rings"

Next is a row of Dwarf French Beans

And in front of the French Beans is the Sweetcorn which is planted in a block, interplanted with Butternut Squash

Next is the "Brassica Bed - your guess is as good as mine" but I can see signs of Cauliflowers and Broccoli already. In front of the Brassica Bed are two Cucino (mini) cucumbers

Next is my row of mini fruit trees - Apple, Plum & Pear - these are interplanted with Courgette plants and to the very back of this row is The Pond

Bed 3 is home to Broad Beans #3 & some of last years leeks which are still tasting good

In front of the leeks are 3 Courgette plants

And in front of the Courgettes is the Gherkin WigWam which I have circled with Cos Lettuces - some of which are under pop bottle cloches to see the difference between cloche grown and non cloche grown.

The rear of Bed 2 is home to Cut and Come again Lettuce, Spring Onions, Mizuna & Rocket & in front of this is the Sweet Potato Suite

Bed 1 which housed the first planting of Broad Beans (they are now either eaten or in the freezer) is now home to some more Fiorentino Tomatoes,

And a later sowing of Dwarf French Beans

To the front of Bed 1 is the 2nd sowing of Broad Beans & you will notice the

Dwarf Sunflowers making the entrance to the plot (as this is where our side gate is) look pretty

And last but not least - in the middle of my plot, I have sown

PLOT 144 in mustard cress seeds which will look great in a couple of days!

Busy Bees & Sunflowers

2010-06-16T13:26:00.000+01:00

I planted some Dwarf Sunflowers to "pretty" up the plot a little

Within 5 minutes of putting them in, I had a little visitor who was quite happy for the next 10 minutes or so.

I pulled out what was left of the 1st batch of Broad Beans and raked it all over - ready for a few more tomato plants, so I can free up a little more space in my greenhouse

I then planted some more cos lettuces around the Gherkin Wigwam so I now have a Cos Circle!

Sweet potato news - Well as you can see most of them are ok, apart from the one to the front right - it's lost all it's leaves, but still has a nice healthy stem!

More surprises & some new planting out!

2010-06-15T07:40:00.000+01:00

I found my 1st courgette on plot 144 yesterday

I also found my 1st tomato in the greenhouse!!

I planted out some Gherkins (I love them pickled)

I also got around to finding a small free space for some cos lettuces! I have put fizzy pop bottles over these to act as mini cloches, as the temperatures at night are still not that fantastic!

And due to the fast occuring lack of space, I put 3 courgette plants in between the fruit trees The wood wigwams are purely there to remind me not to step on them!! They do however look a little like cucumbers at the moment but who cares!

And finally, I have said time and time again that I don't lke to wear gardening gloves, well this is what happens after the first 10 minutes at the plot! oh er!!

Onions, Gnomes, Broad Beans & more.....

2010-06-10T11:46:00.000+01:00

The Onions on plot 121 are coming along very nicely

Potty the Gnome is happily standing guard outside my shed & greenhouse.

Even my carrots are doing well this year - I have planted these in between onions to deter carrot root fly, or to try to at least!

And I have a baby Cucino Cucumber that's nearly ready to munch on!

The courgettes are coming along

And the Broad Beans are ready for picking

So that's exactly what I did! Broad Bean and Bacon Risotto tonight! Mmmmm

Plot update....

2010-06-05T12:24:00.000+01:00

My Broad Beans are nearly ready - I feel a Broad Bean and Bacon Risotto coming soon!

I managed to get all the plants of the staging to the right of the Greenhouse, which has made room for about 80% of my tomatoes to remain inside, protected & hopefully blight free!

I put in this very neat row of 16 leeks yesterday - I left it until around 5pm but still melted in the heat.

I also planted another row of radishes - fortunately this was in a more shady spot so I didn't feel like dying in the heat!

And this is one I prepared earlier!

Nigel kindly bought this sign for me - he went to the Isle of Wight on his holidays - how kind and thoughtful is that!

And finally - this is my latest project - a vineyard!

No not really, only joking, me and hubby went to the Godstone Vineyard off the A22 for a little day trip yesterday.

A day of sunshine and lots to do!

2010-06-03T13:48:00.000+01:00

As you can see from my trailer, I had lots to bring to the allotment! 3 bags of grass cutting, two bags of kitchen scraps, an unwanted wigwam thingy & last but not least my sweet potato slips!

I started by mulching the fruit trees with grass cuttings.

I then mulched the courgettes with some left over straw that I found in the shed from last year.

Then in went the baby cucumbers "cucino" - I put these at the front of the brassica bedroom. They look like they are standing on guard!

Next I put in 4 "bedfordshire" cucumbers around the metal wigwam thingy, and planted a few Cherry & Roma tomatoes, as I didn't have room for all my tomatoes in the greenhouse.

Of course, I labelled them all up!

I also sunk a small potting pot next to each tomato plant and companion planted with marigolds.

Then came the fun bit. I had to crawl into the Sweet Potato Suite to plant the slips!

It was extremely hot in there and I was glad to get out once all 10 slips had been planted. I had made the polytunnel just the right size as all 10 slips were planted 18inches apart as per the instrucutions!

I was glad to get out of there I can tell you!!

Lots going on + I had some help today!!

2010-05-28T18:46:00.000+01:00

Yes, I had some help today - my lovely husband came to the rescue with screws and a screw driver & he expertly put my "Dig for Victory" sign on my shed door.

He even brought his spirit level with him to make sure it was straight!

And there it is looking FAB!

A view from further down the plot

And this is from the top of my plot looking down

And this is the view as you walk into the gate - as you can see I have left a bit of a "wildlife reserve" to the left - this is for 2 reasons. One is to assist the wildlife that may like to live there e.g. hedgehogs, ladybugs etc & the 2nd is because it contains a lot of brambles & nettles - which is good as it will deter any good for nothing "let go and get into the allotment and do some damage" type yobs from climbing over. There is anti climb paint along all the fences and columns etc but it all helps.

Now for the busy bit! I had a good re organisation of the greenhouse as I want to keep as many tomato plants in there as possible this year to save them from blight, so out came a couple of "cucino" which are minature cucumbers.

I have kept 2 inside just in case. So 2 are now outside hardening off & my fingers are well and truly crossed.

A selection of other plants followed to make more room indoors, including - Leeks, Beans, Cauliflowers and a few surplus Cherry & Roma Tomatoes.

This gave me room in the greenhouse to pot on Chilli Peppers, Aubergines, 12 cherry tomatoes and the 2 cucino cucumbers that will be benefiting from the protection the greenhouse has to offer.

This is one of the Cucino with Roma tomatoes in the background. Eventually I will take out the trays (pictured above) which will allow the tomatoes to grow to their full height.

These are the Fiorentino Tomatoes (beefstake)which will all be staying indoors. More potting on tomorrow but first I have to buy some more big pots!

Sweetcorn Rows & Blocks & Puddles!

2010-05-27T08:59:00.000+01:00

Ok, so I had a problem - rows or blocks. Traditionally blocks are the only way to plant sweetcorn to aid pollination, however, Les, one of our old boys with the most perfect plot to die for, plants his sweetcorn in neat little rows. North to South, not East to West. So I was in two minds - rows or blocks.

As I had 24 plants I decided to do both

And once I had my row planted I made them all little puddles to soak up the water as it's been so dry.

I made puddles for the Dwarf French beans

All 4 wigwams got the same TLC

I then planted the other 12 sweetcorn in a block just below the Dwarf French Bean Wigwams and Lettuces

And I made them a puddle too - I knew my sandcastle building skills which I have kept alive (to my husbands embarassment at every sandy beach opportunity) would come in handy one day!!

I interplanted the block of sweetcorn with some butternut squash instead of pumpkins!

And finally, this is one of my broad beans - another week of sunshine and I think they will be ready!

The Suite Potato Sweet - (Now Updated!!!)

2010-05-25T08:22:00.001+01:00

Actually that should be the Sweet Potato Suite! Yes, I am building a suite for the Sweet potatoes, to go with the Brassica Bedroom! Sounds like a Hotel for Vegetables doesn't it!! haha.

So I read the instructions and did what it said to have more of a chance of getting a good crop.

First of all I dug in a couple of bags fo manure.....

Instead of buying an expensive polytunnel, I decided I would do it in true allotment style, beg & swap! I managed to get the plastic sheeting from Ron for the main body and George gave me another odd piece he had left over for the ends (these are still to be done - it was toooooo hot over the weekend so the ends will be done today now that it's cooler) I then duck taped the two pieces together so that I had the body well covered with a bit of overlap each side.

Derek our allotment angel lent me 4 hoops that are made from plumbing pipes - I just had to simply push them into the ground - simply she says - some went in like a hot knife cutting through butter and others were like trying to push a square peg in a round hole! As Gertie & her family walked up the path from their plot, I asked if I could borrow her husband for a bit of brut strength!

Then I covered the dug in manure with black plastic. Again these were free, as I used manure and compost bags that I had saved and I had some galvinsed pegs to keep them in place! FREE!!!

I then had the task of covering the hoops and using little cable ties that Arthur gave me, I eventually got there in the end! So just the ends to go now!

I have just realised that to plant the 10 Sweet Potato Slips I will have to climb into the Sweet Potato Suite to do so!! I am also wondering if I could interplant with Aubergines and Sweet Peppers as the Sweet Potatoes will grow down and they grow upwards, and also like the heat that the Suite will provide - I wonder?????

Update!

As promised I have been back to the allotment to finish of the ends of the Sweet Potato Suite....

This is the Front End - I made this in 2 pieces so I have a "door" so that I can water - you can just make out the duck tape to keep it together in the middle

I also had the idea of adding a backbone to make it all more stable so I used bamboo and cable ties and it did the trick!

To finish it off I put bottles on the sticking out bamboo ends so I wouldn't have an accident &

I made a sign

"The Sweet Potato Suite"