I had a plan!

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!

Progress has been made!

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

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!

Parsnips

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.

Little bits here and there.....

A view looking down 144 from the mid way fruit trees

 The Plum Tree with pond in the  background

 The Apple Tree blossom

 The raked area just in front of the fruit trees (with stone piles)!

The Spinach and Beetroot sunbathing

The Earlies enjoying a soaking in the hot weather

 A baby Parsnip

Another baby Parsnip

The Radishes are germinating

Potting on the Savoy Cabbages

From here, to there!

A quick trip to the allotment today....

And I mean a quick trip because it started to RAIN after a few lovely hours of sunshine!

I couldn't believe it.

I cycled down there with my bike basket full of tools, and couldn't get in the gate I normally use as the lock is faulty, so I cycled to the main gate, saying a quick hello along the way to 144.

My other plot (half share) 121 is by the main gate and  Brian, my new plot partner, was working away like a busy bee.  Now, just to remind you, Nigel actually "lets" plot 121 but last year when he took it on, he offered me half as he didn't need it all, so I said yes as I needed a little more space (greedy me).  Well a few weeks ago, this chap came into the Trading Hut asking if there were plots going, but he hadn't registered with the council so we advised him to do that.  The next week he came in again and after making his purchases, he said that he hadn't heard anything, so I told him to phone the council to see where he was on the waiting list.  The following week he came in again, bought some more stuff and told me that he was number 47 on the list.  I felt so sorry for him.  He really seemed keen to get a plot or even share one with someone that was finding a whole plot difficult, so I told him I would put a post out on the SRAGS blog and that he could also put a notice on our Trading Hut board, which he did but still no luck!

I went home thinking about his dilema, and I thought about letting him use one of my raised beds that is currently empty.  Then when the other one became free he could use that one.  I emailed my 121 plotholder partner Nigel, who said that Brian could use his half of 121 as he could wait for another year to use that, and he had only planned to use it for potatoes this year, and not a fruit orchard as originally planned - how kind was that!!  So I phoned Brian with the good news, and by the following week he was digging away, so a happy ending.  When he eventually gets his own plot he will be able to move to that one.

Anyway back to my efforts.

I cycled up to 144 and took off the plastic cloches covering the small area I prepared the other day.  The soil was nice and warm so perfect for my parsnip seeds!

Here they are all tucked up!

Then is started to rain - that little fine stuff - not impressed, but I had to crack on with my Beetroot.

So the Beetroot is in the plastic cloche which I mended with duck tape earlier as I had previously split in in half to fit on the raised beds neatly.

All 4 rows - 2 of Parsnips and 2 of Beetroot, were all neatly labeled up as were the Potatoes that Derek planted for me yesterday.

And finally, I dug up the remaining leeks from last years planting

You can get an idea of their HUGE size from the onion hoe in the back of the photo!

I took these home and used half of them to make a big pot of Parsnip Soup.

The other half - about 700g - are in the fridge for now, yet to await their fate!

I only have tomorrow and Thursday morning left to get a few more jobs done e.g. plant out the broad beans from the Greenhouse into a raised bed, which I did want to do today, but the rain stopped play.  I also wanted to get my Dwarf French Beans out of the utility room and down to the Greenhouse which is now unheated, as it's mild here, and all in there including the lettuces are all germinating! I am sure I will find a million and one other things to do once I am there.

I wasn't intending.....

....to work at the allotment today, as I have Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday totally free this week, so I tottered down there, with grey skies overhead, and bumped into a few "locals" for a chat here and there.

Then the sun came out, and my jacket came off, and the shed door was suddenly open, and the tools came out, the gloves were on and I was away.......

I spent over 2 hours on plot 144 and got loads done, and it's a good thing that I did because I have to go to the hospital on Thursday for an operation - removing a ganglion from my FOOT!! So I will be "out of bounds" to the allotment for a good 2 or 3 weeks.

Anyways, back to the work in hand:

Everything as weeded, and the broad beans were looking so splendid, that I just had to take a photo!

I harvested some more parsnips

&

Put the kettle on

This was after raking the previously dug, and then forked over remainder of 144 - phew, I was pooped after that lot.

What a difference a day makes....24 little hours...

Yes, it was my day of yesterday, and I got organised and myself down to the lotty at 8.30am

As you can see from the first picture, all my little lovely seedlings are going to their new home - my GH

I was a very lucky girl yesterday and the COSMOS must have been looking after me, because I bumped straight into Derek our Lotty Fairy, and without allowing me to say NO he started to dig for me.

He dug and I de-rooted and de-stoned and look at this whopper! (not of the Burger King variety)

After a few hours hard work, and a couple of sore backs.....

I was able to plant pototaes, 2 rows of red onions, 2 of white, Autumn King Carrots and Parsnips!

These are my potatoes - Accent 1st earlies going in. I also planted my 2nd's Kestral and few Charlottes which I got given. I also measured out the space needed for my Maincrop so all my potatoes are together (planning in advance due to next years crop rotation you see!)

As you can see, I didn't dig long and labourious trenches, I simply used my bulb planter and popped them in. This was the tried and tested method that I used last year, which worked well and it's also mentioned in John Harrisons latest book - The Essential Allotment Guide - so it must be a good way to grow spuds!


Now this is my plot last year - April 2008

And this is my plot in April 2009!

It was the plot that no one else wanted - the overgrow, rubbish strewn plot by the fence that was anyones allotment nightmare - but not mine!

I even had time to organise the shed a little more! Please note the loo roll haha, just in case I need to use the toilet provided on site - lucky I was a Girl Guide in my youth as it's quite a challenge I can tell you!

That's it for today's report - hope you enjoyed reading it and the transformation taking place - there will be more to come as I have a wine an beer patio lounge planned next!

Bank Holiday Monday 5th - What Lovely Weather!

The sun has got his hat on - hip, hip, hip, hooray

I was singing that song all day today.

After a quick drive into the office this morning, I decided that an hour down the lotty would do me good. With the week I have got ahead of me, I deserved an hour in my favourite place. I spent the time chatting (ha, ha - you should have guessed that by now)

I started off with Olga, who was working hard once again. I told her about my sunflower dilema - oh! I haven't told you yet - I forgot to close up my cold frame last night because of the humidity, and when I went to inspect things this morning, some toerag slug or snail had eaten one of my sunflower babies in half and the other totally, leaving only a stump! so kind Olga brought me over 2 brand new home raised sunflower babies, which I put into the corners of bed 3.

I then went to see Nigel at the shop, but he wasn't there - however he had left a kindly note on the board to say that if anyone wanted anything, to go and see him at plot 47, so off I went as I needed some horse poo - ooops - sorry manure. After a little chat, I arranged to meet him at 1245 to collect 4 bags full. As I started to walk back towards 142 and whilst texting Hubby Ian with the news and to mak arrangements for him to come and collect me and horses manure in my car ( he wans't going to get that lot in the Porsche, so better to use the dump run vehicle) I then bumped into the lovely Perry & George, my Jamaician boys with the green shed just down the way. They are both so lovely and happy all the time. If I am ever going to feel down, I won't go to the docs, I will go and find one of them, or both and have a good laugh. You can hear them laughing all the way back to my plot sometimes!

Just after leaving them, Paul, the man with the greenhouse and the wonky shed that is going to be donated to me and Susan, came by. He commented on my Tattie and how his little girl always came by to say "hello" to him. He then gave me advice on my potatoes, which I was very grateful for, as I have had mixed opinions, so his sealed my mind in a particular direction.

Paul mentioned to me that I had a "web" thing going on, to which I blushed slightly, and as I did not have a pen and paper I told him to get the address off my by from Nigel as they had eachothers emails - another possible fan then!! I mentioned to Paul that I would be taking pictures of my seedlings for identification purposes, as none of the books seemed to have these, so here they are.......

Radish

Beetroot

Parsnips & Radishes

Rocket

It was then 1245 and I had to go and meet Hubby Ian and my car at the far gate. He backed the car in, and loaded her up with the 4 bags. With permission from Nigel, we left the car by the shop as I had to go and get my bag and stuff. On the way I introduced Ian to Olga (the sunflower lady from Russia) and her husband Julian, who incidently is putting together a shed out of pallets, and after that Ian went on to be introduced to Perry & George, who up until that point, I am sure, were not convinced I had a husband. We all stood there chatting with Carl for a long time. Incidently - this is Carl, who had started to chop down the trees on my new plot 144.....

How very kind of him to make a start. I was worried at one stage though as before letting him loose with his saw on my new plot, he was taking some "shading" branches from the tree next door. This in itself didn't concern me - the fact that he was climbing on unbalanced and unstable looking pallets of wood did! Can I also add, that I am intent on getting this pigstye of a plot cleaned up and I have booked in Derek the Bramble Fairy, Bonfire fairy and digging fairy (Sorry Derek but that was not my nickname for you but I believe Julians!!) for as soon as he has a moment free - probably around September then - I am in no rush!

And finally. I fininshed off my afternoon by aeriating and putting the 4 bags of manure down underneath the holly bushes which are situated at the front of the house. It took Ian and I around 2 hours to do altogether, but a job well done. I then went onto pottering around the garden, especially the decking, which incidently is up for sale on EbaY at the moment, all 330 sq.ft. of it, and watering the pots. I then made a lovely cup of Lady Grey and dozed in a garden chair before returning to the Lotty to water all my hard work so far.

And finally - this is a picture of the wheelbarrow graveyard which I came across today.

and finaly, finally.......

This week is forecast to be "lovely" so hopefully a few more trips down to my lotty in the next few days......

Toodle Pip for now

More goings on today!

This is the updated plan for Bed 1, which has now been fully planted out - no more room at this one!

I spent around 1 hour at the lotty this evening. I got my parsnips planted and interplanted them with some radishes from seed. The big mistake that I made was that I forgot my little book and I didn't know the spacings for the parsnip plants, so I had a look around and saw that one of the older gentlemen was at his plot. Off I trotted full of cheer to ask him if he knew spacings for my parsnips. Well, the look of shock on his face when I told him what I was planting out and that I had grown the plants on from seed at home! He told me that as a general rule all root veg are planted directly into the soil - oh well - I am sure I must have read it somewhere (sowing indoors etc. hardening off and all that ) I will just have to wait and see what happens!!