tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24620226623098644342024-02-22T16:33:04.252+00:00Milton AllotmentM-A and Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14891506734923080395noreply@blogger.comBlogger56125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2462022662309864434.post-77023441274578983392011-05-02T16:51:00.005+01:002011-05-02T17:06:52.127+01:00Off we go againHaving pretty much abandoned the allotment over the winter, we've been back in the last few weeks, and it's been pleasingly quick to get it all back in shape. Nat and Jeremy spent a while getting the surface weeds off the soil and then they and Nat's dad set to with the rotavator and cleared the 2nd and 3rd beds very nicely. All in all, it took about three visits to get just about two fully clear beds.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTDgkwWrddJ4EgiP-_LTaeZDrEnE26YsIYqhJO0T96xLK6C2C2aChIryQTl49WAXQE-6aFLPBJJhf3XQR9pMzk432AgP4RgBNbIhRoND-g984fK4QN0K0adM2kqrVJhJ_WpEw0rmzDKMfI/s1600/DSCF4991.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTDgkwWrddJ4EgiP-_LTaeZDrEnE26YsIYqhJO0T96xLK6C2C2aChIryQTl49WAXQE-6aFLPBJJhf3XQR9pMzk432AgP4RgBNbIhRoND-g984fK4QN0K0adM2kqrVJhJ_WpEw0rmzDKMfI/s200/DSCF4991.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602147335961585826" border="0" /></a>The next step is, of course, to fill those beds with plants! Here's Nat and Jeremy planting out the potatoes last week. As far as we can remember, we've got Majestic, Red Duke of York and Charlotte this year. We got fewer seed potatoes than last year, as they're hard work to plant out and keep earthing up. The Majestic ones are yet to be planted; they're still chitting in the kitchen.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUPwN-8WSGMRPPprloHDhJsQ58eQtmjwPuCaLYWEGRordC-rjlxepA1SSRhr1P9FUv-8wohlmjZ6mlWZVvnp2tqfCcIp_lbMubZqSQVC-hEoc4nVwMIv2kNMxab0S6SqT5v92rkidCJaoF/s1600/DSCF5000.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUPwN-8WSGMRPPprloHDhJsQ58eQtmjwPuCaLYWEGRordC-rjlxepA1SSRhr1P9FUv-8wohlmjZ6mlWZVvnp2tqfCcIp_lbMubZqSQVC-hEoc4nVwMIv2kNMxab0S6SqT5v92rkidCJaoF/s200/DSCF5000.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602147524353268322" border="0" /></a>We've also planted (in the foreground) three rows of parsnips, 2 1/2 rows of onion sets and (behind) two short rows of mangetout.<br /><br />In May, I think the plan is to direct sow sweetcorn, more mangetout and some climbing French beans (but I haven't got my notes on me).<br /><br />Finally, we have two courgettes and four squashes sprouting nicely on the windowsill in the kitchen to planting out later in the year. Let's hope some of it pays off!M-A and Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14891506734923080395noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2462022662309864434.post-18111721933898638412010-08-17T12:28:00.011+01:002010-08-17T15:25:33.402+01:00Mixed squashes and pumpkinsI said last time how well the courgettes are doing (and they still are!). Being closely related to courgettes, the squashes are also very happy this year. Last year, we bought a "packet of <a href="http://www.seedsofitaly.com/product/222">mixed squashes and pumpkins</a>", and got two varieties out of it - the stripy <a href="http://www.seedsofitaly.com/product/224">Padana</a> pumpkin and the curly <a href="http://www.seedsofitaly.com/product/555">Tromba of Albenga</a> squash.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuDqttRMrx0sajNTFMe1Hvgx6zv0DxK_gB23nNPtNDcboD9GtnVL_viF4u2vyDUWWLY9CNFzyQX3tl7qvcehWJB4w8jl5GECncPVQ4rR3p89azW4ej50cFZbxGZIHNA2s8Rt51Fl2PWkSz/s1600/DSCF4518.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuDqttRMrx0sajNTFMe1Hvgx6zv0DxK_gB23nNPtNDcboD9GtnVL_viF4u2vyDUWWLY9CNFzyQX3tl7qvcehWJB4w8jl5GECncPVQ4rR3p89azW4ej50cFZbxGZIHNA2s8Rt51Fl2PWkSz/s200/DSCF4518.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506339543096977426" border="0" /></a>This year, we planted some more from the mixed packet, and some seeds that we harvested from the (prize-winning!) pumpkin from last year. As a result, we've got at least four varieties on the go, and plenty more of each. First up, we appear to have another Padana pumpkin - there are at least three like this, but none have the orange stripes of last year, so they may be from the seeds we harvested, as they apparently cross-breed very readily.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiruOtr8WUtkJMITPIf4ipkmsBiZ2OM9G02iLzAi7pI1ngZ6HQcbivSXOFAZRcnXioKaj3gONR_AL0bhGAFsoOzAT_GAP1Yvx0ZQK3viyDNzHK605JdO-QoXMuKhRN0_KcR3MCM5zSrVd7V/s1600/DSCF4519.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiruOtr8WUtkJMITPIf4ipkmsBiZ2OM9G02iLzAi7pI1ngZ6HQcbivSXOFAZRcnXioKaj3gONR_AL0bhGAFsoOzAT_GAP1Yvx0ZQK3viyDNzHK605JdO-QoXMuKhRN0_KcR3MCM5zSrVd7V/s200/DSCF4519.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506339473075500114" border="0" /></a><br />Next up, it's definitely a <a href="http://www.seedsofitaly.com/product/229">"Custard White" squash</a>. I was hoping for some of these last year, so this is a very welcome sight. I'll try to get a better photo at some point, but they're quite deep into the squash patch.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHu6B-0f2ryiAq8zI9blNQopYKnnEF6wv9hc9qSCr13yhi3TTDYSm1mPCYny27XOoquAcm3KyHXRWBXsUrdgdnUHUy8Eg7ee_IiEoE0CxK3JTnokX3iwXxjNffpbef2TU1NppRlNEIfUVG/s1600/DSCF4520.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHu6B-0f2ryiAq8zI9blNQopYKnnEF6wv9hc9qSCr13yhi3TTDYSm1mPCYny27XOoquAcm3KyHXRWBXsUrdgdnUHUy8Eg7ee_IiEoE0CxK3JTnokX3iwXxjNffpbef2TU1NppRlNEIfUVG/s200/DSCF4520.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506339395573858002" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I'm really not sure what this one is: it's very round, with smooth skin. My best guess is that it's a classic orange "<a href="http://www.seedsofitaly.com/product/226">Quintale</a>" pumpkin.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Ywzcb4WJuyT9CIDsF8ut4sjOmqCFQ7fimfKo9X86O-Tp3psmcYovqlGWMA3kJpkdONqUWtqeBY5lMFIZHPlFhpi1E-cjRJMSdfUJmRDav5kUm6USWVU3cyHquUjQi3tZkMoOIGOX_tA0/s1600/DSCF4521.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Ywzcb4WJuyT9CIDsF8ut4sjOmqCFQ7fimfKo9X86O-Tp3psmcYovqlGWMA3kJpkdONqUWtqeBY5lMFIZHPlFhpi1E-cjRJMSdfUJmRDav5kUm6USWVU3cyHquUjQi3tZkMoOIGOX_tA0/s200/DSCF4521.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506339319881470674" border="0" /></a><br /><br />And finally, we have some yellow curly ones again. This one looks more like the photo on the packet than the ones we got last year, with the beginnings of stripes visible.<br /><br /><br />So what haven't we seen yet from the mixed packet?<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.seedsofitaly.com/product/223">Marina di Chioggia</a> pumpkin</li><li><a href="http://www.seedsofitaly.com/product/227">Zucca of Napoli</a> pumpkin</li><li> <a href="http://www.seedsofitaly.com/product/225">Berrettina Piacentina</a> pumpkin</li><li><a href="http://www.seedsofitaly.com/product/245">Rugosa Butternut</a> squash</li><li><a href="http://www.seedsofitaly.com/product/247">Serpente di Sicilia</a> squash</li></ul>I'll keep an eye out to see if any of these turn up over the next few weeks. The knobbly ones look interesting, but are probably hard to peel!M-A and Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14891506734923080395noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2462022662309864434.post-12095511016154302082010-07-22T17:14:00.003+01:002010-07-22T17:34:18.432+01:00Courgette counting<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRyOTgBTkXsrG7xdlAXb-jQJo2RrOQWo1nUpYrMuqDiaoPXJu5TTAqcPgAeY9UWQvnYNqf851s1XiEDqI3ajUOt7LNjgSMOIX9CPva8NQQ_yWSHptH6TdRgDwZjeiLeMvB5uE2wWQBB9R7/s1600/IMG_0313.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRyOTgBTkXsrG7xdlAXb-jQJo2RrOQWo1nUpYrMuqDiaoPXJu5TTAqcPgAeY9UWQvnYNqf851s1XiEDqI3ajUOt7LNjgSMOIX9CPva8NQQ_yWSHptH6TdRgDwZjeiLeMvB5uE2wWQBB9R7/s200/IMG_0313.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496767147955238050" border="0" /></a>Previous years have been a bit disappointing as far as courgettes go, so this year I sowed a who tray of courgettes, to make sure that at least some would come up. We ended up planting out 17 seedlings, which gave me a slight feeling of trepidation: what if they all came good? So here they are a couple of weeks ago. As you can see, they all very happy plants...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH_S6DIG3Jn8ZHhyphenhyphen3O0ABzNmu0L9jpFhkpcLA_lMSyY9GvN1Ue4Nz9SnCudAf_rASsSg2wxSRXbgqS4lyDnFKZvZjVx9ZguBJ7scoJ_PeoXkEAj_cwIRecJn9pfVc0WSzBJdacFZBYLpuU/s1600/IMG_0314.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH_S6DIG3Jn8ZHhyphenhyphen3O0ABzNmu0L9jpFhkpcLA_lMSyY9GvN1Ue4Nz9SnCudAf_rASsSg2wxSRXbgqS4lyDnFKZvZjVx9ZguBJ7scoJ_PeoXkEAj_cwIRecJn9pfVc0WSzBJdacFZBYLpuU/s200/IMG_0314.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496767341856779906" border="0" /></a>So, inevitably, having overcatered on the plant side, we now have a *lot* of courgettes. By my counting, we've harvested at least 25 so far in 2 weeks, and that may be an underestimate!<br /><br />The <a href="http://www.foodshare.co.uk/">Foodshare</a> bin has been benefitting from this, naturally, and we've given some away to friends too (aka insisted they take some!).<br /><br />The beans are just starting to produce now: I picked a handful today. As I type, there's the first proper rain we've had for weeks, so that should perk everything up too.M-A and Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14891506734923080395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2462022662309864434.post-49464641628940496682010-07-12T13:05:00.002+01:002010-07-12T13:24:37.603+01:00More plantingI had another good session at the allotment yesterday, despite the heat. I took up the rest of the trays from the greenhouse that needed planting out, namely the 2nd half of the Chinese cabbage, the purple sprouting broccoli, the Brussels sprouts, the cabbage and a few extra French beans.<br /><br />I put everything except the beans in the brassica area - not quite everything fit inside the cage, so the last few Chinese cabbage were planted outside. We'll see if they survive on their own! The first lot of Chinese cabbage and pak choi look very happy, so hopefully we'll have a better year for the rest of them too this time.<br /><br />The French beans I took up from home had got to the point of having small bean pods already, which made me look closer at the ones on the allotment that didn't. Something's definitely been nibbling them round the edges. I remembered that we had some spare netting that we bought last year, so that's now over about a third of the beans. If it's rabbits, I don't think it'll keep them off, but if it's birds, it should do the trick.<br /><br />The courgettes are ramping up now - I harvested 7 yesterday, with plenty more on the way by the looks of it. We may be overrun with courgettes this year - I hope David really likes the taste!<br /><br />The raspberries are definitely not happy this year. There are far fewer canes than previous years, and the raspberries are mostly very small and not very juicy. The former problem is, I think, because we haven't been managing to keep on top of the weeds, so Mark's ideas about digging it all up and replanting should go a long way towards sorting that out. The latter problem is probably just due to the dry weather we've been having. There's rain forecast for this week, though, so we may yet get a few juicier berries.M-A and Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14891506734923080395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2462022662309864434.post-83767606344909800942010-06-27T19:04:00.009+01:002010-07-12T13:05:29.207+01:00The hottest day of the year<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVWy6cpTv218TFxadjawqNcxU5UNkUz8sQ4ou5KSK71rrV_X5A0kiN2hmoXMlS5yRRN1fJwJvskJU7zWWt21IQMaR2_kSmkmrfDSjpGejyLmKtb2MMu8EJJE8ZZGy3sGKOXOtgDpeg0Dja/s1600/DSCF4365.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVWy6cpTv218TFxadjawqNcxU5UNkUz8sQ4ou5KSK71rrV_X5A0kiN2hmoXMlS5yRRN1fJwJvskJU7zWWt21IQMaR2_kSmkmrfDSjpGejyLmKtb2MMu8EJJE8ZZGy3sGKOXOtgDpeg0Dja/s200/DSCF4365.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487516928163694498" border="0" /></a>Sunday was the hottest day of the year so far, and Jeremy was happy to entertain David for a while whilst Nat did some DIY, and I managed to escape up to the allotment for a few hours - lovely weather for it! I got loads done, which was sorely needed. First, I finished weeding the carrots and parsnips that I'd done roughly the other week. On the right here are 'before' and 'after' shots.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy24peF0KMkQPb8q74Il4C1ihQ0tk2ICP76fP6FQV5hTNNhubb4Uz_IdeTiFYTLs-0DJ94x2Dw4O_C3dX1ucwG4aMEZ6K834GgPR41yBu1ye9nevuSUbxNL7ZjasQOTi9gz_exX0aQMY9j/s1600/DSCF4366.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy24peF0KMkQPb8q74Il4C1ihQ0tk2ICP76fP6FQV5hTNNhubb4Uz_IdeTiFYTLs-0DJ94x2Dw4O_C3dX1ucwG4aMEZ6K834GgPR41yBu1ye9nevuSUbxNL7ZjasQOTi9gz_exX0aQMY9j/s200/DSCF4366.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487516861540152882" border="0" /></a>In the foreground, you can see the parsnips - about half a dozen or so have come through - not bad for our first year, as we hear that they're notoriously difficult to get to germinate. I had to look up what parsnip leaves look like, so that I didn't weed them by mistake - these all have the same leaves, and are in a neat row, so I'm pretty confident they really are parsnips.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuc8pLKswBRpyO4smZI7Ubu-jiCsgDiKJNYRi2fnd95OpnMkHZg6wEr3-JDEypQn6O2KOCP8jQakHd4e01-8SZ7d77rmQzbSokyDajVRvUpufr_luv_w80v2PXaJm0fEYYRv9bba6MTGr2/s1600/DSCF4372.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10pt 10px 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuc8pLKswBRpyO4smZI7Ubu-jiCsgDiKJNYRi2fnd95OpnMkHZg6wEr3-JDEypQn6O2KOCP8jQakHd4e01-8SZ7d77rmQzbSokyDajVRvUpufr_luv_w80v2PXaJm0fEYYRv9bba6MTGr2/s200/DSCF4372.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487516708916937586" border="0" /></a>I then went back to the beans and gave them a good watering, as it's been so hot recently. They seemed pretty happy even before I watered them, so hopefully they're developing good root systems.<br /><br />Working back again towards the gate, the squashes and courgettes look very happy without any more watering, so I just hoed round them all to keep the soil clear.<br /><br />The final job for the afternoon was to start on the brassicas at last. I took with me half of the Chinese Cabbage and half of the Pak Choi, and planted them in the brassica area. I discovered that an ants nest had developed on the greenhouse staging, in and around some of the seedling trays. Some of the ant colony ended up being relocated the the allotment - the rest are still in situ, but I've shuffled things around so that the ants eggs are now all under empty trays, not in the ones with seedlings in (hopefully!).<br /><br />Having planted out the seedlings, it was time to reconstruct the brassica cage to stop things eating them. I saw a rabbit in our allotment while I was up there - I didn't see exactly where it went, though. Hmm. We also want to keep the cabbage white butterflies off, or the caterpillars will decimate the crop again. The cage is currently functional, but one corner needs a couple of screws to keep the wood in place properly, not just balanced as it is now.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiox-m_iaAZr53fpTU4m1jddHw1MT7QvWwAUzhaJelzdSGvSkcuy_28gPkwiXd1J9bURCOy0xMEMuYO_dK7cJWZFjQRwyhH_z5Vz35kNZdcCvZ6XvSdSd6SOcaE3tqOMAm74g78he_W3_U3/s1600/DSCF4368.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0px 10px 10pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiox-m_iaAZr53fpTU4m1jddHw1MT7QvWwAUzhaJelzdSGvSkcuy_28gPkwiXd1J9bURCOy0xMEMuYO_dK7cJWZFjQRwyhH_z5Vz35kNZdcCvZ6XvSdSd6SOcaE3tqOMAm74g78he_W3_U3/s200/DSCF4368.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487516784414933218" border="0" /></a>What next? Well, at the far end of the allotment is, of course, the fruit cage. Mark told me at the weekend that he'd planted strawberries there again this year, and they're looking much happier than the ones we put in last year. The rest of the fruit cage is pretty overgrown with (mostly) grass, though, so there's a fun job for some point soon. Some of the raspberries are ripe already, and it's be a shame to just let them rot because we can't reach them. After this year, Mark reckons that we should dig up the whole raspberry patch and re-plant the canes, as they've spread over the years and definitely aren't contained within the lovely neat row of wires any more! We could also dig up the grass and other weeds while we're at it, making it more maintainable in general.M-A and Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14891506734923080395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2462022662309864434.post-47313595757140221812010-06-21T18:50:00.009+01:002010-06-22T09:07:46.370+01:00Beans and bees<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX8DQM971DWlyZB8yGS5SR0Tk3Zm54deVUPm-8wJDSVyMg4ty7qnKJ-vgzIkicoXkq_am0PWXFwVcg2otP6lBf7P_whDfPRVRYoAtkuIUiT6UTBfR0XASF41gkGMka9wH7RB4R2oxFGzs8/s1600/DSCF4287.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX8DQM971DWlyZB8yGS5SR0Tk3Zm54deVUPm-8wJDSVyMg4ty7qnKJ-vgzIkicoXkq_am0PWXFwVcg2otP6lBf7P_whDfPRVRYoAtkuIUiT6UTBfR0XASF41gkGMka9wH7RB4R2oxFGzs8/s200/DSCF4287.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485503173081288946" border="0" /></a>Since the last update, we've planted out all the runner beans and most of the French beans. More sensibly than last year, used canes to support them, rather than string. This photo was taken about half-way through planting out - we now have 2 1/2 rows of beans.<br /><br />The rest of that bed is squashes and sweetcorn. We were going to try to "three sisters" planting method (squash, beans and sweetcorn), but apparently sweetcorn doesn't grow high enough quickly enough in this country to support the beans, so we're just on "two sisters" instead.<br /><br />We're got a few carrots appearing now in the next bed over. The weeds had set in remarkably quickly, so I cleared them out again to give the carrots a chance.<br /><br />After a tip-off from a fellow allotment-holder, I investigated the garlic (it'd started to go a bit yellow in places), but found out that it was still too early. Still, the mini-bulb provided a nice meal for 2 last night.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgewVGJmNvfUBhOKOY8bkNece2sxxdrvOgDT61OsXRfFr3ly21yMvenbE-m6OqUFdXXsKHNib9Quwqtlji8Vzh2qfOvl3QEXDST2yQlVYKUPqJk5U5TpCcHf1yoloGtWhQq5BPC8u5SrmqQ/s1600/DSCF4297.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgewVGJmNvfUBhOKOY8bkNece2sxxdrvOgDT61OsXRfFr3ly21yMvenbE-m6OqUFdXXsKHNib9Quwqtlji8Vzh2qfOvl3QEXDST2yQlVYKUPqJk5U5TpCcHf1yoloGtWhQq5BPC8u5SrmqQ/s200/DSCF4297.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485503378384244370" border="0" /></a>Some newcomers to our allotment are bees! Mark has decided to take up bee-keeping, and the hive is in our orchard area, so we've hoping for lots of fertilisation from them, and hopefully plenty of honey, too. Barny may even have a rival for the produce show this year, unlike last year!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-uM-sy7o7-ruj_52VRkbUjdJDLdOYT6cXmxjUkoFFWCh4d14RPm4DEO_2Mz6kfpoM0pdRETI1XRP3PQ5oQRqwPIVWJA3ZERfAnAUqzfUr59ZoaC3dBFRVsmQU2I29qJ3Vexn2vfvTYoWK/s1600/DSCF4283.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-uM-sy7o7-ruj_52VRkbUjdJDLdOYT6cXmxjUkoFFWCh4d14RPm4DEO_2Mz6kfpoM0pdRETI1XRP3PQ5oQRqwPIVWJA3ZERfAnAUqzfUr59ZoaC3dBFRVsmQU2I29qJ3Vexn2vfvTYoWK/s200/DSCF4283.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485503300440108354" border="0" /></a>Finally, here's our well working nicely. We're using an old watering can as the bucket. First we drop it in on its side, so it fills up through the usual hole on top, then right it and pull it up with some long string that we keep attached to it (see left of photo). The can has quite a few leaks in, so could probably do with replacing, but it does the job of getting the water up a couple of metres, which is the main thing.<br /><br />The well has been very nice to have this year, rather than trekking down to the pump. Unfortunately, yesterday I discovered that some local wildlife had somehow got past the well cover and ended up at the bottom of the well, so I switched back to the pump. I'm not sure how we're going to get them out...<br /><br />P.S. I've been playing with the look of the blog - new background!Nathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16163570497456769017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2462022662309864434.post-51495365755128014372010-05-22T20:23:00.002+01:002010-05-22T20:32:56.307+01:00Spot the difference!We had lovely weather today, so spent a lot of the day outside. Nat & Jeremy went up to the allotment for a while; Jeremy planted out loads of the beans (more on that later) and Nat mowed everything he could think of, particularly the paths and round the orchard.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD0s-lrsZEQ-_anxDvna8mFt6oTCJGEezJHZ-BM5LadWqT5YkRcBqf6TVYz1Cx4TcRPHlch8pAk0bLI1mYektSJoMgaCSit8YaVTX7Pjss5R4K0ruECEPgIdKjt961X7MQJbuRxnPWEnZI/s1600/DSCF4280.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD0s-lrsZEQ-_anxDvna8mFt6oTCJGEezJHZ-BM5LadWqT5YkRcBqf6TVYz1Cx4TcRPHlch8pAk0bLI1mYektSJoMgaCSit8YaVTX7Pjss5R4K0ruECEPgIdKjt961X7MQJbuRxnPWEnZI/s200/DSCF4280.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474177717431921074" border="0" /></a>Meanwhile, I sowed the next lot of seeds - mostly brassicas (purple sprouting broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, pak choi and Chinese cabbage (yes, I know the last two should be the same thing, but they look different on the packets, so we'll see what happens...)) and then some "cutting celery" and goji berries (just because I had the packets). See if you can see what's changed in the greenhouse after all that!<br /><br />So, about those beans... after much to-ing and fro-ing, we finally worked out that what I thought were "Purple Queen" French beans were, in fact, runner beans. I was thrown by the fact that the beans themselves were purple, as I'd remembered the "Purple Queen" ones to be. Well, you live and learn... still, it meant that we had runner beans ready to go!M-A and Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14891506734923080395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2462022662309864434.post-33159867321736835382010-05-10T20:06:00.003+01:002010-05-10T20:16:44.371+01:00SeedlingsAll the trays in the greenhouse are now showing signs of life. With frosts predicted overnight for the next few days, however, it's still not time to plant them all out.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7uetSGLm-F0x7D7SEDmekYkidHdW4ZV0st65jYDyvBWa0oNnhjOcB0crOZqGkVJzY5imN_4PM3t8BSAw8iFQJiC6OaRt_kVaF8Jz5LyCs1q1voHSl1ShkefjvM8ld_2-u5ulwScb6ym_9/s1600/DSCF4259.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7uetSGLm-F0x7D7SEDmekYkidHdW4ZV0st65jYDyvBWa0oNnhjOcB0crOZqGkVJzY5imN_4PM3t8BSAw8iFQJiC6OaRt_kVaF8Jz5LyCs1q1voHSl1ShkefjvM8ld_2-u5ulwScb6ym_9/s200/DSCF4259.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469719926588132034" border="0" /></a>Here, clockwise from the left, we have celeriac, salad leaves, French beans and squash at the back, then sweetcorn, more beans, tomatoes, chives and some other herb, possibly oregano. And more sweetcorn in the middle at the very front. To the right of what you can see here is a propagator with basil and another herb, possibly coriander. Finally, on the other side of the greenhouse are yet more sweetcorn, beans and squashes.M-A and Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14891506734923080395noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2462022662309864434.post-8523555799181520632010-04-23T13:37:00.002+01:002010-04-23T19:45:27.797+01:00Sprouts... not the Brussels kind, but there are definitely some sprouts in the greenhouse from the 'Purple Queen' dwarf French beans, the lettuce/salad leaves and from the sunflowers (I forgot to mention them last time - we're finishing off a packet from last year; I also forgot to mention the chives.). Now, providing I keep remembering to water everything, I'm sure it won't be long before we see even more signs of life!M-A and Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14891506734923080395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2462022662309864434.post-59276469896721285962010-04-16T20:29:00.007+01:002010-04-16T21:49:21.909+01:00Digging and sowingNat's parents are up for a couple of days, which means that there have been enough spare hands to look after David and also do some allotmenting. Nat's dad has dug over lots more of the ground, particularly the first bed, where the brassicas are going.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOx3Aw6NiAFgV1mcJzwqWlEypnIC8k4qXv601V-pyeX1uKmQCv7bUbZXcsRrg2AQC3NlYIaYtTFpQi_6_gjd8OZ5TstDy3wyHYpvqgjqlF1lBFKNzalTMzyHwLjM_teB0-ZFejPF51hrLx/s1600/DSCF4117.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOx3Aw6NiAFgV1mcJzwqWlEypnIC8k4qXv601V-pyeX1uKmQCv7bUbZXcsRrg2AQC3NlYIaYtTFpQi_6_gjd8OZ5TstDy3wyHYpvqgjqlF1lBFKNzalTMzyHwLjM_teB0-ZFejPF51hrLx/s200/DSCF4117.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460833785543410258" border="0" /></a><br /><br />He also filled up loads of seed trays and cellular pots with compost, ready for planting seeds in. We then went from this ...<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLzUUhqLw-_SYyWTfGb7Pkltv08lR4GWpsdtnwZ2y6FfsgGXI0yN7c9i2-zNBSrh3JmH9SUIXcnUgn9yOKTlqBc_hIiWPdAztiP72l39kHaYBNEVPugm6f7Qxt1fbkXAAQeO9PuUxJ9HYx/s1600/DSCF4118.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLzUUhqLw-_SYyWTfGb7Pkltv08lR4GWpsdtnwZ2y6FfsgGXI0yN7c9i2-zNBSrh3JmH9SUIXcnUgn9yOKTlqBc_hIiWPdAztiP72l39kHaYBNEVPugm6f7Qxt1fbkXAAQeO9PuUxJ9HYx/s200/DSCF4118.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460833733727238402" border="0" /></a><br />... to this, this afternoon. The trays are now all back in the greenhouse, which has been wonderfully tidied, thanks to Nat's mum. There's just about enough space for all the trays on the greenhouse staging.<br /><br /><br />So, planted/sown today were: French beans, dwarf French beans, courgettes, squashes, basil, coriander, oregano, celeriac, lettuce, tomatos and sweetcorn (in toilet roll inners).<br /><br />There's a separate pile of seeds to be planted directly at the allotment: rocket, spinach, peas, carrots (2 varieties) and parsnips.<br /><br />And finally, the seeds to be planted in seed trays next month are: broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, more tomatos, chinese cabbage, pak choi, celery and goji berries.M-A and Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14891506734923080395noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2462022662309864434.post-527589447878123532010-03-28T19:36:00.003+01:002010-03-28T19:50:26.308+01:00Spring flowers<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvmnivT622of3VAuHuvKF3pZj-q6tod0fi2GtzYG57qc6FoTlmKZak7CRpZ2MeCCOfRCrhDPcITuJcpFF2CUJiRy6b5vSS0Y-_qbkmxwMzj2DKj4_6yyiCC1kfdQ0QozJxYRd3Qu_s5KxC/s1600/DSCF4050.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvmnivT622of3VAuHuvKF3pZj-q6tod0fi2GtzYG57qc6FoTlmKZak7CRpZ2MeCCOfRCrhDPcITuJcpFF2CUJiRy6b5vSS0Y-_qbkmxwMzj2DKj4_6yyiCC1kfdQ0QozJxYRd3Qu_s5KxC/s200/DSCF4050.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453755642866094738" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfk510BXQPYdz0UWWql47D5rWC2R6kzebMdV7lpfq5TQAuAaQgpjDFAhxobocXoFpg3nISjs3H-D_NTxmmzZ_ZV57UOhHdWO4Mz0_-4lMVlcDUHIh43I7BUGmVSib0EGjSZvdd0Q7JuaXS/s1600/DSCF4048.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfk510BXQPYdz0UWWql47D5rWC2R6kzebMdV7lpfq5TQAuAaQgpjDFAhxobocXoFpg3nISjs3H-D_NTxmmzZ_ZV57UOhHdWO4Mz0_-4lMVlcDUHIh43I7BUGmVSib0EGjSZvdd0Q7JuaXS/s200/DSCF4048.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453755579858716770" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Spring is finally here, and the allotment has responded with the bulbs starting to come into bloom at last after the long winter. On the left above are the first row of tulips to come out, and the hyacinths. On the right, you can see the rows of daffodils just coming out as well. Another week or so and it'll really look wonderful, especially when the small multi-headed daffodils are out.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJau5AY7ovsSDtwBKjDKXXm22GNL3PlJkLu01Xo13_xQIu-jcLyhNT_0SO6b0eBRTqNByUj_hCfzPEKQ22TknQ3K6FM9Bw2QtuNt3ZlD39DULByA84YWrNgfqYYa-hnCkhWT4pIaRJc1nT/s1600/DSCF4044.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJau5AY7ovsSDtwBKjDKXXm22GNL3PlJkLu01Xo13_xQIu-jcLyhNT_0SO6b0eBRTqNByUj_hCfzPEKQ22TknQ3K6FM9Bw2QtuNt3ZlD39DULByA84YWrNgfqYYa-hnCkhWT4pIaRJc1nT/s200/DSCF4044.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453757352287437378" border="0" /></a>Nat and Jeremy have been hard at work for the last few weekends digging over the various vegetable beds ready for this year's crops. It's really looking good now - here's the bed that the potatoes are going into, along with the onions , carrots and parsnips. As photos go, it's not very exciting, but the soil is looking lovely and clear, which is the main point. :)<br /><br />Now, unfortunately, there are rumours afoot that the parish council may have some plans that will affect the allotments - details are non-existent at the moment, but there's a meeting a week on Thursday about it, so watch this space...M-A and Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14891506734923080395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2462022662309864434.post-68130041621558294362010-02-17T16:56:00.003+00:002010-02-17T17:02:46.705+00:00DiggingSomething has been digging on our allotment, and it hasn't been us! I went up today to have a look round with the intention of starting off with the allotment again this weekend. In the first bed, the daffodils are coming up nicely; although, as I heard on the radio this morning, the cold winter is delaying the spring flowers, and we might end up with the daffs and tulips coming out together! No sign of any growth at all from the tulips yet, though, so I'm not quite convinced yet.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivy90-LxYNjwTYVUP_bRmdHQ53kjdh8xD25Gfqzfrq9UNorUakFbUi1osSHlQuLRBG92NoceIuvcqtMRsIh6RfL0s4P9LN4dzvckzT5TDVGXm5KqpSc8UeJwJXWX6WYjh6_adm0YC5XKVg/s1600-h/DSCF3928.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivy90-LxYNjwTYVUP_bRmdHQ53kjdh8xD25Gfqzfrq9UNorUakFbUi1osSHlQuLRBG92NoceIuvcqtMRsIh6RfL0s4P9LN4dzvckzT5TDVGXm5KqpSc8UeJwJXWX6WYjh6_adm0YC5XKVg/s200/DSCF3928.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439257378405468802" border="0" /></a>However, in the bed where we planted the onion sets back in the autumn, there are definite signs of activity (see picture). It looks rather as though something has been digging a few inches down all over that area. I didn't have the tools to investigate much, so I'm not sure if some of the onion sets have been eaten, but even if they have, there are fewer holes that there were sets, so we should get at least some crop. Very odd, though - is it rabbits?M-A and Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14891506734923080395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2462022662309864434.post-20096925859909218062010-01-12T18:42:00.003+00:002010-01-12T18:53:34.114+00:00New Year<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivKDVzvHO6Dix3sT2ndrJv4sp-p-IDwzoHhwulUg3ZrhL2s-J4BCrXDKOU98piRtM3uI3AGFSzMcAmICZOCdke13Ai-10rQebfcKVY1PEIk1VbK9u7rZfbVcpmRL7YQCSYIhAUOnBCrxtq/s1600-h/DSCF3775.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivKDVzvHO6Dix3sT2ndrJv4sp-p-IDwzoHhwulUg3ZrhL2s-J4BCrXDKOU98piRtM3uI3AGFSzMcAmICZOCdke13Ai-10rQebfcKVY1PEIk1VbK9u7rZfbVcpmRL7YQCSYIhAUOnBCrxtq/s200/DSCF3775.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425925810200555394" border="0" /></a>Well, we didn't get any Christmas sprouts after all, but mostly because we got halfway to my parents' house before suddenly remembering that we hadn't picked them after all. I went up to the allotment the week after we got back, though, and discovered a reasonable sprinkling of sprouts on the plants, although some had clearly been nibbled, despite the netting. Having checked over the brassica cage, I discovered that one of the layers of netting had come undone, leaving a huge space that hungry animals could get through to eat our brassicas. I tried to make it good again, to prevent further incursion, but haven't checked again since to see if it's lasted. Hopefully I'll get up there again this weekend, and actually pick some sprouts this time!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh288ueg3TcxMOEJRP6QXPHFzf40H4wyOzyTgJGfK_AxE07DwJ8moACZcrkqaUII6AOA_4d8TYo4rKoVro2ZNGx3yIn0-8kPg9q29lL95XyjAGdmHT2FH9ox-Xhx8K5Ei_oW0bTnelXCIqw/s1600-h/DSCF3777.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh288ueg3TcxMOEJRP6QXPHFzf40H4wyOzyTgJGfK_AxE07DwJ8moACZcrkqaUII6AOA_4d8TYo4rKoVro2ZNGx3yIn0-8kPg9q29lL95XyjAGdmHT2FH9ox-Xhx8K5Ei_oW0bTnelXCIqw/s200/DSCF3777.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425925877750653986" border="0" /></a>Despite the snowy, frosty weather we've had for the past few weeks, the daffodils are starting the come through - here's a picture of some of the larger shoots. It was lovely last year when we had a riot of colour between the daffodils and the tulips, and I'm really looking forward to that again this year.<br /><br />I had a look over the rest of the plot as well - weeds pretty much under control, unsurprisingly, given the time of year, and no signs of life from the onions yet - but it's still very early for them.<br /><br />Not long now before I need to start thinking about what we're planting this year. I'm waiting to be told that the seed potatoes have arrived at the allotment shop in town - I should probably chase that up to make sure they're not sitting waiting for me! Other than that, I think we have all the seeds we need already, from last year's packets.<br /><br />This will be an interesting year for our allotment, as we're expecting a baby in early March (peak seed sowing time!). On the other hand, I'll be off on maternity leave for a few months, and I'm sure the baby can just sit and watch me on the allotment sometimes, can't it? Watch this space...M-A and Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14891506734923080395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2462022662309864434.post-8404882143354069512009-11-22T17:34:00.002+00:002009-11-22T17:43:27.367+00:00Planting onionsIt's been a few weeks since we've done much on the allotment, but Nat's parents kindly brought the last of their onion sets with them last weekend for us, so we went up this afternoon to plant them, just before the light faded. We got there at about quarter to 4, and were very pleased to find quite how easily the ground was digging after all the rain over the last few weeks. In half an hour or so (with some help from Angela), we'd dug over the 'carrots, onions and parsnips' area and planted 5 rows of onions (2 varieties of white onions, and one of red in the middle, plus 5 leftover onions from this year that had started re-sprouting). We learnt from this year that, if you you're planning on having rows of carrots between rows of onions, you need make sure you leave enough space to hoe in between, or the carrots get overrun with weeds and stay small. So we spaced the onions out much more than last year.<br /><br />Reviewing the rest of the allotment, the brassicas are doing reasonably well - we may even get some Christmas sprouts at this rate! The 'spring' onions are also looking very good, although they probably need harvesting really. A few daffodils have started to make an early appearance, and the garlic is looking healthy. As for the rest of the beds, it's not been warm enough for weeds to take over since we last dug them over, so it'll be an easy job to keep them clear over the winter.M-A and Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14891506734923080395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2462022662309864434.post-26351729720627152772009-10-18T19:44:00.003+01:002009-10-18T20:04:20.529+01:00Time to plan...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG1kRkmAEmMSJfciH6Mv4g7HtQHd22pWI3Vq859rhoLBODsMfAGDpuSf3ubd8DnaBLwxBJ6GIv1b7ZEzwogmbQIzb18S5gkC-3BH_3Ct1lavUK7P4niVbQhH-7AWhh0m-HNHbQcas45lI/s1600-h/allotment2010.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 255px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG1kRkmAEmMSJfciH6Mv4g7HtQHd22pWI3Vq859rhoLBODsMfAGDpuSf3ubd8DnaBLwxBJ6GIv1b7ZEzwogmbQIzb18S5gkC-3BH_3Ct1lavUK7P4niVbQhH-7AWhh0m-HNHbQcas45lI/s320/allotment2010.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394014356949796674" border="0" /></a>Well 2009 is drawing to a close and winter approaches, so it's time to start planning where things go next year. So here's my first draft of a plan, based on some discussions with Mary-Ann, some thoughts of my own, and the cycle from my book which is basically:<br />Hungry crops (beans, peas, onions) & salads -> Brassicas -> Root crops<br /><br />I need to go up and measure properly at some point, so this diagram isn't quite to scale. It's based on drawing round an image from google maps :)<br /><br />Anyway, going through section by section:<br /><br />1. Nearest the gate, brassicas and maybe something else as well, covering where the beans, onions, and carrots have been this year. But not digging up the daffodils.<br /><br />2. Next in, is beans and things, where potatoes have been this year. Maybe aim to have a couple of full rows of beans this year, with more robust infrastructure, but we'll anyway have more beans in the 3 sisters patch. The 3 sisters are sweetcorn, beans and squash: the idea is that the beans grow up the sweetcorn and the squash fills in the gaps on the ground. This is a square area, as it helps the pollenation of the sweetcorn. In the rest of this area we're aiming to go for smaller (and neater!) beds than last year. :)<br /><br />3. Finally we've got the root crops. The aim here is to grow lots of potatoes, as they're yummy and useful and easy to grow. But we want some carrots, onions and maybe parsnips too. Any thoughts on this?<br /><br />I think that generally we thought that lettuce needs a tad more attention and is best grown in back gardens, as it has been going to seed somewhat.<br />So anyway, how does this seem to people?Jeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14767711328095830167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2462022662309864434.post-87779736156760214232009-09-27T17:49:00.010+01:002009-09-28T22:39:54.366+01:00Milton Produce ShowThis year saw the return, after many years' gap, of the <a href="http://www.milton.org.uk/produceshow/">Milton Produce Show</a>. Ellie was one of the key people helping bring it all together, and we entered various things from our allotment on the off-chance that some of them might be half decent.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidz6TrTTewu6R-qL9JLtU5VJgoSNtHecEUfblrniAOnZ05-x7ioqkZffw4Rj6BX7QpZQDTBjDLouUJeYNCIoHDfViL1V0cY5JdKbtQE5UUU_O53LNcxxf-lJhOIK53fBNYsIo2Isw1xpHy/s1600-h/IMG_0188.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidz6TrTTewu6R-qL9JLtU5VJgoSNtHecEUfblrniAOnZ05-x7ioqkZffw4Rj6BX7QpZQDTBjDLouUJeYNCIoHDfViL1V0cY5JdKbtQE5UUU_O53LNcxxf-lJhOIK53fBNYsIo2Isw1xpHy/s200/IMG_0188.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386632302336561026" border="0" /></a>In ascending order of category, then, here's how we got on. First up was the "5 potatoes" category, where you had to enter 5 potatoes of similar size and shape. As a bit of a novelty, we decided to enter some pink fir apple potatoes - they're naturally knobbly, and we found 5 that had knobbles in similar places. And they won the class!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPdtBYIKhRDRJ-ik0Q6tJ52nw3AzugAWVWqB7v0T3og0nJnc24xjENMU0ENZ89H0DENEn6G4QkBxz0Oc-CPG5Oyzm-zTLn6cbVCABFp-4N69Ge7BYY2AyE0E7zOzbMWmWla6xQCtcxG3Je/s1600-h/IMG_0186.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPdtBYIKhRDRJ-ik0Q6tJ52nw3AzugAWVWqB7v0T3og0nJnc24xjENMU0ENZ89H0DENEn6G4QkBxz0Oc-CPG5Oyzm-zTLn6cbVCABFp-4N69Ge7BYY2AyE0E7zOzbMWmWla6xQCtcxG3Je/s200/IMG_0186.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386632912558664002" border="0" /></a>Next up was the squash category, which we felt reasonably confident about, thanks to our packet of "mixed squashes and pumpkins" that we'd planted this year. We checked carefully, and pumpkins are just a type of squash, so we entered our green and yellow stripy round squash and the nicest-looking yellow curly one. The former won 1st place, and the latter 3rd place - not bad at all!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidnL_hhOFERUtjdhJ0Nj4hsgIuhDtcdh3elly3kbcXVR5ucYkw_Cx9mKg_gpPTx-pZhvAb_cwt0URC46BS-OdzZJIKNrLGUifJ1FJXrGnBqFRxdAtQ8Hq51tvJ58GeRs9Np1RHAoCdhZuM/s1600-h/IMG_0185.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidnL_hhOFERUtjdhJ0Nj4hsgIuhDtcdh3elly3kbcXVR5ucYkw_Cx9mKg_gpPTx-pZhvAb_cwt0URC46BS-OdzZJIKNrLGUifJ1FJXrGnBqFRxdAtQ8Hq51tvJ58GeRs9Np1RHAoCdhZuM/s200/IMG_0185.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386633407600138642" border="0" /></a>Next again was the "5 runner beans" group. Again, the guidelines suggested you aim for similar sizes, and not too many seeds externally noticeable. I picked about 8 on Saturday, and whittled it down to the most similar-looking 5 to enter. Again once again, we were stunned to discover that we'd won that class too!<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4HVnOWGk-oS_YNNObJc5GjHF9nZJmSjfXi7arjaE61pK49OcEslVz5sMoUDn07wEd22tiKemaXsDUCPse-3f5aqqpwsZWgGQJ_4FpztRmkeSOxTTF5tDstPpAqbu5xmLnArbQvJHvolsQ/s1600-h/IMG_0184.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4HVnOWGk-oS_YNNObJc5GjHF9nZJmSjfXi7arjaE61pK49OcEslVz5sMoUDn07wEd22tiKemaXsDUCPse-3f5aqqpwsZWgGQJ_4FpztRmkeSOxTTF5tDstPpAqbu5xmLnArbQvJHvolsQ/s200/IMG_0184.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386633979054419970" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />After that, our luck started to fade a little - we were 2nd out of 2 in the 'heaviest potato' category, thanks to a real whopper from Stephanie.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnJ0W5BcVddt4o7_7BjVZa1EivZP9cymRuiEjoKn62QadoivD4H-l4Fx-ckbFmS6YBeuC9iA7Hs2ST6pHiMkCHH67qRUBSwHfZqHdAU2OcpcYbYiTUYkx-LHvV5wY04FJr0HLExnUufCJa/s1600-h/IMG_0183.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnJ0W5BcVddt4o7_7BjVZa1EivZP9cymRuiEjoKn62QadoivD4H-l4Fx-ckbFmS6YBeuC9iA7Hs2ST6pHiMkCHH67qRUBSwHfZqHdAU2OcpcYbYiTUYkx-LHvV5wY04FJr0HLExnUufCJa/s200/IMG_0183.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386634257766334658" border="0" /></a>And finally, we'd hedged our bets with the pink fir apple potatoes, and entered the knobbliest one in the "ugliest/most misshapen vegetable" category. Clearly the judges knew their potatoes, as we weren't even placed for that. They knew it was supposed to be that shape...<br /><br />As well as the separate categories, there were also cups for best overall vegetable, etc., and we were very pleased indeed when Simon won the photography cup with a lovely photo of dragonflies in the country park.<br /><br />The whole day was great fun, if not a terribly serious competition. I think it'll be a lot bigger next year, as there were lots of people coming past and saying "Ooh, I could enter for that class next year." As well as the vegetables, there were also fruit, cake, painting, photography, and handicraft categories. I can't believe I didn't notice the "home-made card" category, for instance! Ah, well, next year...M-A and Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14891506734923080395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2462022662309864434.post-75032973322798992292009-09-08T19:34:00.007+01:002009-09-08T19:51:35.987+01:00More clearing<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiznpmukoF4UaUzUs6Azr5xYV7yBjaSro9RP0-QwIpK36yOtGX-hnzJWmnGbNGdOS9ixKteySE_u47jWzYRntpR9L_222HDEXGvHusBFlo9lVEZ1sB6EGq9SD3XCwhCDlEWXcWPNRAtJyR/s1600-h/IMG_0171.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiznpmukoF4UaUzUs6Azr5xYV7yBjaSro9RP0-QwIpK36yOtGX-hnzJWmnGbNGdOS9ixKteySE_u47jWzYRntpR9L_222HDEXGvHusBFlo9lVEZ1sB6EGq9SD3XCwhCDlEWXcWPNRAtJyR/s200/IMG_0171.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379167071185540674" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Last weekend, we went up to the allotment again (yeay!). The sweetcorn are definitely coming along nicely - much better than last year. The trick is clearly not to precariously balance a large sheet of wood right next to the young stalks in the high winds...<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTV1XGJ1VCoA-Tf9lEFj-WE6tiAONIElcAWkXhg0bRUQEC470v8-Qa7-QIoNcb25U6nqDEv-3b6lHbyD8blNOFTgfNyOMbRJpZ6WLgjmFD0OVYfPAorO9TBnspNKRWCRlaFXbhov-xsMZC/s1600-h/IMG_0177.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTV1XGJ1VCoA-Tf9lEFj-WE6tiAONIElcAWkXhg0bRUQEC470v8-Qa7-QIoNcb25U6nqDEv-3b6lHbyD8blNOFTgfNyOMbRJpZ6WLgjmFD0OVYfPAorO9TBnspNKRWCRlaFXbhov-xsMZC/s200/IMG_0177.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379166971063110530" border="0" /></a>Similarly, Nat & Jeremy had mowed the orchard the week before, and it was also still looking good. It's pleasing to discover that not everything needs constant attention - every few weeks will keep it under control. it's just leaving it for 2 months in the height of summer that's not so great...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOcoujCYmjeNt3_IzziklFouoK_Ehk7sNN7JCspWXGsNH8i45ylR4AXe0uBWgF_Tn_54z_YLffmrE3RfkbeiN7RX0fcnvQ6YjTs_rKBLxQHkY9KKudMkWoTUdEHTYQzI4OWMu51Ua4EFkl/s1600-h/IMG_0180.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOcoujCYmjeNt3_IzziklFouoK_Ehk7sNN7JCspWXGsNH8i45ylR4AXe0uBWgF_Tn_54z_YLffmrE3RfkbeiN7RX0fcnvQ6YjTs_rKBLxQHkY9KKudMkWoTUdEHTYQzI4OWMu51Ua4EFkl/s200/IMG_0180.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379166860521847506" border="0" /></a>And here's the major (in my eyes) achievement of this weekend - a proper cage around the brassicas, keeping the netting off them. We've also put some stakes in next to the Brussels sprouts, as they were looking a bit windswept. I guess that's what happens when the plant spends most of its formative weeks being supported by weeds!<br /><br />The one downside to working in the allotment the last couple of weeks, has been that I've been getting bitten by something. My mum also did, so we suspect it was something lurking in the weeds around the brassicas. As they're all gone now, it'll hopefully be safe to venture up there next weekend...M-A and Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14891506734923080395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2462022662309864434.post-39903986194647408152009-09-03T20:14:00.011+01:002009-09-08T19:26:27.028+01:00Rediscovering the soilHaving finally moved into our new house, we've been catching up on the allotment over the past few weeks. Thanks mainly to Ellie, I think, it'd been kept in check over the summer, but there were areas where the weeds were close to winning the battle, such as in the brassica area, so it was time to set to and fight back.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgabAInhHPNgJjd_saQ52GmGtqmiTMfWpnQNbecxdoSyJJk-bnL2QS-S9H8EO7Y7sNwHbDUZJuTDEbfrEirG7DDiyjqbViP3pOZ0nsmQCSY5Q3hzXYNsz7eNaEnRP4jEWyG0R8QEVnjzfCN/s1600-h/100_1779.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgabAInhHPNgJjd_saQ52GmGtqmiTMfWpnQNbecxdoSyJJk-bnL2QS-S9H8EO7Y7sNwHbDUZJuTDEbfrEirG7DDiyjqbViP3pOZ0nsmQCSY5Q3hzXYNsz7eNaEnRP4jEWyG0R8QEVnjzfCN/s200/100_1779.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377322553135950434" border="0" /></a>The beans, by contrast, have fought off the weeds and become a heaving mass of greenery near the allotment gate. Another year, we'll know not to fiddle around with pieces of string, but just get a load of bamboo canes and let them grow up those.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk_kb6DKyGHBHDG9vg8OYXWOJ5wkOxRqTRKYikh0ArStOk2GVCMGo3jX5z1feV7511ONRr2JMeQQQxQp_EbNbg9elZNnROiMszhHUFSgjO7ge-R-XwQZt72kBWdJ5leqYfGvHgP5tJA562/s1600-h/100_1781.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk_kb6DKyGHBHDG9vg8OYXWOJ5wkOxRqTRKYikh0ArStOk2GVCMGo3jX5z1feV7511ONRr2JMeQQQxQp_EbNbg9elZNnROiMszhHUFSgjO7ge-R-XwQZt72kBWdJ5leqYfGvHgP5tJA562/s200/100_1781.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377322480336529858" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The squashes have also been doing well. The seeds we planted were a packet of 'mixed pumpkins and squashes', so we weren't terribly sure what to expect. This one appears to be a ... curly yellow squash.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiex1ou2tm6RVlwMLx6F2R1zKs3XuEvHH3CWSpvhBqVDsGKGL3ReiHi239bSVxKmhbbdgj7XeHplnmDHhJKI8hAZ5oW_SGFcS5FS48RBWW9l1zjKBB3LXeJgGudjpjPeT4VkjF1TyfOQXE1/s1600-h/100_1782.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiex1ou2tm6RVlwMLx6F2R1zKs3XuEvHH3CWSpvhBqVDsGKGL3ReiHi239bSVxKmhbbdgj7XeHplnmDHhJKI8hAZ5oW_SGFcS5FS48RBWW9l1zjKBB3LXeJgGudjpjPeT4VkjF1TyfOQXE1/s200/100_1782.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377322420087171602" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Here's another one, probably a pumpkin this time, with me next to it for scale. I wonder when these should be harvested?<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5pq43ss046bmbmMTCneuHrzPa8Z0URIv1x4vgpaSRMD0mMbFyz0qNoMH6TYHNgjqzwj2uGBvj7IV7cgMyqU8qf0ZBTQCnWT9PPSJ85lMS3fWkVVKDAZCobf4t0M6wYBzUaLpfFUBOvnCD/s1600-h/100_1797.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5pq43ss046bmbmMTCneuHrzPa8Z0URIv1x4vgpaSRMD0mMbFyz0qNoMH6TYHNgjqzwj2uGBvj7IV7cgMyqU8qf0ZBTQCnWT9PPSJ85lMS3fWkVVKDAZCobf4t0M6wYBzUaLpfFUBOvnCD/s200/100_1797.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377322356035865362" border="0" /></a>Onto the aforementioned brassicas. We'd covered them in butterfly-proof netting, to stop the cabbage whites eating them to death like last year. The netting was holding up just fine, but most of the vegetation inside wasn't brassicas...<br /><br />We extracted the edges of the netting from the ground-level weeds, and rolled it back as far as we could, squashes permitting. Now that we had good access to the weeds, they were easy to pull out, and there were a reasonable number of pretty healthy looking brassicas in there, which was encouraging.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK-u0u8AOfm8ufGuZfcLgPbPWF-aV2qEt390M6QEwyB9xexq4Evbpx9w8TUTFjmpPayDbPjFv5-39YFzB_mivyEKWjx3uDOayzPueRT6MzdXMQXPlgQ_XMrdmA-7cvj32pkxa222n4dag-/s1600-h/100_1798.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK-u0u8AOfm8ufGuZfcLgPbPWF-aV2qEt390M6QEwyB9xexq4Evbpx9w8TUTFjmpPayDbPjFv5-39YFzB_mivyEKWjx3uDOayzPueRT6MzdXMQXPlgQ_XMrdmA-7cvj32pkxa222n4dag-/s200/100_1798.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377322259316912834" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Talking of the squashes, here's my mum amongst them. They'd spread all over the place, including up the fence and up and over the brassica netting, so we've had to gently reroute some of them out of the way. I think they've all survived the experience, though.M-A and Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14891506734923080395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2462022662309864434.post-19884303621289372482009-08-18T09:15:00.002+01:002009-08-18T09:19:47.672+01:00LettuceWeeded the lettuce area yesterday. They've nearly all bolted but I got a couple of decent ones and I think there are a few more to be had, if anyone wants them. Pak choi has all disappeared - at least the slugs got a good meal!Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05845396773668385887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2462022662309864434.post-76059825560770541742009-08-11T16:30:00.002+01:002009-08-11T16:33:35.741+01:00Weeding 11 AugustWent up to the allotment today and cleared under the pea wigwam (didn't find any living pea plants, I'm afraid) and the corn area. Lots of lovely blackberries ready to pick from the brambles around the well. Plenty more weeding to do - will try to get there again tomorrow!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2462022662309864434.post-80106296943960288922009-07-14T21:25:00.002+01:002009-07-14T22:07:01.254+01:00Busy busy busyJust a quick update to say that we haven't abandoned the allotment since the last post, but N and M-A have been rather busy moving house (including renovating it before we move in), so there hasn't been much chance to update the blog.<br /><br />We've had a nice crop of raspberries, and even a few tayberries, despite this being the first year that the tayberry plant was in the ground. The thornless blackcurrant bush is covered in green berries, so it should be a good crop come the autumn.<br /><br />A few of the potato plants have wilted, so we've harvested those ones, but nothing else yet. We ought to start harvesting them soon, especially the earlies!<br /><br />The lettuce was a great success again, like last year, but the first lot has all gone to seed now. The 2nd lot should be just about there shortly. The Pak Choi looks rather nibbled - it's all under netting, so presumably slugs rather than rabbits.<br /><br />The broad beans got covered in black fly, but we still got a decent crop from them. We don't eat huge amounts of broad beans generally, but they're so easy to grow that it seems a shame not to... we need to find some good recipes, though.<br /><br />The courgettes are busy producing, and we harvested the first 3 courgettes and a (very long!) marrow this evening. The squashes are covering the ground nicely, and there's even the beginnings of a gourd in there. We don't know which squash plant is which variety, mind you.<br /><br />The onions have begun to 'flop', but the current thinking is that it's best to leave them until the leaves actually start turning brown, so no harvest there just yet. There are signs of carrots between the rows of onions, but nothing spectacular - probably due to late sowing and not enough watering.<br /><br />The herb bed hasn't really come to anything, apart from the chives, which seem pretty happy. I've got some tarragon cuttings from Freecycle that I'm trying to get to grow roots, but they don't look terribly happy so far.<br /><br />The beans are busy climbing up their (carefully tied) string framework. J says it would have been much quicker (in retrospect) to just use canes, rather than the string, but it's there now, and we can re-use it in later years.<br /><br />Hopefully I'll get a chance to post with some photos in the next few weeks!M-A and Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14891506734923080395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2462022662309864434.post-23507114530642705432009-06-09T19:14:00.007+01:002009-06-09T21:38:55.904+01:00Well, well, well...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTxAnoDSskB9k3Q1VrFohSeCyvYMN1jEmCtKM65k6woVma3Y1aF2I6agUD-6ta6Bur2l7CfCiiBHmRmr0RcpWpIxoGm9xv2GuJUGuU8vKdSgOkE-6aSECWG64niYSeE84D2kgjsAJVd-sW/s1600-h/DSCF2625.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTxAnoDSskB9k3Q1VrFohSeCyvYMN1jEmCtKM65k6woVma3Y1aF2I6agUD-6ta6Bur2l7CfCiiBHmRmr0RcpWpIxoGm9xv2GuJUGuU8vKdSgOkE-6aSECWG64niYSeE84D2kgjsAJVd-sW/s200/DSCF2625.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345393393261937954" border="0" /></a>As I may have mentioned before, there is a well on our allotment. It just about reaches the water table (about 4' down), and had a fairly consistent 8" or so of water until the recent dry spell, when the level dropped right off to just being generally muddy at the bottom. Mark (who shares our allotment) managed to borrow the well-digging thingy last weekend, so he and Jeremy set to trying to deepen the well.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixsw6x98pNte_ZaJHwhGjLdQNZDAE6h7-yFXHHCMsHQ2Kh_lOQd2RD1TIJoO7VPPivu5et_xxXm-ULaRlS6NGs7JyEXUS3SAe3bJwF6nc72f-zlE0E8hg-Fmcaz6dGEuXqq2LAiIcw-Uq3/s1600-h/DSCF2632.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixsw6x98pNte_ZaJHwhGjLdQNZDAE6h7-yFXHHCMsHQ2Kh_lOQd2RD1TIJoO7VPPivu5et_xxXm-ULaRlS6NGs7JyEXUS3SAe3bJwF6nc72f-zlE0E8hg-Fmcaz6dGEuXqq2LAiIcw-Uq3/s200/DSCF2632.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345393339133804610" border="0" /></a>The first idea was to climb into the well and try to dig it down from there. That didn't go so well, as there wasn't enough room to bend over inside the hole. The second idea was to put the ladder in the well and climb down it head-first by hand, to try to dig it out that way.<br /><br />In the end, I'm not sure what the most successful method was, but they managed to get the well about 18" deeper after a couple of hours or so, so we're back down to water again, which is brilliant. Of course, there is still the main allotment pump for water, but this will save us the walk, and we may even fit our own pump to it at some point in the future.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikVkMbifymlB9X4fKMdTZDYvaRq_2Al7tdZ0QEe11mT06fcYf1bK34wf3yUedlB4B0xXL3wNQHN7PNY13i5uaKTTHRarhgmsNVrCd45YrSan-nvXnq7mrtSu2WmHr24IgAyEwL0u0-aXtr/s1600-h/DSCF2630.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikVkMbifymlB9X4fKMdTZDYvaRq_2Al7tdZ0QEe11mT06fcYf1bK34wf3yUedlB4B0xXL3wNQHN7PNY13i5uaKTTHRarhgmsNVrCd45YrSan-nvXnq7mrtSu2WmHr24IgAyEwL0u0-aXtr/s200/DSCF2630.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345393283244058578" border="0" /></a>The potatoes are coming along very nicely, and we've been hilling all the rows that we hadn't previously got round to. I read somewhere that it was a good idea to remove the potato flowers, so that they concentrate on bulking up the tubers, rather than going to seed. So I've been round and taken off all the ones I could find. I'll probably need to go round again next weekend, as the flowers are only just appearing now.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgprcu7oQqkn1Az-YJCGfUb1f0dMKmQq281TJfNI1wv4clO0GW7iof12Ls5jS51YEc28Txk8UZfklwPr2UCh7by7fHMfenffTWw2Qa4P99T-GEIFV6Jjjc_TAx_yvPf63n6y4SdTeA2Y36S/s1600-h/DSCF2640.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgprcu7oQqkn1Az-YJCGfUb1f0dMKmQq281TJfNI1wv4clO0GW7iof12Ls5jS51YEc28Txk8UZfklwPr2UCh7by7fHMfenffTWw2Qa4P99T-GEIFV6Jjjc_TAx_yvPf63n6y4SdTeA2Y36S/s200/DSCF2640.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345393228171575122" border="0" /></a>I've now finished planting out the brassicas (no, Mr. Spellcheck, not 'brassily', and we've used a few more of the bike wheels, as you can see here. Some of the ones I planted out last week have wilted, but I'm not surprised, as some of the seedlings were very small. Anyway, it meant I could re-use those spaces in the row for the final few plants, which in turn meant that the netting was nicely wide enough to cover them all.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi65L4sXoShHBVt2mly3e1-gTMEugG4eAMDAaOmd43CAo_Br9hwYhttfaqqMn7_mJvGhrS7G-w6-vgEVG-myVG5X12YwSCIdOBp120KnQISI0Yx9f9Z4Pr-oD96dl3-iyuGytKgveirVmjD/s1600-h/DSCF2641.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi65L4sXoShHBVt2mly3e1-gTMEugG4eAMDAaOmd43CAo_Br9hwYhttfaqqMn7_mJvGhrS7G-w6-vgEVG-myVG5X12YwSCIdOBp120KnQISI0Yx9f9Z4Pr-oD96dl3-iyuGytKgveirVmjD/s200/DSCF2641.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345393161157768178" border="0" /></a><br />Here's the general overview now (as seen from the convenient vantagepoint mentioned once before!). Comparing this with the same view <a href="http://miltonallotment.blogspot.com/2009/05/6-hours-on-bank-holiday.html">a month ago</a>, you can see how much has changed & grown.M-A and Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14891506734923080395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2462022662309864434.post-34374965658688762342009-05-31T21:23:00.002+01:002009-05-31T22:00:28.239+01:00Brassicas, carrots, and waterI finally got a chance to plant out the brassicas today! There had been a bit of a calamity earlier in the week, when one of the shelves in the cold frame collapsed, taking the purple sprouting broccoli, globe artichokes and French bean (yes, singular!) with it. I rescued most stuff, but it brought home the need to plant out the broccoli in particular to give the disturbed seedlings the best chance for survival.<br /><br />So we now have a couple of rows of purple sprouting broccoli, almost a row of cabbage, and just over 2 rows of Brussels sprouts. There's a still a row or so of Brussels seedlings left to plant out, but the sun had nearly set by the time we got that far, so it was time to call it a day.<br /><br />Having planted the brassicas out, though, we had to get the netting set up, or what was there would be eaten by caterpillars like last year. The netting was only a few cm wider than the bed itself, so not wide enough to stand a foot off the plants and still reach the ground. We turned the netting around by 90 degrees, and it was wide enough that way to cover the area we've planted up today. We've rolled the rest of it up for now - will work out what to do with it all later. It seems a shame to cut it up, but we may need to.<br /><br />Today also brought the first sightings (at least, by me) of carrots seedlings! I'd just about given up on them, but there are are definitely seedling leaves and even a few of the fluffy leaves in places. We gave them all a good watering, so hopefully they'll continue to flourish.<br /><br />Finally, the pump has been fixed, which is wonderful news. It'd got to the point where it took about 5 minutes to fill a watering can, but now it takes about 10 seconds - that's better than it's ever been while we've been there. If the summer is as dry as they're predicting, at least the watering won't be as hard work as I feared. Last week, when it was taking ages to pump anything at all, I was being so careful not to spill a drop, as it was all so hard-won. It's given me a new appreciation of quite how precious water is to people who have to walk hours to fetch it both for themselves and to water their fields.M-A and Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14891506734923080395noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2462022662309864434.post-13656563814005887412009-05-25T21:56:00.012+01:002009-05-25T22:23:13.685+01:00Spring Bank Holiday Weekend<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguVxceIIQRWF1s0z4ccjzjoH1FHac2QoYQHpelsXPxQpO7P-CwCqDLis_cpiG0Wh0vD0tCL-OtxiIJIDnIyiqPeUsX_Z1rUvmuOOhqumtJDeBT9pHsBMG7JiTDUcGib0_ZN5MxMXJ5i9JN/s1600-h/DSCF2585.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguVxceIIQRWF1s0z4ccjzjoH1FHac2QoYQHpelsXPxQpO7P-CwCqDLis_cpiG0Wh0vD0tCL-OtxiIJIDnIyiqPeUsX_Z1rUvmuOOhqumtJDeBT9pHsBMG7JiTDUcGib0_ZN5MxMXJ5i9JN/s200/DSCF2585.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339868953442972258" border="0" /></a>The weather was very good to us over the weekend (apart from the lack of rain!), so we got a lot done up at the allotment. The broad beans now have a supporting structure made from various odds & ends of string, and the peas have a wonderful cane-and-string contraption to support them too.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWL82Wa12GdnwLYv0hCv2Ec7OxdLCe3WtfRiyrn_Yx7ptO-lcjB3TYZxxGqpDWN-PW5SD05KTsYrqXJjGS2DkwpfOkMpRp673GDJI4Vm_znjRgxtuTSD6LJh92VAkvRHimMgC-hpHiR12q/s1600-h/DSCF2591.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWL82Wa12GdnwLYv0hCv2Ec7OxdLCe3WtfRiyrn_Yx7ptO-lcjB3TYZxxGqpDWN-PW5SD05KTsYrqXJjGS2DkwpfOkMpRp673GDJI4Vm_znjRgxtuTSD6LJh92VAkvRHimMgC-hpHiR12q/s200/DSCF2591.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339868901369647074" border="0" /></a>There are more signs of life in the fruit area - budding apples on the trees and flowers on the blackberry bush. The raspberries canes also have small green proto-raspberries where the flowers were, and ...<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRUKd9Ozd90XDbNLR1wgSML8WOMtLe0eY-tu1uGvFww_S58uf2pEpdA_fQlY8VXzAxzTfdskdFVPIFZBLCV2CT-EVJF_q6SwuNEvQ34q6tEit8WX621u6RFGt9bJJjBNObeF4kUD0yKK16/s1600-h/DSCF2592.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRUKd9Ozd90XDbNLR1wgSML8WOMtLe0eY-tu1uGvFww_S58uf2pEpdA_fQlY8VXzAxzTfdskdFVPIFZBLCV2CT-EVJF_q6SwuNEvQ34q6tEit8WX621u6RFGt9bJJjBNObeF4kUD0yKK16/s200/DSCF2592.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339868850040118002" border="0" /></a><br />... our first strawberry! it's still very small, but we put some straw under it to make sure it doesn't rot - although in this weather, there's not much chance of that!<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8gw9htIDTfWv_rK2757xJpj8AXd07l0dvOUj5GLaZmTEZ1A2cgNgn5rK8rw8T_9ua0SFC8CxAOlcAs3K6pEei1778mIyYClDKQj92oQhtVRoEpZxaClH24W2_MWk8WncxM3hJ0BWJ_IOA/s1600-h/DSCF2596.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8gw9htIDTfWv_rK2757xJpj8AXd07l0dvOUj5GLaZmTEZ1A2cgNgn5rK8rw8T_9ua0SFC8CxAOlcAs3K6pEei1778mIyYClDKQj92oQhtVRoEpZxaClH24W2_MWk8WncxM3hJ0BWJ_IOA/s200/DSCF2596.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339868780562698642" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />We got a lot of structural work done on the fruit cage - I'll call this section "Things not try at home". Number 1: standing on the end of an upturned cylinder. Actually surprisingly stable, it turns out.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVQ6psTSmz6vFZtJLSSRD86kbwHVWcmzxHQbgvX1E4s3pFnhn3WlMJKeuSCbMBuXR1mddoeMrGVq22XVjQo25TpMnjOE8E_nxA7gahaQtACK8XQTMWthgOXSYxQ0wt9mOQkKiLvILCivy8/s1600-h/DSCF2604.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVQ6psTSmz6vFZtJLSSRD86kbwHVWcmzxHQbgvX1E4s3pFnhn3WlMJKeuSCbMBuXR1mddoeMrGVq22XVjQo25TpMnjOE8E_nxA7gahaQtACK8XQTMWthgOXSYxQ0wt9mOQkKiLvILCivy8/s200/DSCF2604.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339868718970116210" border="0" /></a><br />Number 2 - repeatedly lifting and dropping the pole-bashing thingy to ram the posts in properly. The label on the side says "safety helmets must be worn". We only had 2 helmets, though, and a 3rd person was needed to hold the fencing away from the post while it was being bashed... I didn't stand too close, though!<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpB69OjyjOzp76IkRwRTud3dQJT7e4AoI0SgKCye-EIZr7aY-u8muioAmpsvYVH5D_Un8YE9dawxY3rCEnVOdyaQzTuXorCPcbp_45h06yTLjqkxADEbNmuakQT0SHBGHWUv3fZIJxTG1w/s1600-h/DSCF2615.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpB69OjyjOzp76IkRwRTud3dQJT7e4AoI0SgKCye-EIZr7aY-u8muioAmpsvYVH5D_Un8YE9dawxY3rCEnVOdyaQzTuXorCPcbp_45h06yTLjqkxADEbNmuakQT0SHBGHWUv3fZIJxTG1w/s200/DSCF2615.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339868664846781250" border="0" /></a>Number 3: Standing with your arms raised in the full sun for several hours with no suncream - a recipe for sunburn, it turned out. This picture was when we were re-tensioning the wire. We can now walk freely underneath it without garotting ourselves!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5rh_MQcyC8zWqXia9w7jKcGubtiBUfbke7_ahhGhXD9hhavp_BbNnKkGtXa9g2JR4kl8XjVSeXFP8SAi84_74Ls2qey92RnlZ1EPjIZOR2oPsHNhGb_230jN9sARZ2H2V8FjmeBI41Bzp/s1600-h/DSCF2617.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5rh_MQcyC8zWqXia9w7jKcGubtiBUfbke7_ahhGhXD9hhavp_BbNnKkGtXa9g2JR4kl8XjVSeXFP8SAi84_74Ls2qey92RnlZ1EPjIZOR2oPsHNhGb_230jN9sARZ2H2V8FjmeBI41Bzp/s200/DSCF2617.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339868574477158610" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />And finally for the photos, some wildlife! I found all sorts of things on the apple tree leaves - 2 types of caterpillar and a snail (about 5' off the ground!). The apple trees don't seem to mind, though.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />In non-photographic news, I planted out the spring onions and leeks in between the rows of tulips. I've left the cabbage and Brussels seedlings up there, under the lettuce netting - I didn't get the chance to plant them out in the end. Meanwhile, Jeremy sowed two rows of runner beans by the gate, and two rows of climbing French beans slightly further along the bean bed. Ellie had some spare Pak Choi as well, which is now in the salad bed, along with another row of freshly-sown lettuce. The squashes are now out in the left half of the 3rd bed and in a bit of Lin's plot, next to the potatoes.<br /><br />The 3rd bed had some more digging too (thank you, Ellie!), so we're getting towards the point of being able to plant out the sweetcorn. It's now up at the allotment ready for the planting, but that'll be next weekend now. I hope we'll get some rain before then, but failing that we'll all pop up at some point during the week and do some watering to keep it all happy.M-A and Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14891506734923080395noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2462022662309864434.post-11767260173834533672009-05-18T09:53:00.002+01:002009-05-18T14:41:29.809+01:00Courgettes and squashesWe were away last weekend, but Jeremy kept the allotment ticking over with some hoeing and watering and stuff. This weekend, I went up a couple of times - more hoeing and hand-weeding around the onions and salad bed (still no definite sign of spinach or rocket or whatever it was I planted in the first row). Meanwhile, Jeremy mowed the orchard to keep it looking good. There's showers forecast for most of this week, so we shouldn't need to go down and do any more watering before next weekend.<br /><br />I also planted out the 2nd batch of courgettes (2 of them), as the first lot had completely wilted, unsurprisingly - we only planted out the first lot because they were looking unhappy in the kitchen. The 2nd lot look much healthier. I've put 2 courgette seeds directly in the ground as well and watered them in thoroughly, so we'll see if that works.<br /><br />Back home, the mixed squashes are looking good - the fastest-growing ones will need planting out soon. I had a look at the (globe) artichokes, and decided that they could do with moving into bigger individual pots, so I did the first 8 or so. I need some more pots! I can go over to Notcutts, though, and pick some up there - they've got a pot recycling box by the front door, so people can return old pots and other people can pick them up.<br /><br />The spring onions and leeks are coming along nicely - they'll need planting out next weekend, I think. The plan then is also to re-cover the fruit cage with netting, as we can definitely see some gooseberries developing, at least.M-A and Nhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14891506734923080395noreply@blogger.com0