Harvest Festival!

After all the recent rain the weeds have been trying to take over so Lin spent several hours getting them under control. Then she dug potatoes, picked a huge amount of strawberries, the first broad beans of the year and a couple of armfuls of rhubarb.

Strawberries And Rain

I popped to the allotment this morning just to pick some strawberries. I got half way through the bed and the rain came, and didn't stop. I took shelter in the shed where I transplanted the basil into bigger pots. After what seemed like hours, but was probably about 40 minutes Lin came to my rescue.

Compost & Snails

We both spent the morning down the allotment. Lin transplanted some lettuce and cabbage plants, plus the usual weeding. I turned the compost from the medium bin to the smallest one and found hundreds of snails living there, all of which have been removed to a far away place! Then the rain came and called a halt to things, but at least it saved us from having to water.

Send In The Cavalry

A quick visit to the allotment this evening to do some emergency planting. We bought three new courgette plants and two new butternut squashes. They are a little bit bigger than the ones we lost so hopefully they will survive. We also added some organic slug pellets to keep the little slimy buggers away.


A new packet of White Lady runner bean seeds has filled in the gaps on the runner bean bed. I also planted another row of peas, and as you can see the previous rows are starting to come up nicely now.

A few of the haricot beans are starting to make an appearance too.

Digging My Potatoes

One of the best days of the year is the day you dig your first potatoes for the year. Today was that day, we dug up a couple of plants and although there wasn't a huge amount, they tasted good. Picked some more strawberries too.

I planted out the sweet corn plants, although they look a bit straggly now they will soon pick up. I also planted a row of seeds at the end of the bed to use for replacements if we should looses any of the plants.

The broad beans are forming nicely, but still suffering from black fly.

The runner beans that were started off at home are now starting to climb their canes, but the seeds that were planted directly into the ground are not doing very well so I'm going to buy a new packet and plant some more.

Beetroot are coming up nicely. The same can't be said for the butternut squashes and courgettes. Out of all the plants I put in, I have one courgette left, time to go in search of some more plants.

Tomatoes

Potted on the tomatoes that have been growing in the garden shed. Now in bigger pots, but not strong enough for the outside world yet.

Squashes

We've lost a couple of the squashes and courgettes to slugs and snails.

More planting

Planted out three rows of haricot beans that we were given by a friend, a row of Artemis F1 carrots, some Japanese Long White spring onions and a row of Romana lettuce.

Planting Out

I planted out the runner beans, butternut squashes and courgettes today. Also transferred the sweetcorn, chillies, aubergines and basil to the allotment shed.

Lin planted some leeks (Autumn Mammoth) for next winter, they're a bit late, but we may be lucky. Most of the seeds are coming up nicely as you can see from the beetroot picture. The exception are the peas, which are not doing very much at all. The only reason for this that I can think of is that the seeds are old.

Whilst having lunch I sat and watched the bees collect the pollen from the comfrey flowers on the next plot. It's obviously a good plant to grow to encourage bees, plus it has many uses on the allotment.

Strawberry!

Our first ripe strawberry of the year!

Weeding & Watering

Two visits this week so far. Firstly on Tuesday afternoon, I planted a third row of peas, the other two are just starting to come up. We were given half a dozen globe artichoke plants by a friend and they were put in next to the peas. Lin thinned out the first row of mixed salad leaves. I planted some runner bean seeds straight in to the ground. I planted some spares as we've not had a good success rate with the ones in the propagator at home. It will be interesting to see how they compare to the ones we are starting off at home.


Today was mainly weeding and watering. The beetroot are looking good as you can see, the cabbages are starting to get eaten so I covered them with a some chicken wire. The Charlotte potatoes are now starting to flower as are the broad beans (which are still being eaten, but much less, I've treated them a couple of times with a mild water/washing up liquid mix).


The asparagus is not doing very well this year, our only consolation is that other people on the site are having the same problem. Overall since planting them they have not given us many spears, I was hoping that this year would be better, not worse. But we do have one strawberry that is starting to turn red!

Mulching

The broad beans are still suffering from something eating them. I've sprayed the beans with watered down washing up liquid and that seems to of helped.

Now that the onions and shallots are a decent size we have covered the beds with leaf mulch. This should make it harder for the weeds to grow and when watered it will help keep the moister in.

Most of the seeds that Lin planted recently have started growing. The mixed lettuce (above), spring onions, beetroot, carrots and cabbage are all coming up. Only the parsnips haven't, they always take a long time to germinate.

I planted more seeds today, carrots (Artemis F1), red lettuce, parsnip (Place F1), beetroot (Alto F1), Romana lettuce, spring onions (Long White Tokyo) and rocket.

 The potatoes are all doing very well, these are the early Charlottes. The strawberries are getting more and more flowers on and it shouldn't be too long before we start getting fruits.

Potting On

Today I potted on my chillies, aubergines, basil, rocket and mixed salad leaves seedlings. I also planted some more sweetcorn and runner beans. As the last lot of beans didn't do too well I planted two seeds in each pot. If they both grow I can just keep the stronger one.

Asparagus Dinner!

Wow! Two spears of asparagus - enough for a meal. Planted a second row of Twinkle peas.

Another Very Hot Day On The Allotment

Lin and I spent the morning weeding and watering on the allotment in the scorching heat. I also planted a row of peas (Twinkle). As you can see, the potatoes are coming along nicely. These are the first earlies, the second earlies are shooting too, but the main crop haven't started yet.


In the shed at home, the butternut squashes are shooting, all of the courgettes have too. Runner beans and sweetcorn have only given about 50%, so I may have to buy another packet of corn seeds and plant some more beans.

More Things Popping Out Of The Soil!

We have a lone spear on the asparagus bed. Hopefully we will have a good crop this year, we've had the crowns in now for a few years and the amount we get has slowly been increasing.

The first of the courgettes and runner beans are now shooting. Once there was some room I put them in the heated propagator and they've come on quickly.

Strawberries And More Sowing

Another morning spent on the allotment and we were greeted by the first flower of the year on our strawberry bed!

Lin spent her time planting seeds - mixed salad leaves, carrots (Nantes and Fly Away, a F1 hybrid variety that should be resistant to carrot fly), spring onions (white Lisbon), cabbage (Greyhound) and parsnips (White Gem).

A Few More Seeds Planted

Found some time this afternoon to plant the first batch of runner bean seeds. These are White Lady and are seeds that we saved from last year's crop. I also planted some courgettes (Striato D'Italia) and butternut squash (Zucca). Space is getting very tight in the shed at home now, but I'll get them in somewhere.

Butts & Bean

I got two old water butts off of Freegle recently, they just need a good wash out and a couple of new taps. Yesterday, I made a stand for them and connected them up and now we have three times the amount of rainwater storage.


The broad beans are coming up nicely, even if they are being nibbled. Once they get a little bit bigger they will be fine. Onions and shallots are doing OK too.

Picked a nice amount of rhubarb which Lin turned into a couple of crumbles this morning.

More Seeds

The sweetcorn have started shooting today, I'd say that about 50% have sprouted so far.


I've also planted some more seeds today. Another half a row of mixed salad leaves as the first ones are a bit leggy now. Next to the mixed salad is half a row of rocket. I also planted some Ruby F1 tomatoes in the heated propagator in peat pots. these will go in the garden boarders and not down the allotment.

Sweetcorn

Got around to planting the sweetcorn seeds this afternoon. Until last year we never had much success with sweetcorn, but last year we discovered Lark, a F1 hybrid and they gave us a great crop of sweet tasting cobs, so we're planting the same variety again this year. Planted forty seeds in pots and after a good water they went in propagators on the shelf in front of the shed window.

Main Crop

Another trip to the allotment yesterday meant that I managed to get the main crop potatoes (Desiree) planted.


I also did some repairs to a couple of the raised beds. Lin spent her time tidying the strawberry bed, weeding and planting some wild flower seeds. She also lifted some leeks and we brought home the last of last year's shallots.


The other good news is that both varieties of chillies have started shooting eight days after planting.

Black Beauty

Ten days after planting the first of the aubergine seedlings are appearing in the propagator.

Chillies And Potatoes

This morning I planted two kinds of chilli, firstly some hot Tabasco which should take about ten days. The second variety was Jalapeno which are a little bit milder and take seven to ten days to germinate. I took some specialist advice and soaked the seeds in a little warm water overnight, hopefully this will increase the number that germinate.


Then we went to the allotment and planted the first early (Maris Bard) and second early (Charlottes) potatoes. We had hoped to get the main crop Desiree but sadly rain stopped play.

In the first photograph you can see a seed potato with some nice healthy shoots on, compare this with the photograph on this post that was taken before chitting.

Now Seedlings!

Just four days after sowing them, the mixed salad leaves are popping their heads up above the compost. It seems as though the heated propagator was money well spent. The basil is starting too, but no sign of the aubergines which take longer to germinate.

Seeds

We recently bought a heated propagator and today I planted the first seeds in it. Some mixed salad leaves, basil (Sweet Genovese) and aubergine (Black Beauty). Last year we didn't have any luck with the aubergines, they got as far as flowering and that was it. We are hoping that the heated propagator will give them a bit of a head start this year.

Planting

Beautiful warm day today and we made the most of it, planting the onions, shallots and broad beans. Now for the next couple of weeks it's going to be a battle between us and the birds, can they pull the onions out quicker than we can replant them? Birds see the dry onion tops and think it would make good nesting material so pull it out of the ground, only to find that there's an onion attached to it and drop it back on the ground. Once the sets have taken root they are safer.

Leeks & Rhubarb

Visited the allotment today to do a bit of digging to get the soil ready for planting. It's still a bit too wet and cold to get the potatoes in at the moment. Lin lifted some leeks and it was good to see the the rhubarb is starting to sprout.

Onions

We finally got around to buying our onion sets. We went for Stuttgarter Giant as they promise a good yield and hopefully a good size too. Red Baron, a strong flavoured red onion and for shallots we chose Golden Gourmet as they produce good sized bulbs and should store well over winter.

It's Chitting Time!

We bought our seed potatoes at the weekend and have them safely stored in the shed for chitting. Maris Bard for the earlies, Charlottes for the 2nd earlies and Desiree for the main crop.

Leaf Mulch

First real visit of the year to the allotment today, dropped off some compost and a load of leaf mulch from one of Lin's customers. Most of it we left in bags to rot down a bit more, but some of it was in bags that had to be returned so some went in the compost bin and we covered two beds with the rest. It really helps to suppress the weeds in spring and will soon rot down in to the soil.


We also picked up some of last year's shallots that have been hung up to dry in the shed.