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Well done lad!

Thomas did an amazing job yesterday of digging over what had been three paths. The infestation of the allotment by Mares Tail is slowly taking shape. One problem is that there are conflicting piece of advice wherever one looks. The corn and artichokes look healthy, as do the tomatoes.

Spalding

A Start has been made on the Spalding allotment. I have cut the weeds down using the mower.

The first two photos are attempts to show the height of the weeds. I admit to getting the mowing half done before I remembered the camera on my phone. They do provide some contrast of the "before" and "after".

The third photo shows what it looked like after I had finished. All cut down and looking very brown. I now need to apply some weedkiller.

I don't know if mowers have sexes, but here is a picture of my hero.

There remains a lot of work, but it is a start.

A long morning weeding

A long morning. Sowed beans, radish and pak choi. I like all of those. The weeds are beginning to get to me.

Tomatoes

I planted my 16 Tomato plants into the allotment. I've muddled them all up, so it won't be until I get some fruits that I shall know which is which.

Exciting Development!

It seems almost certain that the scope of this blog will be expanded by 100%. On the 17th May, South Holland District Council wrote to me to say that an allotment has become vacant, and my name had reached the top of the list. Unfortunately, I was away sailing and with one thing and another did not open the letter until the 28th of May. It said I had a week to respond, which by then had run out. I've had two phone calls with the council workers and by deploying some flattery, charm and general smarminess, I have convinced them to let me have a look at one of the vacant plots. This will take place at 10:30 on the morrow.

I will take the camera and post as soon as I can following my look round.

Well done Thomas!

Today the mistakes of earlier in the year were acknowledged and remedial action taken. Three of the beds that were supporting only weeds, were duly dug over and weeded. Many thanks to Thomas who did much of the work. We then sowed some lettuce and radishes for summer salads. We shall enjoy those in due course.

Weeds, weeds and more weeds

At last I got to the plot to see how things are. I have a complete infestation of mare's tail. When this post is complete, I shall scour the web for ideas about dealing with it.

I brought home to onions I've grown, it will be interesting to taste one.

Oh, and the weeds are still growing well, and the ground needs some rain, please God.

One big lesson learned

Another morning of frantic sowing and weeding.

Sewn were Musselburgh Leeks, Sweet Corn, lettuce (Salad Bowl), Carrots (Paris Market), Peas (Douce Provence).

There are a few spaces in the beds, and I think I was indeed guilty of sewing a number of things too early, which is probably the biggest lesson I shall learn this year. The potatoes look good, however, and we ate some of my spinach for lunch.

We still need some sun to warm the soil.

A few blogs short.....

I have been remiss. I've been to the allotment several times and forgotten to update the Blog.

Things are beginning to show. The potatoes have come through and I've earthed them up. I've weeded everything assiduously (but I need an onion hoe - Children Please note, this is a hint for my next birthday). I've sown some more beetroot, beans, and peas.

Admission No 1

I planted some more broad beans and beetroot this morning. I suspect that I have made a beginner's mistake and put some seeds in the ground before it had warmed up sufficiently.

Ah well, I can only learn from the mistake.

Corn Planted

I scampered down to the allotment yesterday afternoon to plant out the Corn on The Cob seedlings. This will probably cause a series of frosts which will kill them all, but let's hope otherwise.

More sowing

This morning was another opportunity to sow some more seeds. I've given up on some of the things I planted in the autumn, hoed up all the weeds, and sown some new things in soil that is beginning to warm up. With any luck at all, the newly sown things will have a much better chance of germinating, and so go on to become proper crops.

I have some sweetcorn in the propagator which has germinated and will need to be put in bigger pots next week, and some seedlings in bigger pots which are growing steadily on the windowsill. It's all go.

A Time for Sowing

Today was a big seed sowing day. Carrots, Jerusalem Artichokes, Beetroot, Peas, and sweetcorn have all been sown today. Let us just hope that it is not too early and that they all survive. I've even managed to write down where they all are, so I shouldn't get any surprises when things start to appear.

Two out of three isn't bad.

There were three jobs on the list today:-

i) Tidy the shed

ii) tidy up the area where scrap wood has been dumped

iii) build a new net tunnel

Well, I found someone there to open the shop and let me have four 8ft long bamboo canes, but I left the hacksaw at home, Thus the water pipe remains uncut and the net tunnel is a job for tomorrow (maybe)

The shed is a lot tidier, the scrap wood is tidied up and the rubbish is in the back of the Land Rover, and I weeded a couple of the beds. I have to say, they look good now. I just wish the weather and ground would warm up so that stuff can get on with growing.

The Season starts.

At long last the weather has reached the point where we (Thomas and I) could go to the allotment and do something sensible. We planted our early potatoes (Swift and Charlotte), so hopefully we shall get some good eating from those later. Then we sewed some Parsnips, Spinach and Carrots which should also get on the plates at home. It was a joy to be out in the fresh air with the sun shining, albeit that the temperature was not that high.

The only hiccup was that the water has not been turned on yet, so we were unable to brew tea and coffee. We must take some water next time.

We then went and purchased a roll of water pipe with which to make hoops to go over the beds in the allotment to create another net tunnel and I might try to create a mini poly tunnel to provide a mechanism to warm the soil. We'll let you know how that goes.

The AGM

While it wasn't anything at the allotment the AGM was a notable event. See here for my impressions.

A start?

I've laid a sheet of black polythene over one bed in an attempt to warm up the soil over the next two or three weeks. I had to brush the snow to one side to lay it down!

Still waiting for warmer weather.

A visit today to clear the compost bin of the wood chippings that have been in it and check on the weed harvest.

Clearing the woodchips didn't take long, and not many weeds got cleared either. It was just so blooming cold. and today it is snowing again! The soil will take forever to get to a temperature at which things will grow.

I did however, purchase a propagator and must get that going this weekend. Hopefully it will have warmed up by then.

It's still there.

As promised - news of the plot. Well, It's not really news...... The ground is wet. After all those days with snow on it, that is no surprise. The broad beans, peas, onions and garlic are growing well. As you will see from the pictures, Thomas came with me and helped to pull out all the marking stakesthat I'd been too lazy to remove. I put the stakes in to mark the borders of the beds out the beds before I dug them.

We also managed to spread a load more wood chips over the paths between the beds. We really have far more chippings than I'm ever likely to need, so I might see if I can give some away to my fellow plot holders.

The photos make the weather appear better than I remember it being. It was blooming cold, miserable and started to drizzle before we finished

Now I need a week or two without any really hard rain and a good drying wind to get some of the water out of the soil. Gosh I'm beginning to sound like a farmer - still a good whinge about the weather always gets your excuses in first before the crops fail.

A Promise

I am mildly disturbed to hear that a small but dedicated band of readers look forward to new postings on this blog. They have been waiting in vain recently. The weather has been awful and I have not attended my allotment for a week or six. With the snow gone, this sorry state of affairs will be rectified and I shall visit the place on Friday.

Have faith, dear readers. New will appear, I promise.