Winding down for winter

Hi, long time without a blog post ! Eeek, just took a look and is a whole month... now that wasn't supposed to happen!

BUT - I have been busy on the plot, very busy - most of it is nice stuff to be honest...digging up spuds, and beetroot. Pulling off cobs of corn. Picking very ripe and sweet raspberries. Harvesting lots and lots of french beans. Cutting off clumps of the rhubarb...another success, very tasty - my custard making needs more work though!!

As it stands now, in late September - I think I can look back on my first year and be quite happy with what I've achieved.
Was at the plot today, and raspberries are coming thick and fast (yummy). Shame I only put in two bushes. Lots and lots of weeds though...they are everywhere and setting seeds too.

So will have a lot of weeding to do in the next few weeks, to ensure I've got a clear start in the spring. Will cover up the beds too, to keep the weeds down...actually may be helpful to list the tasks I've got coming up.

Weeding - as always! But the good weather has given the weeds a lot of good growing time, and they are pretty much everywhere!
Planting - got some onions sets (red and white) so will have some early onions. Plant some more soft fruit, raspberries, and maybe a plum and apple tree, and more rhubarb!
New raised beds - got some wood stored behind the shed, so will see how far that will go.
Spread Compost / rotted manure - it has been rotting down for months, so should be OK to put onto the beds now.
Pond re-siting - the pond has been on a bit of a slant, which doesn't look very good - and means less water for the fish...so will see if I can get the liner out and level if off. Will need a bit of planning so that I don't stress the fish out. May also be the point to solve the green water issues I've still got.

So lots done, lots still to do.

The more you put into something, the more you get out - as long as those slugs haven't been eating everything!

I will definitely keep up the allotment, and hope to make it more fertile and enjoyable as time goes on.

All change at the plot...

Spent the last half hour, trying to get bluetooth to work - to get photos via phone to PC and onto the blog....but not been a success.

So will add the photos in later, for the moment please just use your imagination....

All change at the plot is not really an exaggeration. Plants and weeds have been growing very vigorously. So as you get through the gate and approach you notice a lot of tall green growth.
Some I'm happy to report are my planted out veg - with the sweetcorn doing amazingly - the tallest on the whole allotment, easily over 2metres tall now, with cobs now forming too. It all seems pretty big for what on the packet was described as mini-pop!
The tomatoes that are in with the carrots ( by chance ) are doing nicely. The tomatoes and courgettes that are in where the broad beans were are doing well, and have a few small red toms.
The courgette that I grew from seed are big plants now, and have produced a marrow! Again not sure how this happened, but there it was about the size of a cat! It is now at home waiting for a recipe to be decided upon - think it will be involved in a moussaka.
French beans are producing lots of beans, and have had two good meals from them, and more beans are on the way.

Peas are out...I've given up on these feeble plants, they couldn't get themselves climbing....and the frame they were on was surrounded by weeds. Lots and lots of weeds, of all sorts. So I took the decision to dismantle the frame, dig up all the weeds, and plant the sweetcorn replacements I've been nurturing at home. Plus some pepper plants also join the party.

Also set to work at some major hoeing of weeds on the rest of the plot...it was looking very nasty, all tangled and obviously in need of some proper attention.
I would like to thank my some for volunteering his resources and coming to help with the planting, weeding, watering, dismantling etc...was quite a full day to get it all sorted. We took two wheelbarrows full of weeds to the allotment tip!! Well it is never really sorted, there will always be weeds and plenty of work to do.

Pond is still not clear, though fish are active and healthy looking. Pond snail have been around the top and active too. Not sure how they work! Do the snails breathe under water, or hold there breath...might check that out with wikipedia.

That's all for now folks! I'll try to get photos sorted.

Tasty Mash-up!

Has been a lot going on away from the plot, but...have at last pulled up some spuds!

I can't remember what they were, but pretty sure they are earlies...this is very exciting - as people who have veg gardens or allotments, always rate their tatties.

Mine look nice, though haven't as yet cooked them up...also pulled up some onions, carrots and beetroot. So will make a nice salad or something.

It was nice to come home again with a bag of veg with some weight to it.

The carrots are not very uniform, it may be that my soil isn't deep enough, or easy enough for them to make their way down straight - they seem to be twisted or split into fingers....still taste OK!


Above, home grown produce...l to r
onions, potatoes, carrots, beetroot.

I had a look on the BBC "Dig In" website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/digin/beetroot.shtml) on beetroot, and will take their advice on cooking it - when I first did this I peeled them, and cut off the tap root, this lets loads of the colour wash out while cooking....the website has advice on growing and cooking other veg too.

Rhubarb - photo from 28/6/2009 - forgot to put this is in previous post!!
Basically happy to report that rhubarb has now settled in and is starting to flourish.
Thought I had lost this plant, as it went all floppy when I first planted it!
Will take more photos soon, to show how quick everything is growing...the sweetcorn is very tall and chunky.

The plants in the pots in the garden (all grown from seed) have got a fair bit bigger, so I will probably get rid of the peas , which are proving a waste of effort, and get my extra sweetcorn, tomatoes and peppers down to the plot.

I've had comments from my lovely (and supportive) wife about her becoming an "allotment widow". This needs to be taken seriously, even if it is a gross exageration. May have to take up golf (even though I promised not to do this until I was old enough), to give an alternative form of "widowdom".

Mobile phone tip 4: Don't leave phone in potato patch!

Currant affairs...

My currants have been snaffled up, all of them!! It was only about 20-30, but they were gradually getting big and fat! I think I mentioned that the last time I tasted them, they were a bit inedible, but guess others have a different palette.

I think we are probably looking at a wood pigeon as number one suspect! I've seen them waddling around my own plot and others...big bird, big appetite, with a long enough reach with it's beak to get at the whole crop -and currantly (ha ha) the blackcurrant bush is only stumpy, as it is just year one!!

If I get more of a crop next year, I'll make sure to cover it up with bird proof netting, or an electric fence (hmmm, wind or solar powered?), or a mini-minefield?

Never mind, is all part of nature - I'm sure I'll lose more of my plots generous bounty to other critters.

Compost Companion

Another hot day, Thursday is a WFH (working from home) day - so scooted down in the morning and after work to give all the plants a long drink...

Also gave the two manure heaps a soaking to keep the rotting process going...on lifting the cardboard cover, a little mouse was revealed who quickly scampered off.

Probably was under the cardboard getting a feed on some bugs (spiders/woodlice and the like), but that is a guess!! I'm presuming that it isn't normal for a mouse to make a house inside pooh corner!

Phew what a scorcher!

Wimbledon - for that is where the plot is, is very hot - about 31C at the moment (very surprising while the tennis is on)....no roof or floodlights on the little plot of land, just a hose and a watering can to keep everything alive!

Well watering is keeping me busy, after work we ( the allotmenteers ) are all down to give the plants a drink.

Forgot to say in previous posts - the rhubard plants have come back to life, which I'm very pleased about, as I bought them from a garden centre.

Pics 'n' mix

As mentioned in yesterday's blog ( you wait weeks and two come together!!) here are some photos from the plot taken just this morning...


I don't think the quality is very good. These photos are taken on a t303 sony ericsson phone - which was brought in a rush as I needed a phone quickly after dropping my old but reliable phone down a toilet pan!! Mobile phone tip 1: do not store phone in shirt pocket, it will fall out at a time that is pretty inconvenient! Mobile phone tip 2: keep your numbers on the SIM card, then when the phone gets soaked the numbers are still saved!

Any how the new cheap and cheerful phone was purchased in a rush and didn't realise that the screen is mirrored - very useful for when I need to sort out my make-up (and that is never as I'm a fairly normal guy, who goes for the natural look!!), but totally useless when being used in bright sunlight, or for taking photos...I don't think this "feature" has been thought through.
Mobile phone tip 3: Before buying a mobile phone, research the features, and if possible avoid mirrored screens!

Then again it is a new phone, so someone might advise how to deal with this.


OK, that is a long enough excuse for rubbish photos, so here they are:






Onion bed, all looking good and healthy, although the shoots have all been knocked over. Not taken many home, as the lady of the house keeps getting them from the market! D'oh!



Raspberry (autumn fruiting, apparently!!) Very sweet and tasty.




Ribena plant, still taste a bit earthy - though the berrys are nice and fat.


A ladybird larvae, having a rest after eating lots of black fly (hopefully) on one of the french bean plants.


Some black fly that need a visit from a lady bird larvae, on a different french bean plant. When the leaves get really infested they curl over...which is about all you'll be able to see, unless you check the undersides of leaves!!

The broad bean bed, now cleared and hosting the small toms, and courgette plants..

Hmm, this is the mixed bag that was supposed to be for (from l to r ) beetroot, carrot and parsnip (not sure if any can through!). But, is actually hosting a few tomato plants, a sunflower and various weeds!! See other posts for more...

My sweetcorn, now they are big, I'm hoping that the slugs will leave them be....got some more coming on in the garden, so will hopefully finish with a good crop.

A ladybird - hopefully laying some eggs, that will later fill its belly with black fly - support your local ladybirds.

And lastly, this out of focus shot is of a ladybird larvae, that is on it's way to being a ladybird- not seen this before - shows you what you notice, when you are looking closely at stuff!

Still no good shots of the fish...they are too fast, and the camera phone is too mirrored to get a clean photo!

Attack of the ginger cat!

Hallo again, I have been down at the allotment quite a bit, keeping up with watering mostly... with summer getting into full swing - it has been very busy.

So what's been happening?

Broad beans have finished up - took a last few been from them, and have now chopped them all back to the roots. The roots are left in as they will rot and release the nitrogen they fixed from the air. The top of the plants were covered in black fly, and these have headed for the compost bin....but not before I decided on some eco-recycling!!

The black fly are a big pest on the smaller plants, like my peas and french beans, and I spotted some ladybird larvae on the broad beans. I had a look over the plants I had pulled up, and harvested about 12 ladybird larvae, some quite big, these have now been distributed across the plot to help in keeping down the black fly. I'll try and get some photos of the ladybird larvae.

Well it is worth a try to see what happens, as up to now my best defence against black fly have been spraying with a strong jet of water, spraying with a soap solution and rubbing them off with my fingers!! None of these is a perfect solution to the problem. If the black fly go unchecked, the plant has all the life sucked out of them.

The bed which was cleared has been semi-weeded, and now hosts a couple of courgettes and a couple of tomato plants! All donated by a neighbour, the tomato plants look a bit weak and spindly, but are still better then the ones I'm growing from seed, and already have a couple of small fruits on them. The courgettes are already flowering, and again these are further forward than the 3 plants I've added to the plot! So is good to let people know that you have a plot, as donations are readily accepted!

Elsewhere, the raspberries have a few ripe fruits, now as these are very delicate, I've been eating these one by one!!! Next year the plants will be more established, and I'll get more fruit hopefully. The blackcurrants are looking big and juicy - but the ones I've sampled taste quite earthy, not at all like ribena! The wild brambles (aka blackberries), are spreading everywhere
and to be honest are a bit of nuisance, as they are covered in thorns it is hard to hand weed around them...I may reconsider having them, unless I can work out how to tame them somehow!

Strawberries are almost finished, a few small fruit still coming...these have been in my eyes a big success, and look forward to more next year.

The onions are all sitting with brown skins now, so can be plucked and taken home as needed, I'll fill up the bed with something else now - and the same goes for the rest of the broad bean bed...


The potatoes plants are looking healthy, and some plants are starting to flower, which I am led to believe is the time to dig up "earlies" / salad potatoes, I'm been advised to check out if their ready by digging up one plant.

The bed with the carrots, beetroot and parsnips is a bit of a pick n mix affair...I think a lot of the compost came from my back garden, and must have been filled with various seeds from the bird feeder and rotting tomatoes!! The reason I'm saying this as of the plants I can identify I've definitely got a few tomato plants and sunflowers!!


Sweetcorn are doing well, with the plants probably over 30 cm tall now!

I've been down to the plot regular, to keep the fish fed, the water is still not crystal clear, but my neighbours advise that it will still take time!

I'm not the only one keeping an eye on the fish!!

This ginger tom cat is a regular visitor to all the plots, and has a grand time keeping the mice and bird numbers down. He is a really nice cat, and will race up to see you, and roll on his back to get a tickle...but I've now seen his keen interest in my fish, which included trying to get his paws in (and the fish out!). The mesh has proved it's worth! I still have four fish, who are now settled in and more comfortable... so when I feed them, they are very active, and are not so skittish when I walk by ( or the cat tries to paw them! ).

I had let a lot of weeds get established so this morning I got the hoe out and got rid of some, but plenty more to go!

More soon! Phew that was quite a long post!! I'll try and get some more photos taken, as they help to put things into context!

Latest Photos & News

I'm amazed at plant life - it just wants to get on and do it's stuff. The weeds are spreading quickly - think I'm going to have issues with some sort of creeper type weed (bindweed??). Hadn't noticed it when clearing the plot, so it must be an opportunist that likes empty sites. I think that I'm on top of the weeds at the moment, but it is a continuous task!

Also noticing a lot of random potato plants all over the length and breadth of the plot...not ones I planted myself, so I'll ask my neighbours and see if they are worth leaving to get an extra unexpected harvest from!!

Strawberries have done very well, all looking bright red and shiny...which attracted the birds!

They munched a few of the ripe berries, it seems that blackbirds take a nibble from a berry fly off, and then come back to the same berry to take a little more...this is what I'm noticing, about four or five strawbs with about half the berry eaten! Though I'm still not sure causing the berries that are totally detached from the plant - and animal walking through, a bird pulling it off??
To protect the strawbs, I've covered the bed with some netting, the left over from covering the fish pond. This seems to have done the trick, and the birds are now elsewhere to get their grub.

Photo: Netting on strwaberries, straw not fully installed.
Bought some straw to lay under the fruit, as this keeps them drier, and stops them from rotting - also looks nice too! I've seen one allotmenteer heading home with 4 large boxes of strawberries which seems an amazing result to get that much in one go...I'm getting enough to share around at home with ice-cream - but will need more plants next year if I want to make strawberry jam.


The onions are nice and mature now, so will just take these home as required...so no need for shop bought...ok, that is apart from red onions, and spring onions! I'll grow some red onions next year to give a bit of a mix.

Broad beans are coming to an end, I've been really pleased with this new vegetable, it grows quick it fairly hassle free - it crops very heavily and tastes nice too. I've had three big harvest of about 4-5kg each time - and this gives about 1kg of beans to eat, I think I'll have another small harvest to go, and then I'll clear out the bed. My excess beans have been blanched and frozen. Also given some away to people who say they like them (had them as kids etc...).

I've got some canes up at the plot, which gives a professional look to the plot.




Unfortunately the canes are over 2metres tall, and the peas I've planted are only going to grow about 90cm. So will look a bit bare!! Should have put in some runner beans, but no one was keen on eating runner beans!! I have also planted some French Bean (alors!), which don't climb high, and some courgettes.
The photo above is shows the last of the sweetcorn from this bed - 8 plants left, from the original 40 - I've moved them together. I'm hoping that the slugs will leave some of the french bean and
peas alone, but the word from the rest of the allotment is that the slugs are on the rampage. Watch this space - which is all that the slugs leave behind.

News from the rest of the plot...fish are happy, raspberries and currants show early fruits, so I'm feeding these up. Carrots are few and far between, beetroot looks good...potatoes are healthy.

Early Harvest

Long time no blog, but a lot has been going on.
Onions are coming home, as they've got to a nice big size. Also been bringing home lots of broad beans, so have had a nice few meals with them included on the menu.
While at the allotment someone gave me a recipe idea....a salad of broad beans with feta cheese and tomatoes. Was a pretty nice meal, added oil, balsamic and some red onion to complete the package. Can't see anything wrong with broad beans, so not too sure why they don't feature in the supermarkets.
Sweetcorn update....well of the 40 plants that I had grown from seed, and planted out...about 6 are left...the rest were just too tasty a prospect for the slugs, and have been munched!
So I've got a few more seeds in the trays, and will hopefully end up with enough plants that they'll propagate each other....sweetcorn is wind propagated, so you should have then planted close enough for this to happen. I'll see if the remaining plants can get bigger an think about moving them closer to each other.
Seeing how effective that the slugs are at filling their bellies, I'm going to keep my other small plants at home until they are a fair bit bigger. So the french beans and peas will wait a while at home.
Strawberries are looking good, got some nice red ones. So hoping that a few will be coming home.
The fish seem very happy in the pond now, and are a lot more visible now that the weather is warming up. I'm really happy that I got the pond sorted out, it is always a pleasure to get down and check on them.

Hoe Hoe Hoe

OK, possibly a new low in titles (probably has been used in loads of other garden/allotment/ steetwise gangsta drug-dealer type blogs) - but it does mark my purchase of a hoe...which pretty much completes the set of basic tools needed for veggie growing: A shovel for shoveling, a fork for forking, a rake for raking, and now a hoe for getting rid of weeds and earthing up around the spuds. Never used a hoe before, it is a dutch version...so you can push under the weeds, or pull back against them, or do an angled pull to earth-up.
Forgot my mattock, which has done a huge amount of work in clearing off the top layer of grass/turf/weeds across the plot. You can't really do a job of digging if you've got to get through a layer of vegetation first. Think I'd rate that as some of the hardest work...maybe I'm not doing it right!!
Also got a 1.5litre pressure sprayer today...you pump air in to build up the pressure and away you go. I've sprayed my broad beans with soapy water to try and get rid of the black fly infestation on the broad bean plants, apparently black fly and some other insects die if they get water in them (drowning?). The soap in the water, reduces the surface tension so the bug get soaked...or something like that. We'll see soon how the black fly get on, and also if the plants mind being washed.
Other reports; fish seem to be settling in, seeing more of them...but was a lot warmer day today, which should mean more surface activity. Onions are get big quickly now, strabs have the start of fruits...have pics of all this but the bluetooth technology on my phone, or the laptop has let me down. I'll try and get this sorted, or work round it, and get more photos soon. French beans on the window sill are well on the way, possibly ready for planting next weekend.

Very very corny

At last the sweetcorn has been planted out at the top of the plot.
Quite a lot of it ... when sitting on the window sill it all looked quite
insignificant, just a standard size seed tray. Now it has all been planted out 40 plants!!

Yep, 40 plants - so even if there is just a couple of successful cobs on each plant,

that will be sweetcorn on the menu for quite a while. Breakfast: home made cornflakes, lunch: corned beef, dinner: sweetcorn salad.

The plants were pretty small but the roots on these little plants are already very long and thick.

Which caused a bit of hassle in the seed tray cells that had more than one seedling, the roots were wrapped around each other and needed to be slowly teased apart.

Anyhow, they are all in now, so we'll see over the next few weeks if they get established - flower - pollinate- fruit - and produce a crop!! If it is a bumper crop, I'm not sure what the plan will be.

The council delivered some horse manure, but it was delivered to the far end (from my plot) of the allotment. So each journey with the barrow was a quarter mile round trip, and I've filled up both of my manure heaps, which probably means I've had a good few miles of exercise. Some of the heap was nice and warm and steaming, so I presume that the microbes were at work rotting it down already!

I've watered it down, and will cover with some old cardboard packaging I've got so hopefully the rotting process will carry on. My experienced neighbour reckons it takes about a year for it to rot down completely!!!

Word is that next drop-off of manure will be in 3 weeks time, and will be at the gate near my plot ( about 10 yards away, YES!)

Broad beans have come under attack from black fly, which seem to start at the tips and work their way down...some plants are pretty covered, and have attendant ants (milking them? or it that just aphids?). I'll need to by a sprayer bottle, and then try out some soapy water on them...

Apart from that the beans are doing really well, getting longer and plumper. May try a few in a couple of weeks.

The fish pond is still pretty murky, but my subjective view is that it is clearing up a little, probably will need a couple more weeks. Some water snails are in the pond now, so they may keep the level of dead vegetation down. The fish have been spotted a few times, but they tend to stay in the depths, they might come to the surface more once the water warms up.

Competition Time!

The plot is slowly getting established...so time for sonething new; I've had a suggestion that I should have a competition to name some of the things on the plot.
1) The shed
2) The fish
3) The plot as a whole
4) The pond?
So if you have any suggestions for any names (and a reasoning perhaps behind the choice) - make a comment, or send to my email address if you know it!!
Would probably be best not to call anything something ending in "-tastic", as even I'm getting a bit bored with that!
There is no prize to be awarded, but you get to think up some good names, and as a bonus you don't need to spend any money on mobile phone/landline/postcard costs.

Fin-tastic

The fish are in the pond today, hurrah!
Headed off to the aquarium shop near to where I work, and chose 4 little Sarassa Comets. Pictured just before moving into there new residence. They don't eat too much, about 3-4 little (red lentil size) granules a day each - so the 500g bag will probably last a few years!!!
The food is good for Koi type fish too, so will help them keep their nice red colour.

My neighbour was looking at his pond this morning, before we went to pick up the fish, he was a bit worried about the water quality. The pond has changed from clear/green to reddish brown in only a few days! The fish seemed fine though.

I asked at the aquarium shop, and he sold me some bags of Daphia (water fleas?). Weird stuff to buy, a little plastic tube all chilled down in a fridge, moving around like crazy. The water fleas eat single cell plant life, which the shop-owner thought might be the problem. They won't do any harm to the other creatures in the pond, so we'll see if things improve over the next week or so.

I put some in my pond too, hopefully they'll feed on all the mini-algae, get the water clear and then keep it that way. Which needs to happen, because as soon as the fish went in the pond they became a lot harder to see (which is why there is no photo!). I knew the water wasn't clear - but was surprised by how hard the bright red fish were to spot! Guess it was a good job I got the Comets, as they are a much deeper colour than regular goldfish.

I decided not to plant out the sweetcorn yet. I'm going to harden it off a bit more...and avoid the last of the frosty nights.

May day, mayday!

A lot has happened since the last posting, I've dug over a new bed - this time, running north to south. This should give the plants in this bed more sunshine. The reason I've got my other beds running east to west? Well, I didn't really know what I was about!! I don't think it will make a big difference, but the new beds I dig will be N-S...this will also mean that there will be less walk ways...which now I'm getting into it, will become important - as I'm quickly running out of space!
The plot I've got is approx 15' wide by 75' long, which is only a half plot on the councils books...seemed like a hell of a size when I first saw it, and some people are comfy with just a quarter plot.

Above, is the new bed (the dark brown patch, not the path). I'm hoping to put sweetcorn in here - all grown from seed on the kitchen window sill...done fine up to now and have probably got about 30 healthy seedlings to plant out!
The sweetcorn I'm going to try and grow is called minipop - it gives the small cobs that you can use in stirfrys or salads, or soups I guess! My reasoning was that sweetcorn felt like a stretch to get full cobs in the UK, so start by growing small cobs. Talking to other allotmenteers though, it sound like full size corn was a success last year, even though the summer was rubbish!!

Since the photo was taken I've dumped 6 bags of compost on to it, sounds a lot - but once it is all spread out I've probably only added another half inch of soil!! The soil isnt as deep here, with clay probably only six inches down. So I'll add plenty of manure, and home-made compost over time (which will be a lot cheaper!).


BROAD BEAN CRISIS!
I was looking at my broad beans, and notice that a lot of the nice white flowers were getting withered, and looking very sad! See first picture below. I was a bit worried that I had a problem on my hands, some sort of disease or over watering... but I checked my neighbour's beans (second photo), and realised that all was in order - the flowers were falling back and the fruiting beans were coming forward. So no problem, just a crop on the way.

Not sure if I've ever eaten broad beans before, so I'll check out some recipes. The reason I've got them growing, if I've not eaten them? They were a last minute planting late last year as a green manure!
That is a plant which grows fast, and so suppresses weed growth, and as it is a bean, it fixes nitrogen into the soil - which other plants love. Once the beans are harvested, you dig the plants back into the bed and you'll be ready with a healthy bed next season. Win all ways round, well hopefully if they taste nice!

Pond-tastic!

Hole is dug and the liner sits nice and snug, got all the way down to some London clay. Don't want to be doing that again in a hurry, heavy, wet and uncooperative! Next off to the garden centre to eye up some possible future fishy residents.


Back from the garden centre, apologies for shadow! Pond filled with water, some from the water tank which, as the water sits around in it for a while should have some healthy bacteria and microbes. The rest was hosed in. The oxygenating plants are in place - two types, both with very long Latin names that I can't remember or will ever need to know again!

The plan for Mr Pond is to now leave nature to get to work building up some normal pond type plant life, and in a couple of weeks the walls of the pond should have a covering of green stuff - which will hopefully indicate the fish can go in.
I'm planning on putting four goldfish - Comets I think, that will be about 3 or 4 inches long to start with. Comets are a goldfish variety that look pretty much like a regular river fish - no soppy fan tails, or big bulging eyes or other deformities - just fish that enjoy a swim, and look very red. Not had a pond previously so I'm hoping all goes well.

Had an offer of a toad or two from a neighbouring allotmenteer, which is very nice - the toad will need to be bussed in from her garden at home -her plot doesn't have a pond (yet). Hopefully I'll get other pond-life joining too, of their own free will. There are plenty of them on the site. Think there are at least four ponds where I've seen frogs, or tadpoles or frogspawn, there are sure to be more ponds tucked away. My neighbour has got newts in his pond too ( or was it salamanders?).

I've got the netting in place over the pond. Think I may put something else over later - although the netting is up to the job - which is keeping birds like herons out of the pond and helping themselves to the fish (once they arrive), and the frogs.

Guess a bit further along the line I'll put some other plants on the different levels in the pond, irises, lilies etc...but that can wait for the moment...

If I get down to the plot for any length of time next week I'll clear some weeds, which have died back now, and get the ground ready for the sweet corn and peas to be planted out.

That was a very successful weekend, plot now has a shed and a pond!

Shed-tastic

My allotment plot now has a "shed end"! With the willing help of my son, we've transported all the bits down to the allotment, and got it all fixed up.

It is only a tiny shed, a base that is only 4ft x 3ft but it will make a big difference to the on-going maintenance and upkeep of the plot. No need to lug all my tools, hose, fertiliser etc.. in the big ikea bag out to the car, no need to drive the car to the allotment, no need to pack-up all the tools and drive the car out of the cemetery when it is about to close (should explain that the best access for my plot is via a back gate in the adjoining cemetery, and the cemetery gates close before dusk).

I forgot to mention, no need to get soaked to the skin, when a sudden downpour strikes!

Took about 3 hours to get the shed erected, that was once the base was levelled out. I'm using a fairly strong pallet as a base to keep it out of the wet, and also to save on putting any effort in. It is all pretty level and I'm hoping that if the shed start to sink a little bit into the soil, it will do so evenly!! The pallet is 1.2m x 1m so I've got a 10cm porch (ok step) to sit out on!

Now to put some shelves and hooks for the tools, and get a couple of the spare fold-up chairs - and it will become pretty homely!

Next tasks: Dig a hole for the pond (4ft x 4ft approx.), clear the dead weeds, make an area for the sweet corn, enjoy having a shed!

Hoze That!

A walk to the local shops, took me past a neighbours house, which has a sad looking unreeled hose in the front garden. Now allotmenteering tends to feature a lot of making the best of what you have and re-using stuff thrown out in skips etc... but, I've not really got into the full swing of that yet! But, knocked on the door later in the day and was told it was being thrown out - even if it was just a length of hose I could probably make use of it at the allotment so I whisked it away.
At home found it needed a new part to link it to the tap, so went to local Homebase , bought the part and now have a perfectly usable hose to use at the allotment.

Hose reel has now been tried and tested at the allotment, and it is a lot easier than a watering can. The reel system works fine too, so is a real good (and cheap) find! Next I'll pluck up the courage to check out skips, there are generally quite a few around with odd bits of lumber, but have never got anything out of them!!

Shed arrives tomorrow, that should probably be the shed is due to arrive tomorrow - we'll wait and see! I'm working from home, so if the lorry arrives I'll be here.

So it looks like it will be a busy weekend, but looking forward to not carting everything back and forwards in the car - including the new hose.

I know that others have found a lot of success with "freecycle" I subscribed for a while, and some amazing things come up on the site, but not checked on it recently.

Progress at the plot

August 2008 - Early days, the brambles at the
far end have been cleared, but that is about it.


October 2008 - A bit of work done, 3 raised beds
and the bins for manure are made from pallets,
and compost bin for household waste.

April 2009 - 3 beds in foreground are growing well.

l-r; Strawberries, onions and broad beans were all planted

last year. 2 new beds have got potatoes in for salad potatoes,

the one with a covering of fleece has got carrots, beetroot

and parsnips in - the seeds are all a bit old but here's

hoping! You can't see from the photo, but beyond this I've

planted some autumn fruiting raspberries, a blackcurrant

bush and fed the two blackberries still growing. By the side of

the compost heaps, the lovely big thistles have been replaced

with a couple of rhubarb plants.

Allotment Update

Good news from the allotment.
I am almost finished three new rasied beds, I will hopefully have some potatoes and other veg in there soon!
Once complete it will bring my growing area upto 6 beds...all pretty small beer when compared to some of the established plots.
But, now have got strawberries, onions and broad beans in the first 3.
I'm using the free (on 30 day trial) planning tool at www.growveg.com is very easy to use, just a case of drag and drop - and it shows you plants to put together, and a schedule of what to plant, harvest etc...

End of last summer, which is when I took over the plot, it was just weeds, and bramble, oh and rubbish, rubble etc. So once the blackberries were picked, I cut back all the brambles to give space for a shed - still not got a shed, but is on the way.

Space near windows is being taken up with seed trays, for tomoato, pepper and sweetcorn - so hopefully will get these planted out in a month or so.



Have made a couple of bins for holding horse manure - there is a local stables that is keen to get rid of it..plus the council makes deliveries once in a while...but, you need to be around for that otherwise it just goes...managed to get both bins filled, and so now am able to spread it around!!
Also have a big black composter, which was very unpopular at home, so is now relocated and is doing a good job of making something fertile out of our household waste, coffee grounds, tea bags, veg peelings, fruit cores etc.. the nice black compost will go over the new beds too.