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.
Saturday 30 May 2009
Sunday 10 May 2009
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.
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.
Saturday 9 May 2009
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!!
The plants were pretty small but the roots on these little plants are already very long and thick.
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!!
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.
Monday 4 May 2009
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.
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.
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.
Sunday 3 May 2009
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!
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!
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