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!