Blog Archives

Mulching.

31/5/2016

We've just finished mulching around the potatoes to keep the weeds down, we also mulched as we cleared the grass from the raspberry bed. It takes a long time to weed a small area as the couch grass is really entrenched. When I discussed mulching with a couple of gardening friends they were of the opinion that it isn't always a good idea as it provides a lovely place for slugs to 'hang out'. As they say nothing is ever straight forward!
We've also put some coffee grounds around a few of the plants to see if it keeps the slugs at bay. Slugs seem to taking centre stage in this blog but they are a on-going issue for most allotment holders.

Plot two

24/5/2016

We've been really busy planting out our vegetables and flowers on the 10 rod plot. We're now turning our attention to the 5 rod plot (which is just to the left of the first plot).

Hopefully, our new shed will be in place within the next few weeks. We've been really fortunate and had lots of packets of seeds donated, and will be using these to create a flourishing environment for butterflies and other insects which are excellent pollinators.

A Salad bed before you know it!

20/5/2016

Five of us went down to the allotment this afternoon. Taking with us celery, beetroot and lettuce plants, which were soon planted up in a small bed adjacent to the strawberries. We dug this patch over last week ready for runner beans, however, the beans haven't germinated, in fact they've rotted away in the pots.We also put in some sweet peas which sadly haven't really been thriving, so, lets hope the slugs don't have a feast on them.

One lone sunflower also found a home (four others are waiting in the wings). Cabbages have joined the other brassicas and have been covered with plastic bottles to protect them from the birds. As they sat waiting to go in several cabbage butterflies were fluttering around them - they will be definitely netted as soon as we take the bottles off.

Tackling the raspberry patch has been on the to-do-list for awhile, today we got started. We knew it would be tough going as the grass is well established, however we had under estimated how entrenched and entangled the grass roots are. We managed to clear a very small area but have mulched it well.

Fruit and berries are here....

18/5/2016

Our priority today was to ensure we watered the plants already insitu and net the plants and bushes vulnerable to 'attack' from birds. Everything seems to be bursting into life, we were really pleased to see tiny cherries peeping through the blossom. We're going to keep a close eye on them to ensure the tree is netted before the birds have a chance to strip the fruit. Our friendly Robin is always close at hand when we're digging, waiting to hop in and pick up a few juicy worms or insects.

The strawberries are in

13/5/2016

The weather was just right at the allotment this afternoon, warm but not too hot with a slight breeze - we managed to get so much done. The strawberry bed was dug over, after being covered for the last few months. We weeded out a few roots but the soil is really wonderful and so rich. In no time at all we put in our donated strawberry plants, added a few lettuces, as a 'sacrifice crop', hoping that the resident slugs would prefer these over the strawberries.... watch this space to see if this works! We planted a few marigolds around the edge too. In the meantime the weeding around the roses was being finished off. The 'companion' garlic is already showing green shoots. The brassicas are making a good recovery under their protective cloches and were given a good watering along with the broad beans. Mulching is top priority at the moment so the blackcurrants have now been given an extra layer. Weather permitting we will tackle the roses next week.

Seeds from years gone by

11/5/2016

The sunflowers are growing at great speed and will soon be ready for replanting at the allotment. We've been sowing seeds from packets dated a couple of years ago with variable success; leeks are doing really well with other plants the germination rates have been variable. We're also sowing in batches a few weeks apart, so hopefully we will have lots of produce but not too many gluts - there's only so many courgettes you can get through before you never want to eat another one again in the whole of your life or at least the current season.

Best laid plans...........

10/5/2016

I don't believe it, after yesterday's glorious weather we were really looking forward to getting down to the allotment and planting up the strawberry bed. We weren't actually planning to put strawberries in this year but one of our allotment neighbours has kindly given us loads of runners. So, how could we resist?
We still made it to the plot but couldn't do anything due to the rain. However, we did have a good group discussion about how to deal with the everlasting slug problem!!! We're going to try several methods out - coffee grounds, cinders from BBQ's, copper wire and crushed egg shells around the base of the plants (not all at the same time). The reasoning behind this is that slugs find it difficult to glide their way over these materials. We shall see! We will also be putting in some sacrificial lettuces - Slugs find them so delicious they will eat them in preference to our other plants (that the theory any way).
We also checked the brassicas as birds were nipping at them last week, so, we put used plastic bottles over them - and they are now recovering really well. Good learning point here; next time we will cover them when we plant them and not wait for them to be attacked.

First Blog

9/5/2016

Oh no, just seen some aphids on the lupins, I didn't think they would be around this soon!! Going to stick to permaculture methods - and try to control them by squashing the little lovies, yuk!! I'm not sure this is going to work as they seem to have a real hold already. Down on the allotment tomorrow and will make sure I start getting the companion planting underway - marigolds everywhere, nasturtiums in amongst the broad beans to keep the blackfly away. already have planted garlic around some of the roses, apparently aphids hate the smell of it, planting wild garlic around the rest and we'll see what works best...

Photos used under Creative Commons from Peter O'Connor aka anemoneprojectors, Scot Nelson, quapan, Cuyahoga jco, wbaiv, ArtisticalHands, DrPhotoMoto, sapheron, MLGardens, Midmarsh John, Karsun Designs Photography, Dominic Mitchell