Well, a great big bag of seeds turned up today marking the beginning of the 2012 allotment season. I really am starting from scratch this year with new batches of seeds rather than the growing pile of old stuff that I have kicking around in the shed. This batch comes from Seeds of Italy, which we have used before for wonderful tomatoes and peppers. Obviously, I still have things to do first; the cold weather has put me back a little as my pile of horse manure from last year is frozen solid. My first job is to get that spread around so the rain can get at it for a couple of weeks. I then want to chuck some compost at it and turn the entire lot in with the tiller. So, what seeds do I have? (more…)
Being winter, the allotment is not really overflowing with things to do, but I am still visiting regularly just for the walk. My winter experiment in the greenhouse is going well and now we have passed the Winter Solstice and the days start getting longer again, I hope to see a bit more activity.
The mild winter means that all my garlic and onions are sprouting – some of the onions are around 6 inches tall. I hope we don’t get a sudden bout of violently cold weather that wipes everything out. Back in November I was given a pair of seriously good secateurs and now everything that can be trimmed has been duly trimmed. For Christmas I was given a stick chopper, which will come into its own later in the year, and a sharpening stone. That is already being used as I have started sharpening my Azada’s and spade. (more…)
It has been warmer than normal this month and it is showing at the allotment. The garlic is an inch high, the daffs are having a go and my peppers have just flowered – again! At this time of year the allotments are starting to look a little desolate; grey clouds make taking good pictures a challenge as the broad grey light makes everything look very flat. There are some bright moments, however.
One of the two blueberry plants that sit in brightly painted dustbins by the small green house has the most beautiful red leaves at the moment, and inside the larger, now insulated green house, lettuces, radishes, carrots and chard are pushing there way through the soil with fresh green shoots. (more…)
I was reminded today that it is my birthday in a few weeks and was asked what I would like. Since the allotment is my new keep fit thing, I suggested a couple of things related to that. While I was up at the patch doing some weeding, it got me to thinking what would be my ultimate allotment wish list – apart from having more land, of course! (I think I want a small holding, I have decided).
A couple of items sprung to mind immediately – a new, rust proof pair of secateurs would be nice and a good gardening knife would be very handy. Oh, and just about anything from Get Digging. So, coming up next is my ultimate, and faintly ridiculous, allotment wish list! (more…)
I managed to get up to the allotment on this fine sunny autumn (ish) day and get one of the greenhouses sorted out for winter. This meant getting it all bubble wrapped (inside, I am not posting it anywhere) and sealing up a few of the holes in the windows where they don’t fit properly. I have bought bubble wrap from Harrod Horticultural, though you could just buy it from your local stationers. Some of the cheaper stuff is rather susceptible to UV and can disintegrate. I am hoping that the better stuff will last me a couple of seasons.
You have to remember that because this is up at the allotment I have no heat, so this is only helping to take the edge off at night; if we get a very cold period it will not do much if there is no sun to get the heat up during the day. But my hope is that I can get a few things going over the winter, at least to get some crops coming up early in the spring.
Over the years we have had out allotment with its cheapo second-hand greenhouses (amazing what you can get off Ebay) we have been meaning to grow some produce over winter. But we have never got round to it. When it is cold, dark and possibly wet, the allotment can suddenly seem a long way a way!
Well, since the allotment has now become part of my Lose Weight Before I Die campaign, I need the excuse to at least walk up the hill to it, even if it is only to water some carrots. However, doing my research (I really am very ignorant on all this stuff) I have found that I need to insulate the greenhouse so that it retains what little heat it gets during the days – basically to stop frost forming inside. (more…)
Well, a great big bag of seeds turned up today marking the beginning of the 2012 allotment season. I really am starting from scratch this year with new batches of seeds rather than the growing pile of old stuff that I have kicking around in the shed. This batch comes from Seeds of Italy, which we have used before for wonderful tomatoes and peppers. Obviously, I still have things to do first; the cold weather has put me back a little as my pile of horse manure from last year is frozen solid. My first job is to get that spread around so the rain can get at it for a couple of weeks. I then want to chuck some compost at it and turn the entire lot in with the tiller. So, what seeds do I have? (more…)
