10th July 2016 - Judging!

It's the time of year when all of the allotment competitions are going on.  I've entered for best plot and one of my containers for best container.  I am quite competitive and I've therefore been working hard to try and get my paths finished before judging.  I haven't quite managed it but hopefully with just another couple of bags it will be done.  As you can see I've covered the entrance and the path to the end of the plot.  I've done the first side path on the right and part of the path at the top adjacent to the fence.  I made a decision to put 4 slabs in the middle of the entrace which I can then use for a BBQ or fire pit or even to move my burning bin if I want to.  

I think I've mentioned before that I get my wood chips from G.P.Gill in Shipley, they are a tree surgeon who give away the wood chips for free - you just need to go and collect them.  From talking to other gardeners it seems that loads of tree surgeons do the same so it's a great free resource to look into if you're looking for a mulch or path covering.  People do sometimes talk about not using chippings as a mulch because it draws the nitrogen out of the soil.  I've done a little bit of research and that only happens very slightly if you dig the chippings into the soil and it's really not enough to worry about.  There are huge benefits of mulching the ground that far outweigh any worries about losing nitrogen.  It's also worth making sure that you are getting chips and not shredded wood.  You want smaller chips which will break down over time but that will also hold in moisture and keep your roots cool on hot days.  One of the downsides I've experienced from using mulch (of any description) is that they can be a home for our slimy friends.  Slugs like cool and moist places and of course mulch provides that habitat.  I'm not going to get into slug control today (I might do on another blog) but there are loads of different ways to keep slugs under control and I think even the problem of slugs do not outweigh the benefits of mulching.

I have a few pots left over from when I was doing the summer pots and hanging baskets in the garden and they had been left on the table outside my shed.  Today I decided that I would try and make my compost bins a bit more interesting.  The gaps between the bins are perfectly sized for some of my plant pots and so I've essentially ended up with 3 rows of 3 pots on each upright to make the compost bins look a little bit nicer.  I wouldn't normally bother but they are on your right immediately as you enter the plot and it seems silly to not put the pots there if they're just sitting about waiting for me to decide what to do with them!

I also got some more spent hops for my fruit bed.  The hops I put on last week aren't keeping the weeds down and so I went for some more and my plan is to pull out what has worked its way through before putting a thicker mulch on.  I'm not sure that it was the best idea to mulch without a weed membrane but if it doesn't work I'll have learnt a lesson!  The hops will keep the moisture in the soil so it will still do a job even if I need to still weed I'm not going to complain.  Someone pointed out that spent hops can be particularly attractive to slugs - I haven't experienced that so far but I'm keeping an eye on it.  

I was very excited to find some red tomatoes in the greenhouse and whilst the polytunnel ones haven't caught up yet I have green tomatoes in there and I've also got teeny tiny cucumbers, peppers and chillis so that's exciting.  I also have flowers on my melons so it will be interesting to see if any of them develop into fruit.

Next week I'm hoping to finish the paths completely, which means that I'll need to tidy up the very last bit of overgrowth behind the strawberry bed.  I've offered the last of the slabs to my neighbour so hopefully she'll have taken those (and if not I'll stick them in the wheelbarrow and bob them down to her) and I need to move the green bin that has been left on the plot.  The area behind my compost bins is very overgrown with nettles and comfrey, which I've left for the bees.  I'm not going to cover ground but I think I'm going to leave it all for now and then once it dies back in the autumn I'll tidy the area  and then let it continue to grow in exactly the same way each year - ultimately using them as fertiliser.  Once that's all done I will be able to potter about doing just a bit of weeding here and there and watering as needed.  How nice will it be to be able to just enjoy the fruits of my labour?!

Until next week then, I hope you have a lovely week and happy days spent in the garden.