It will be no surprise to most of you that as it was a public holiday again it rained for most of the weekend - grrrrr! I had other plans on Saturday but wasn't worried about my to-do list because I still had 2 full days; that plan was completely scuppered by the persistent rain. I had hoped to get my beds built but I didn't have a long enough dry window to do it. In 85 I still have a significant amount of weeding to do on my paths and the area behind my compost bins. I also want to move some of the pots that I have on 85 into 86, partly because 85 has started to look cluttered but also because a lot of the pots in 85 were never meant to be there long term anyway. I also need to weed and mulch my fruit cage which has become quite messy in the last couple of weeks.
Mr L got a battery powered circular saw to cut the boards to size (I had a little go with it too but left it to Mr L to do most of the cutting!). As you remember they are all 13' long and so I've cut them into 9' and 4' lengths'. I will end up with 6 beds across the top of the plot.
I will need to do a little bit of work to weed the edges of the plot again before I place the beds. The edges are always a challenge because I can't put membrane beyond the boundaries of my plot. It's irritating but necessary to therefore keep it trimmed (or trained) to ensure that it's neat and tidy.
With the bad weather I did manage to get a few bits done in the polytunnel, where I was hiding from the rain! I've never been particularly successful at growing seeds but this year I've managed to get some germinated and so I spent an hour potting on with still more to do when I've created a bit more space. I have actually managed to germinate sweetpeas, which I've never done before, and despite having some not make it after being away for a week with work, I've got some very healthy peas that I can put out to replace the ones the pigeons have been feasting on. I also have a small number of zinnia, some cosmos, rudbeckia and alyssum.
When I cleared the greenhouse I found some plant halo's that I'd used a few years ago. I had 2 extra tomato plants that I'd not potted on yet and 2 aubergine. I have never successfully grown aubergine; I've grown them in pots and in the ground so this year I decided to try them in a pot with a halo. I filled the pot as normal and then watered it. This makes sure that the soil has settled before you put the halo onto it. You then put your plant into the raised part in the middle, the tricky part is making sure that you have compost around the sides of the plant because as you pack it in it's really easy to drop it into the halo and it's hard to get out again! Once the plant is in place you water it in as normal, this makes sure that the roots have good contact to the soil and are able to wick up the moisture from the soil in the lower pot. You then only water into the halo (although you do continue to feed directly to the plant). It will be interesting to see if this is more successful in producing fruit than my previous attempts have been.
I also managed to get some work done around the pond. Once a year I clear the area around the pond, I know that the ground elder will come back and I'm happy to have it because it creates a hiding place for the frogs but if I don't cut it back completely the it just goes wild! This year I also had to get rid of my planting table so I dropped all the old compost that had been in that into the area. I've currently just popped all the gnomes in there but I'm thinking about planting some shade loving plants that might grow big enough to compete with the ground elder! I'll keep you posted.
In the flower bed next to the shed it's a bit of a riot of purple. The alliums are in full bloom, as is the sweet rocket which is just beautiful and very much loved by the bees and other pollinators. I also have my winky blue aquilegia which is looking fabulous! Both the peony are in bud and ready to open; I'm really looking forward to them opening, the white one is called Shirley Temple but I've never seen the red one open because it didn't flower last year. I do have some supports in place but I don't think they'll be enough so I think need to do something more with them.
In my other flower bed the bleeding heart is doing really well. I planted two of them last year in the same bed but the one further up where it gets more sun died; the one that's left really seems to like the position and has tripled in size. I've also got lots of foxgloves growing in both flower beds; I haven't planted them they self seeded a couple of years ago from the plants I had put in and they're already starting to flower. I'll make sure that I spread seed around the beds again this year and I'll probably try to plant some in the flower bed in the new plot as well.
During the week this week I'm going to have to go and get some more longer screws to put my beds together. I absolutely have to build my beds this week and then I can get on with planting the potatoes and onions that I've got ready to plant.
Until next time...
Happy Gardening
This week I managed to get up to the plot for a little while during the week. I prepared the bed in the polytunnel last weekend but wasn't sure what I was going to grow in there. I decided that I would have another go at sweetcorn. Last time I attempted sweetcorn I grew it outside and every cob was eaten by squirrels and pigeons!
I noticed that on The Beechgrove Garden they grow sweetcorn under cover in the polytunnel so I decided to have a go and see what happens. I have also set them up on the automatic watering system. Corn needs to have regular watering, skipping watering particularly during pollination will result in cobs with missing kernels.
I bought the watering system from Groupon, it's pretty simple really - just a timer and stick it in the bucket. It runs for 30 seconds every day which seems to be enough to really soak through for now, (I don't know how many litres per hour it's putting out). Once the weather gets hotter I'll need to increase the regularity of the watering and possibly for longer. I'll need to keep an eye on it. I might also need to split them into 2 buckets. At the moment I've got 10 on one unit and 4 on the other so if I decide to split them I'll make it 7 and 7 which will help to make water last longer. http://tinyurl.com/y63o98ym
I've mentioned that I've planted fruit trees in pots which I'll probably end up putting into 86, I've also got the peach and lemon trees. This week I spotted a pomegranate, which is half hardy and can be grown in this country so naturally I thought it would be fab to try it out.
I have a number of fruit trees now that I'm planning to put into 86, I don't want that plot to be primarily for growing fruit but I am enjoying that I have the space to grow more fruit and permanent crops. I just need to work out how best to have them on the plot
In 86 I repaired the membrane which had been pulled up with the winds over the winter. As you know I've been keeping the plot covered while I was preparing for the beds but I've struggled to get the planks and so it's been covered for quite some time. It's interesting to see how some plants (read weeds) are still pushing their way through or seeding themselves into little bits of soil that had settled in the folds.
We did manage to get some planks from the local scaffold yard. They'd originally said they could only get 5 and 6 foot lengths but they called us to say they had some 13 foot lengths and so I managed to get 12 of them (to make 6 beds).
My lovely allotment neighbour has a canoe trolley and he thought it would be ideal for transporting the planks from the clubhouse up to the plot. It worked perfectly and we were able to get them all up in 2 loads (I had already taken 2 up by hand so it was 5 on each trip). It was certainly much easier than trying to carry them individually up the hill.
I've asked Mr L if he can come and and cut the planks for me. I'm going to have my beds 9'x4' so each bed will be made of 2 planks and I'll be able to make 6 beds. They're going to go along the top of the plot and will be my rotation beds and fruit beds. I am also planning to have a wider middle path to make room for pots; in the first instance I have the fruit trees in pots but I'm intending to plant them into the ground.
I also got cracking with some more of the weeding. The bottom path of 85 was a disgrace! I didn't keep on top of it last year as I had in previous years and so the weeds really have been trying to take back my plot starting with that path!! I filled the tumbling composter just with the weeds from that path; I need to add some cardboard to help its balance but hopefully I'll be able to make it into compost much more quickly than my normal way.
I do still have the paths behind the polytunnel and fruit cages to weed and the path in front of the polytunnel. These are all paths that I don't use much and so it's easy for the weeds to run away there too.
Overall I'm really happy with what I've got done this week and hopefully by this time next week I'll have the beds in place in 86.
Until next time then...
Happy Gardening x
I've talked before about making a self watering pot but I don't think I've done a step by step guide to it. As I've emptied and was about to refill it I thought I'd take some photos and share it with you all.
I started with a large container, it's the same size that I have planted the fruit trees into.
The other elements needed are a pot saucer (the bottom of the pot fills the base of the saucer), a small plant pot (approx 9"), a piece of pipe and some capillary matting.
Cut 2 holes in the saucer for the pot and pipe. you need to keep them fairly tight so that they don't fall through and so that the compost doesn't fall into the reservoir below the saucer.
I also put extra holes around the side of the small pot.
Put the saucer inside the pot and measure from the top to where the sauce rests. On the outside of the pot measure down to where the saucer sits and drill a small hole just below this level.
Push the capillary matting strips through the sides of the small pot so that they're in the reservoir below and fill with compost (pack it in tight)
Fill the pot with compost, laying the capillary matting at different levels. I half fill the pot with normal compost and then use my usual blend (compost/gravel/root booster/all season feed/water retaining gel) to top it up.
Plant and water as normal so that the plant is well bedded into the pot.
Fill the reservoir through the pipe
When the reservoir is full the water runs out of the overflow at the side
13th May is the last frost date for my area, so I took a risk and cleared my polytunnel of the plants that I had been keeping inside. I mulched the bed with compost and now I need to decide what to plant in it. I have the tomatoes, aubergine and cucumber in pots at the moment.
I want to plant the olive tree into 86 so I'll keep that in a pot for now (I'll need to check that it's ok in the allotment rules), but hopefully I'll be able to plant it, if not in the ground then a big pot.
I left the door of the polytunnel open tonight, I will go up to the plot at some point tomorrow to check on the temperature overnight but I'm hoping it will be ok to leave open now because having it closed means that the plants are getting a bit baked on the hotter days (it was nearly 40oC in there today!)
I got the first of my bedding plants done and planted in the hanging baskets. I've still got more and I need to decide where to put them. I'm thinking of hanging one of them from the shed, to the left of the window. I will need to make sure that I have a strut to fasten the hanger from because it will be too heavy for the wall. If I can't position that properly I will need to work out how to fasten a piece of wood on the inside of the shed.
The only other thing I did on the plot this weekend was plant out more peas. I still have loads in the polytunnel and I need to decide what I'm going to do with them because I want to be able to have plenty to harvest.
The last thing I did this weekend was enter the allotment competition. I nearly didn't do it this time but I really do like it and I was hoping it would give me the kick I need to finish clearing the paths and doing the little jobs to tidy everything up. I've also entered the 'best shed' competition! I love my shed and I think the whole area with the pond and arbour really makes it a beautiful area and so relaxing. There is some additional work to be done around the wild area to tidy it because it has become a little too wild!
It's coming to the time of year where there are allotment competitions and vegetable shows around the country. I'd love to hear about what you're entering and how you get on.
Until next time...
Happy Gardening x
I have a greenhouse in the garden at the house but for a little while it's been used as a bit of a dumping ground. I decided I wanted to move it to 86 and Mr L said that if I clear it he will move it to the allotment for me and so this weekend I set about clearing it.
It's amazing how much stuff was in there; I found some tomato halos and some big pots that I'd previously planted tomatoes into. I had huge amounts of cardboard that I'd saved and has now been moved to 86 ready for my new beds. I also found the capillary matting that I had on the staging, which is still in really good condition and with the plastic sheeting underneath, which means that you don't have to have trays to put your plants into. In the interest of reduce, re-use, recycle I won't be throwing it away as it's in good condition and so I'll take it up to the plot and see if I can utilise it on my staging to reduce the amount of plastic trays I need.
This weekend was World Naked Gardening Day (WNGD). For those who don't know WNGD is 'celebrated' on the first Saturday in May and was set up with no particular political agenda although it is a celebration of the human body. We live in a world where everything is airbrushed and 'normal' is some model who looks like she's never seen a pie, never mind eaten one! I feel like it's important to have body confidence, whatever your body looks like. I set up my camera in the polytunnel (on top of a tub, on top of a bag of gravel, on top of a bag of compost) and prayed that my allotment neighbour didn't turn up or he'd get the shock of his life! I was super brave and shared the unedited pic on one of my Facebook pages; most of the comments were really lovely and positive with only a couple of nasty/miserable comments. I also got 1 person sending me a private message, the message itself wasn't rude or unacceptable but I did make it clear that it wasn't OK for someone to message me on the back of me participating in WNGD.
On 85 I had already planted out one set of peas (Tom Thumb dwarf peas) a couple of weeks ago. It has been quite cold so they haven't really come on very quickly, which is a shame because the pigeons have been at them and they're looking a bit sad. Today I planted out some Mange Tout (on the wigwam closest to the camera). I had loads of them and so I added an obelisk in between the wigwams and planted an extra 4 plants against that. I still have about 12 more plants so if the pigeons get to these I'll still have some to replace them. I've also got a whole tray of meteor peas to go out next weekend, I'm hoping that by staggering putting them out I'll have a succession of peas throughout the summer. I have got room for at least one more obelisk (and maybe two) in this bed. I have also planted some Ambassador peas in the polytunnel when everything was being eaten by the mice and I didn't think I'd have enough - now I'll have too many!!
I have now ordered boards for the beds in 86 so I'm confident that I'll have the built and productive very soon. I can't wait to get them going, I have potatoes left over from planting in 85 and, as I've mentioned above, I'll have additional peas available. I don't know that I'll plant any brassicas because I don't have protection for them from the butterflies, but I do have the fruit trees that I need to find homes for. I have a small bed that I have considered using just for the blueberries. I will be able to easily fill it with ericaceous compost and construct some netting to keep the birds off them. I am planning on using my blue piping as supports, because the bed is small it should raise the netting up high enough to keep the birds at bay.
Until next time...
Happy Gardening x
This week I went to the Harrogate Flower Show with my allotment neighbours, it was a fabulous show again. I particularly liked the show garden based on Lord of the Rings (because I'm a nerd) and it really did make me laugh when someone commented that she wouldn't want "that ugly thing" (Gollum) in her garden. The attention to detail was excellent, especially the washing line when you got around the corner. On the entrance to the main pavilion there was an excellent floral display using a phone box, letter box and an old drum. They were really pretty and a fabulous way to re-purpose things that aren't being used any more.
Of course there were some things to buy; for my cut flower bed I got some altermeria, poppies and pink gypsophila (I already have white). I also got a fritillaria imperialis but I can't decide where to put it yet!
On 85 I planted out my potatoes which had been chitting in my dining room for a little while. I don't normally chit potatoes but I thought I'd experiment and see if it makes any difference. I don't think it will but it's always a struggle getting potatoes later to just plant. I have planted 3 rows in one of my big beds and I still have some left over. If I get the planks in time to build beds in 86 I'll plant them in there, otherwise I could put them in bags or give them away at the plant swap. I also planted out some Autumn King carrots. I have little success with sowing directly and so I had grown some in plugs and transplanted them out to the bed.
I also have some leeks in that bed to try and confuse the carrot fly but when I planted the Autumn King I put up my carrot fly screen; this is the 3rd year of using it and it's been very successful. I do have to use 3 and overlap them because there is a gap of about 12" which is very frustrating!
I have never been successful with brassica's (with the exception of swede); I have tried different types of netting but the caterpillars always seem to still get in. One of the main challenges is that when insects get under the nets it has been very difficult to get in to sort them out. I have therefore got hold of a couple of brassica cages which fit perfectly in these beds. I put the first one up on Saturday when it was blowing a gale and so I was able to make sure that I had done everything possible to keep them safe in windy conditions. They have a zip door on each end, which is perfect for getting inside and checking on the crops. They're also tall enough for broccoli and sprouts so I won't have to worry about them pressing against the top.
In the polytunnel I have discovered that I was watering my lemon tree incorrectly. I had been watering it as part of the normal watering system but watching Gardeners World last week Monty Don said that they should be left to dry and only watered once a week with a seaweed feed. I therefore took the tree immediately off of the drip system and this week I have watered with the seaweed. I have already noticed that the tree is starting to put on new growth and I'm hopeful that the change in regime will help it to thrive. I mentioned last week that the peach seems to have fruit, I'm also happy to report that the fig tree is doing well and the grape has also started to leaf up.
I am counting down the days until I can plant out in earnest and put all of the tender plants out. I'm also looking forward to planting the hanging baskets with summer bedding plants and getting more of my summer flowering plants into the cut flower bed. I'm also looking forward to getting my fruit trees out and making space for the tomatoes and cucumbers in the bed. I still need to finish weeding my beds, the top half of the plot is done but I need to get on with the rest of it.
Until next time...
Happy Gardening x
This weekend I finally got around to planting my asparagus crowns. I had earmarked the bed in 86 closest to the shed for them. In preparation I mulched with manure and made sure that the bed was as weeded as possible. I should note that this plot has been covered for over a year now. I added cardboard and 9" soil into the beds to try and suppress the weeds that will inevitably pop up.
I marked out the bed before starting to dig; I needed a trench that was 12" wide and 6" deep with a 4" ridge along the length. I soaked the crowns in a bucket of water while I was preparing the trench; they were delivered to me in February as dried crowns and it's important to make sure that any bare root plant is prepared before planting.
Once the trench was dug and the ridge in place I evenly spaced 9 crowns in each trench (approx 15" apart); I spread the roots as evenly as I could across the trench and then backfilled. The RHS planting guide said to leave the crown tips exposed but other advice was to bury them. As I had ended up with the crowns 2" below soil level they were not exposed and I'm hoping they'll be ok. I watered them well and there was already a thick layer of manure on the surface so I didn't add any more. I won't be able to harvest any spears until mid-April 2021 and then I'll be able to harvest for 6 weeks. The following year I'll be able to harvest for the full 8 weeks. In the mean time I'll have to enjoy the spears growing into ferns and hand weed the bed.
In other news I'm delighted to find that I have peaches growing on the tree. I hand pollinated because the tree is in the polytunnel and so there aren't as may pollinators in there to do it for me. Last year I didn't get any fruit and I thought this might have been the reason so I'm really happy to find fruit on it this year. I will be moving it outside very soon because the threat of peach leaf curl has passed now. I also have a good crop of figs and this year I'm going to be braver about thinning them out so that I get a better crop. The olive tree is also flowering and so I got my paintbrush out again and hopefully I'll get fruit from that too.
I was also busy painting some of my metal items; I bought some One Coat black paint from QVC, it is designed specifically for items that are a bit rusty; all you need to do it use a wire brush to take off any dirt or loose bits of rust and then paint it. It covered really well and did only need one coat.
I am still battling mice in the polytunnel eating my sunflower, pea and sweetpea seeds. I got some fleece cloche's from Aldi. They are designed to be put over plants out in the plot but I have tucked it under the tray that I have the seeds in. It does seem to be helping; I had also used a poly version over the peas but it became too hot for them and they wilted. On reflection it did get up to 40oC in the polytunnel during the day and because I wasn't able to get up to the plot until the afternoon it was too much. I also can't get up during the week and so I'm keeping everything crossed that they'll be ok now that they've germinated!
The weather was glorious over the Easter weekend, it was actually too hot to do much and so I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the newt swimming across the pond. I know that I go on about my pond quite a bit but it really is very relaxing to sit beside it and watch the fountain or, at this time of year, the tadpoles.
I'm struggling with hardening off my seedlings because I can't get to the plot in the mornings. I normally put them closer and closer to the door and eventually leave the door open before putting them outside. The problem with that is that because the weather has been so peculiar (it's fluctuated from -3oC to almost 40oC from night to day) I can't leave the door open because it's too cold at night and leaving the door closed during the day is too hot! At the moment I'm tending to leave the door closed to protect the tender crops and hope that it doesn't get too hot for everything else.
Overall it was a very happy and productive weekend, I got a number of jobs crossed off my list and I was able to enjoy the weather and my plot to it's fullest.
Until next time...
Happy Gardening x
When I cleared the greenhouse I found some plant halo's that I'd used a few years ago. I had 2 extra tomato plants that I'd not potted on yet and 2 aubergine. I have never successfully grown aubergine; I've grown them in pots and in the ground so this year I decided to try them in a pot with a halo. I filled the pot as normal and then watered it. This makes sure that the soil has settled before you put the halo onto it. You then put your plant into the raised part in the middle, the tricky part is making sure that you have compost around the sides of the plant because as you pack it in it's really easy to drop it into the halo and it's hard to get out again! Once the plant is in place you water it in as normal, this makes sure that the roots have good contact to the soil and are able to wick up the moisture from the soil in the lower pot. You then only water into the halo (although you do continue to feed directly to the plant). It will be interesting to see if this is more successful in producing fruit than my previous attempts have been.
In the flower bed next to the shed it's a bit of a riot of purple. The alliums are in full bloom, as is the sweet rocket which is just beautiful and very much loved by the bees and other pollinators. I also have my winky blue aquilegia which is looking fabulous! Both the peony are in bud and ready to open; I'm really looking forward to them opening, the white one is called Shirley Temple but I've never seen the red one open because it didn't flower last year. I do have some supports in place but I don't think they'll be enough so I think need to do something more with them. 
